From the department of over-engineering comes this: a SheevaPlug power supply to end all SheevaPlug power supplies. I’ve got fed up with power supplies dying. First the SheevaPlug’s infamous internal one only lasted a few months, then I think two wall-warts expired in turn. Most recent was the horrid little one at the bottom of the photo, which didn’t come back on after being switched off. It also generated so much radio interference that it actually stopped the touch pad on my laptop working. No joke.

The new one is at the top of the picture.

I made it from a power supply I scavenged from a scrap network switch or disc drive enclosure a few years ago, feeling sure it would Come In Handy. It seems to be well built, and has a bunch of features which are missing from most wall warts:

• a fuse, so it shouldn’t go up in flames if something goes wrong
• interference suppression, so I should still be able to listen to Radio 4
• some attempt at protection against power transients
• components made by manufacturers I’ve heard of
• some space around the parts so they don’t cook themselves into oblivion
• a circuit board made out of something more robust than compressed mushrooms

Its outputs are rated at 5V, 2.5A, and 12V 1A. The SheevaPlug draws about 0.8A from 5V at rest, so the new power supply should live a long, cool, reliable life. I hope. Also to help with cooling, I fitted it in a spacious metal enclosure bought from the convenient Warszawska Gielda Elektroniczna. Let’s see how long it lasts.