How to safely power/charge USB devices with an ATX PSU?

[38034580]

I am making a power hub out of an old ATX PSU. All wires will be stripped except Molex (and maybe SATA) connector wires. 12V will be connected to barrel jacks, PC fan sockets, and (maybe) lighter plug sockets (the plugs in a car). 5V will be connected to a dummy load, USB sockets (and maybe more barrel jacks). 3.3V will be connected to 2xAA battery eliminators. When I attempt to charge my phone off the connected USB ports, the USB to Lightning wire gets hot that the glue even melts (PSU wires normal temp). How to stop that?

[Dutch_Master]

8 minutes ago, 38034580 said:

How to stop that?

By not using it Clearly, you're using the PSU outside it's spec's and your setup is therefore unsafe. It's also clear that you lack the knowledge to do things safely, so I (highly) recommend scrapping this "project". For sure that's not what you want to hear, but safety is not something to tamper with. Especially as it involves your family/neighbours/whoever else is living where you are, the contraption is a fire hazard (by your own description) and should be binned. Permanently.

[LIGISTX]

21 minutes ago, 38034580 said:

When I attempt to charge my phone off the connected USB ports, the USB to Lightning wire gets hot that the glue even melts (PSU wires normal temp). How to stop that?

If something is getting hot, your either putting more power through a cable then it was designed for, the resistance is to high, or you have a short. If your phone actually charged and didn’t just die from giving it the wrong voltage, it’s possible your just pulling more power then the cables are capable of supporting. 
 

New phones, especially USB C devices, have rather complicated handshaking requirements to charge correctly since they can pull 5, 9, 12, sometimes 16 or 18 or random voltages and random amperage’s as part of their USB C PD capability, but theoretically if you just supply it straight 5v, it should default to “dumb” mode and charge at 5v 1a. But… who knows if that is actually the case. 
 

If things are getting hit enough to melt glue, you have an issue, and it could turn into a big issue… so I would maybe take a pause on this and get some more information and learning in before proceeding further. 

[aDoomGuy]

I can't help but wonder why? Also why not just get a USB charger thing they're made in all shapes and sizes...

[38034580]

41 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

By not using it Clearly, you're using the PSU outside it's spec's and your setup is therefore unsafe. It's also clear that you lack the knowledge to do things safely, so I (highly) recommend scrapping this "project". For sure that's not what you want to hear, but safety is not something to tamper with. Especially as it involves your family/neighbours/whoever else is living where you are, the contraption is a fire hazard (by your own description) and should be binned. Permanently.

PSU has no signs of damage, as it's own wires are not overheating. It's the male USB to lightning cable that's overheating. I'm powering multimedia devices with my PSU (measured with a multimeter- doesn't draw more watts) without any overheating. Not only that, when I charged my BT speakers (and powered a USB fan as a test) with it I had no problem.

[38034580]

36 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

If something is getting hot, your either putting more power through a cable then it was designed for, the resistance is to high, or you have a short. If your phone actually charged and didn’t just die from giving it the wrong voltage, it’s possible your just pulling more power then the cables are capable of supporting. 
 

New phones, especially USB C devices, have rather complicated handshaking requirements to charge correctly since they can pull 5, 9, 12, sometimes 16 or 18 or random voltages and random amperage’s as part of their USB C PD capability, but theoretically if you just supply it straight 5v, it should default to “dumb” mode and charge at 5v 1a. But… who knows if that is actually the case. 
 

If things are getting hit enough to melt glue, you have an issue, and it could turn into a big issue… so I would maybe take a pause on this and get some more information and learning in before proceeding further. 

When I charged my speaker with it I had no problems (no overheating). Also powering a USB fan had no problems. I immediately unplugged the phone and wire and I have noticed NO overheating in the PSU's own wires, the heating is only on the USB to lightning cable.

[manikyath]

1 hour ago, 38034580 said:

the USB to Lightning wire gets hot that the glue even melts

that sounds like a faulty cable.

 

USB is 5 volts, unless you manage to make a mistake in wiring ground to ground and +5v to +5v, there is nothing that can go wrong.

[tomjal]

On 6/13/2022 at 5:10 AM, 38034580 said:

When I charged my speaker with it I had no problems (no overheating). Also powering a USB fan had no problems. I immediately unplugged the phone and wire and I have noticed NO overheating in the PSU's own wires, the heating is only on the USB to lightning cable.

Check the amperage it draws with multimeter, find cables that fit the wattage. Also, you have to make sure the PSU cables could handle the wattage it draws.

Hey, why don't you show the picture of your project, I'd love to see!