Power Connector for chassis to chassis?

[BestGear]

Guys

Odd ball request here, but if anyone has done it before, someone here will have!

I am looking to move my SSDs from a 20bay 3.5" hot plug server case into a separate 10 bay 2.5" case - BUT power it from the big case - thus need to carry over 12 and 5V into the new 2.5" case.

Logic here is that the expander/SSD's are relatively low power, and to save energy dont want another PSU burning energy for no reason.

Has anyone got suggestions as to a suitable power connector to use?

Ideally, with a slot bracket, but feel thats unlikely....as I am not that lucky.

I really want to avoid using a 4 pin molex as I can see that low quality connector just being trouble....like the attached images..

Plan B would be some Deltron/RS or other high quality 4MM sockets and plugs (think they are 10A rated), color coded of course....

Plan C? - what about a 4 Pin MIC connector - they are rated to 20A (apparently!).

Any thoughts?


David

 

[Spartacus]

I mean if you pick up a JBOD power board it would only be a couple of extra watts and not risk funky adapter cables between chassis.
Like one of these: https://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-cse-ptjbod-cb1-jbod-power-board-diy-jbod-chassis-made-easy/

 

[PigLover]

I'd just put a normal PSU in the second chassis and rig it for always on (jumper the green wire in the ATX power plug to any ground-black wire). Or you can buy a pre-made plug like this: EBAY Shakmods ATX Bridging Jump Start Power Supply Plug 24pin Black SAMEDAY DISPATCH for sale online | eBay

 

[BestGear]

Hi Guys - sorry for the late reply.

With current worldly events things have been slow here, but I thought i would report back.

I ended up (yes, yes... wrong decision!) using a three pin mains connector - that is "keyed" so it can only be connected one way, ensuing the 5 and 12 cannot be swapped by accident (ground is in the middle).


My heart said get another PSU but my wallet resisted that - this way its nice and easy.

Setup another Corsair Commander in the second case to manage the fans/temps to the main case, and all is good.


David

 

[ewer0012]

Can you post some pictures of the finished product? I'd be curious about your solution, too. It seems silly to have 4x 1100W PSUs and 2x 1400W PSUs running in 3 chassis if I can set it up so that they all get powered from the main one. (Basically 1 ZFS array, 1 72x2.5" JBOD and 1 16x3.5" JBOD)

 

[BestGear]

Hi - I will try, but its all in a rack with limited rear access. Like you, the main unit power supply is more than man enough to supply all the entities.

In the main case, which has a Corsair modular supply, I soldered some 2.5mm three core mains cable (UK spec) to a Corsair modular cable (to plug directly into the Corsair PSU), tidied up with heat shrink tubing.

At the 2.5" 10 bay case end, I did the reverse, bringing it out to Molex, 6 pin and sata power cables using a cable loom from an old PSU (that has died, but I kept the cable harness). The 2.5" 10 bay case has an expander in it (using a mining slot adapter with a 6pin GPU power input) , a Corsair Commander to manage the fans, and as expected, molex to the backplane.

The main connector is as shown in the earlier post - and has the central pin offset, so you cant swap the power - ie 12v to 5V....
I used the middle pin as ground.

Hope that helps.


David