Storage Powering 3.5 inch hard drives
- Thread starter BerMM
- Start date
Yes since Nuc, STX and other industrial boards/ laptop boards don't distribute internal 12v power to the SATA and only supply 5v to sata you have to come up with another way to get the 12v whether it be Y-splitter on the input side to a dc-dc converter, or with a separate psu entirely.
Also needed is a method to connect (adapt) it. If the board uses that funky combined data and power "laptop style" cable, then an adapter is needed so that you can isolate the Sata-data and Sata-power.
Something like this could be used. 1 side goes to the board, 1 side goes to the HDD, then cut the sata power cables and re-route those wires to your external psu.
There may be a more ideal adapter out there
Also needed is a method to connect (adapt) it. If the board uses that funky combined data and power "laptop style" cable, then an adapter is needed so that you can isolate the Sata-data and Sata-power.
Something like this could be used. 1 side goes to the board, 1 side goes to the HDD, then cut the sata power cables and re-route those wires to your external psu.
There may be a more ideal adapter out there
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I'd prefer to avoid the molex external power brick because though it works, it is meant for fans and lighting and some reviews mention it killing drives (though others have had success with drives). Could I split one of these (from the manual):
• External Power Supply – the board can be powered through a 12-24 V DC connector on the
back panel. The back-panel DC connector is compatible with a 5.5 mm/OD (outer diameter)
and 2.5 mm/ID (inner diameter) plug, where the inner contact is +12-24 V DC and the shell is
GND. The maximum current rating is 10 A.
• Internal Power Supply – the board can alternatively be powered via the internal 12-24 V DC
2 x 2 power connector, where pins 1 and 2 are +12-24 V DC and pins 3 and 4 are GND. The
maximum current rating is 10 A (5A per pins 1 and 2).
The connector used is Molex Micro-Fit (3mm pitch), right-angled, 4-pos/dual row (2x2).
I'll use the combined SATA connector for my system and apps, the 2280 for DVR recordings, and the 2242 with two DC HC530s for my Plex collection. The 2242 slot is gen4 x1 and I plan to adapt it with this.
• External Power Supply – the board can be powered through a 12-24 V DC connector on the
back panel. The back-panel DC connector is compatible with a 5.5 mm/OD (outer diameter)
and 2.5 mm/ID (inner diameter) plug, where the inner contact is +12-24 V DC and the shell is
GND. The maximum current rating is 10 A.
• Internal Power Supply – the board can alternatively be powered via the internal 12-24 V DC
2 x 2 power connector, where pins 1 and 2 are +12-24 V DC and pins 3 and 4 are GND. The
maximum current rating is 10 A (5A per pins 1 and 2).
The connector used is Molex Micro-Fit (3mm pitch), right-angled, 4-pos/dual row (2x2).
I'll use the combined SATA connector for my system and apps, the 2280 for DVR recordings, and the 2242 with two DC HC530s for my Plex collection. The 2242 slot is gen4 x1 and I plan to adapt it with this.
Are you asking if you can split the Nuc's power supply? You certainly could if it's a 12v supply (and not 19v), provided there aren't too many drives that would require more current than it can deliver. Newer Nucs tend to be 19v though. If its a 19v supply then you need to add a small step down converter inline to your drives, 5 amps should be good. And a female to 2x male Y splitter cable for the dc barrel
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I found a better external adapter, part of a USB kit (why didn't I think of that before?). I also see this, though I'd like to find one smaller. I only need 6w per drive. Can you help me find a good small step down converter? That seems to be the best option because it uses the original high quality 19v NUC power supply.
The datasheet for the drives says they draw 5v and 12v so I'd have to have two step down converters, correct? Wired in parallel with a barrel connecter extension if I remember my basic electronics training. That's the cleaner method and as close to the proper way as I'm probably going to get. Will you do me one last (hopefully, lol) favor and point me towards converters with priority on quality, size, and cost?
I decided to use an existing 19.5v 200w HP laptop charger with a 200w PicoPSU to power everything. The first PicoPSU tests nearly +5% on all lines except 5VSB, so I ordered an identical replacement. It tests slightly worse so I tried my tester on a known good 200w ATX PSU and it was much closer to spec. Should I use PicoPSU A, or is it too far out of spec?
| PSU | -12V | +12V2 | 5VSB | PG | +5 | +12V1 | +3.3V |
| ATX | 12.2 | 12.2 | 5.1 | 210ms | 5.1 | 12.2 | 3.4 |
| Pico A | 12.5 | 12.6 | 5.4 | 250ms | 5.2 | 12.6 | 3.4 |
| Pico B | 12.7 | 12.6 | 5.5 | 260ms | 5.2 | 12.6 | 3.4 |
