Last November, I fried my 'lab power supply' that I made from a computer PSU. I was testing my solenoids and the stress was just too much for the PSU. The mistake I made was rapidly turning on and off my solenoid which likely resulted in voltage transients (spikes). Since the PSU does have a current limiter, it was likely the constant voltage spikes that caused the damage. There are various methods to suppress voltage transients such as by-pass capacitors and zener diodes. In particular solenoids and other inductive loads experience these voltage spikes, hence my no longer functioning bench power supply. ATX Breakout Board I could have just rebuilt the same power supply by adding binding posts etc to the PSU housing but after searching the internet an ATX power supply breakout board seemed a popular option. The main advantage compared to my old power supply was the addition of fuses on the outputs. The extra safety this provides is perf...

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