DIY PCIE 5.0 Power Connector Protection Adapter

[Shirasagi]

 

This is a 12V 2x6 (12VHPWR) protection device developed together with "koha9" and "楂渣".
It uses an ESP32-S3 and INA3221 with a simple and compact structure.

The device monitors the current across multiple wires:

• When a significant current imbalance is detected, the buzzer will sound an alert.

• If a single wire exceeds its load threshold, the device will automatically short the reset jumper (if connected) to trigger a system reboot.

• It can also emulate a fan and report the highest per-line current to the system as RPM (current(A) * 100 = RPM), making it easier to monitor without additional tools.

• No external PC software is required; the module operates independently and supports real-time monitoring via serial output.

The hand-assembled cost is under USD $15.

Once the software refinements are complete, both the hardware design and firmware will be open-sourced.
A GitHub link will be posted here when everything is ready.

Limitations:
This device cannot detect failures caused by uniformly abnormal connections (e.g., a poorly seated connector).
Even if the current appears balanced across the wires, improper seating can still cause excessive heating and potential damage.

[PDifolco]

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