DIY 3.5" hard drive power supply for USB cable

 I got this USB interface from Aliexpress that allows you to connect any HDD/SSD to your USB ports.

Unfortunately 3.5" hard drives need external power in order to work. You can get this power from a ATX power supply or from a dedicated hard drive power supply that can be found online.

To keep my shit low cost I built my own power adapter with things I had around. I used:

- 12V 2A power supply. Got it from an old router.

- Mini 360 DCDC converter. Dead cheap from Aliexpress, so useful. Must have several at home.

- SATA or IDE power connector. Chopped from an old ATX power supply.

The build is so simple:

Worth noting:

- The Mini360 output voltage is adjustable with the potentiometer on top. You need to set it to around 5V with a multimeter.

- Wall adapters with lower output current than 2A will almost surely not work due to the required start up current of the HDD. (Tried with 1.5 A, didn't work).

- I used a piece of heat-shrink tubing to cover the mini360 and make it neat in the middle of the cable.

Let me know if you found it useful.