I've been following this thread over at HID planet. http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3908

ATX power supply's from old computers work great to test ballasts and stuff at home.

I'm running two 35watt bulbs, an alpine headunit and 4 fans off one power supply. Cost me 15 bucks.

you cut the green wire in the 20 wire plug and ground it out on the black wire next to it. That tells the PSU that it's good to go. Then any yellow wire on a moldex plug is 12v hot and black next to it is ground. The guy who told us about this made a hid lamp from a 35w bulb in his house. Pretty cool stuff check it out.

 

Hey, theres one precaution you might need to be aware of. Some of the ATX power supplies need a minimum load on all the voltage rails. There are 3 voltages 3.3v, 5v, and 12v. If you have a crappy cheap power supply and you are pulling gobs of power only on the 12v and have nothing hooked up to the 3.3v and 5v...the power supply might explode(sparks and crackles) or let out some smoke. This only applies to cheap power supplies, but if you have a higher quality power supply it wont have this problem. Just a heads up for anyone that might try this. Personally I use a power supply to test my lights as well and it works great, just make sure the psu is able to supply enough output (the amperage output is usually on printed on a sticker)

Hey, UpInTheLex....I think you might be pushing the limit there a bit with all of that stuff hooked up unless you are running a really nice power supply, but I doubt that is the case with a cheap $15 unit. Check the amperage rating on the sticker. I've had cheap power supplies take out entire computers when they blew out. You might not want that to happen to your expensive lights and alpine headunit! A cheap 300w power supply usually has 12-15A on the 12V line 144w-180w. Also, be aware of the minimal load issue as well. Good luck!

 

Hehe Yeah I toned it down a bit....

12v a 13amp is my rating on yellow lines
5v at 30 amps on the red lines.

I'm running my fans on the 5 volt lines.

Yeah thanks for the precautions. I'm not one to usually think about that stuff until it's too late. Like the time i melted the wiring harness out of the dash of my old Audi. hehe should have had a fuse on that wire. Thank god for warranties. Thanks for the voice of reason. I don't want the house to catch on fire.