HP Z800 alternative power supply found!

[Tavinus]

Finally finished it. Had to do it in 2 parts. Not an easy task, but it is done and seems fine. Tested the voltage for all exits. The machine is not here, will test in it tomorrow. 

 

A note on the cable lengths, I made them all kind of the same length, but it is better to have them "going up" like a ladder. So they don't stack to much and make it hard to have clearance. It would also have less tension on the cables and soldering. Still solid though. 

 

Thanks so much for the guide. Without it I would probably not even try.

 

Cheers!

Gus

 

 

 

[Nothing Relevent To Add]

Tavinus (Gus),
Thanks for posting your power supply build.  It looks really clean!

I like your use of different colored shrink-wrap for the different voltages.
 

As for wire gauge – I’d just look at the original wire size and step it up 1 or 2 gauges.
After all, look at the 110v wire gauge supplying the entire Power supply!  And/or look at the wire gauge at each of the connectors.  No need to over-think it.
Your final wire choice looks really nice.

 

You did a phenomenal job, and thanks for the pictures!!!

[Nothing Relevent To Add]

All,
I’d like to provide (2) updates to the power supply mod:

 

1) LONG-TERM RELIABILITY FOLLOW-UP:
I’ve been regularly using this (alternate) power supply for 2+ years and it’s still working great!  
It’s a solid power supply, and hasn’t given me any trouble.
So, for the people considering the mod - it seems to be a reliable option.

2) Fan usage – follow-up:
Over the few years of usage - the (alternate) power supply exhaust-air only gets ‘warm’ at most - (not hot). 

BUT - since the original fans were there – I finally decided to use them for additional air-flow.  
In the original 2021 guide, I recommended using a resistor to lower the voltage and wire both fans in PARALLEL to the power supply.  (A resistor is required for this approach) This is still a viable install, ….but I used a different design.

 

 

I decided to wire the fans in SERIES:  (read: NO resistor required)
I wired both original fans in series and connected it directly to the +12V power supply.  This powers both fans, it’s a very low speed with no noise, and is sufficient to gently move any stagnant warm air out the exhaust.  (it's not high powered)

 

Each original fan has a red (+) and a black (-) wire.  In a series connection:  
-Power supply (+12v) is connected to Fan-1 RED wire.  
-Fan-1 BLACK wire is connected to Fan-2 RED wire.  
-Fan-2 BLACK wire is connected to Power supply (ground).
No resistors are required for series connection.

 

…AND finally -  For anyone else out there doing this mod, please make a post and/or add your picture!
I’m glad to see others are benefiting from this article/mod.
: )

 

 

Search terms to improve search engine:

HP Hewlett Packard Z800 Power supply bad dead repair modification replacement alternate