I got a canon powershot a590 is and was wondering if I could use a pc power supply to power it. Instead of using the official ac charger, the lowest output on the 300w power supply is 3.3v 20A which is .1 v higher than the rated 3.2v for the camera. I was reading that the voltage is what you really got to worry about and that a high current was ok. I should probably bring the voltage down to the 3.2v right? Though wouldn't a current of 20A just fry a regular resistor? I know the official chargers are not that much but I wanted to see if I could save some dough.
if you get the polarity wrong you will fry more than a resistor.. is the price of a new camera worth the saving a couple of quid that using an unsuitable psu will gain you? how do you propose to start up the psu if it isn't attached to the rest of a computer? .. do you know the polarity of the camera socket? and just a final point.. a pc psu 3v3 rail isn't the best regulated in the world.. I have seen them chuck out up to 9v offload.
When you put it that way it does sound more logical to use the proper ac adapter. Though I was reading this guide over on instructables and thought it was pretty cool; considering I have a 300W power supply just laying around. -ATX PS to Regular DC PS (for labs) Found the proper ACK800 kit (not oem but same specs) for $12 each. I think I'll go that route in the end. Though I bet the power supply could be used for basic circuit analysis and testing stuff.
It can, the problem is starting them up without a mobo. Lots of modern psu's simply won't start unless they are connected to a working pc. If it was an old power up and run AT psu it would be a different matter.
Interesting the power supply is old I would say (not very old, but still) got it like 3-4 years ago. It is an ISO switching power supply Model No: ISO-400 4 Max output 300W(+12V,+5V&3.3V total) Cause that guide I linked to said that by shorting the green wire to the black (ie gnd) that you could make the PS be controlled by the on/off switch in the back. Regardless of connection to actual PC.
