Attaching an external NexStar case to a molex port?

[ownaginatious]

Hey guys,

I recently got an external hard drive case, and have found the external power supply that comes with it rather bothersome. So I looked at the pin outs on its plug, and they are two grounds, a 5 volt and a 12 volt. This is the same as a molex connector.

Now I've already modded in an external female molex port, so I was wondering, do you guys think it would be safe to connect the external case to this rather than to another wall outlet?

The only thing that's really concerning me now is that the power supply for the external hard-drive is rated at 2A max. I'm not sure what the output on a PSU is (it says 25A on the PSU... but I'm not sure if I'm reading the right number).

Thanks,

Dillon

[slaveofconvention]

I would think you'd be ok with this - after all, the only things in most enclosures is the hard disk and a small converter/controller (usb-ide or whatever) - the contollers are usually capable of running from USB power alone and molex and hard disks are kinda like peas n carrots....

[x88x]

It should be fine. The 25A rating on the power adapter was referring to the max input current, not the output current. The output current on most PSUs is around 2-3A, though on cheap or old ones you might see it dip below 2A.

[ownaginatious]

Okay, awesome, it worked :). I also tried it with my LG external DVD burner (needs 12 V at 2 A) and the thing fried... it managed to burn out the outer controller to convert IDE to USB and a random chip on the drive's internal power converting board.

[x88x]

Interesting; how was the stock PSU for your DVD drive set up? How exactly did you connect it?