DIY Cable and Power Supply (continue)

Last weekend, I made proper wire connection to the ATX power supply that I am using to power the small usb dac. I made the following changes:

• Short the power on wire by cutting and soldering the +ve  and ground wire.
• Solder a +5v and ground wire to a usb female connector. A usb male connector will connect to this to power the usb dac.
• Disconnect the fan to eliminate the noise from the fan.

I power up the ATX power supply and checked the connection before connected it to the usb dac. When checking the connection, I accidentally touched the +5v with the ground of the multimeter probe. I saw a small spike of light. I worried that it may burnt something. Then, I measured the voltage. The meter showed 5.22v.

After that, I connected it to the usb dac. It is working. But, the sound is a bit soft and not as open as before I made this proper wire connection. I am not sure if the touching of the +5v with ground accidentally have demaged some components or because of the quality of the usb female connection or other reasons. I will keep this run for a week.

Before proper connection (+ve and ground wire from usb female is inserted into the power slot)

Proper connection (+ve and ground wire are soldered to usb female)

The following are web sites that I referred to in making this ATX power supply:

OMAPS - One More ATX Power Supply conversion:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Converting-a-computer-ATX-power-supply-to-a-really/

How to Make a Bench Power Supply From An Old ATX PSU

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-a-bench-power-supply-from-an-old-atx-psu/

ATX, WTX and other standard and proprietary power supply (PSU) cables connectors pinouts

http://pinouts.ru/power/
It is recommended to check the manual or the this website for the ON/OFF switch before connecting the wire. The color of ON/OFF switch wire of your power supply may different guide of making the ATX power supply in above.
In the guide, the color of ON/OFF switch wire is green.  For the old ATX that I am using, the ON/OFF switch wire is white. I found it by refer to the website with model of the ATX power supply.

ATX Breakout Board

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATX-Breakout-Board-V1-1-Acrylic-Case-V1-DP10080-DIY-Maker-Seeed-BOOOLE-/171717012748?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fb21ad0c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATX-Breakout-Board-Bench-Power-Supply-ATX-Computer-DIY-Maker-Geek-Seeed-BOOOLE-/181682632226?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4d20f622

For convenience and maybe better presentation, you may want to use the ATX Breakout Board.