Power supply help

[warmwaffles]

Okay...heres a quick question I dont know the answer...

Me and my friend are making a Hovercraft from computer fans...I have 4 massive Server fans and three 90mm fans...each need 12Volts and approx .52 Amps...this hover craft is to only float its self on a cusion of air provided by a rubber skirt.

Now to get power to the fans I intend to run the power from a PSU to a switch board so I can control the fans. Then from the switch board to the fans with about 6-10 feet of wire...its a pretty thick gauge so I am to save as much DC current as possible.

Will a PSU provide power if I just use certain wires or is there some sort of circut that has to be made in order to work? Should 200 Watts be enough or do I need possibly more?

If this project continues and gets completed with sucess I plan to put pics up and a tutorial on how to build one...and i might put some bad ass LEDs on it...

EDIT:
Heres a rough schematic I forgot to link to

http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=layout029ha.swf&width=800

 

[Speedo]

You have to figure out a way to get the PSU to power on. In a PC the BIOS will change the power states of the PC, which among other things powers on the PSU. I have no idea how you'd go about doing this, but you might find something in the ACPI specs.

The specs are linked at the end of this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI

 

[warmwaffles]

I believe there is a switch somehow that completes a circut...think about it...you have a switch on your PC that is connected to jumpers...and when that button is pressed down either a circut is created to turn the PC on or a circut is broken to allow for power flow

EDIT:
I found this...I am googleing for some more information on this...

Speedo you brought up a good point...I over looked that

http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod

EDIT:
I was right

"Now we need to identify the pins to which we are going to connect the 'jumper' to. The 'jumper' will act just like the power button on your computer does, completing the circuit telling the PSU to switch on..."

So its just a matter of creating a loop...because on a motherboard those jumpers have a direct connection to those two wires...but anyhow Speedo thanks for bringing this up

Now the question is "IS 200W's enough?"

 

[aaronflavor]

Assuming this is an ATX power supply, you should get the ATX spec. There are some rules about the maximum and minimum power you can draw from various rails. Most of the people using a PSU for a general power supply put resistors on the rails to supply a minimum load. You should also be familiar with the rules for power-on. You need to signal it to turn on, but fortunately, this signal line is debounced, so a jumper is just fine. The PSU takes a while to get the voltage right etc, and it will signal you when its ready, so if you have any digital logic etc, you need to know how this works.

Depending on what you're doing, you might have better results using something lighter or designed for driving analog circuits (rather than digital, like a PSU). The RC people sell a lot of stuff for this, batteries etc.

 

[warmwaffles]

lol...well the fans I have right now...the shroud is too heavy...so I am in the process of lightening them..

I want to use a lot of computer components just to say I can...lol I dont know why but I find it more fun that way...plus I have an abundant supply of old PC parts and what not