Re-Using Proprietary PC Parts with the Help of 3D Printing
I recently tasked myself with tackling the large e-waste pile at ReCognition Circular, my non-profit. I saved a laptop from the trash heap, I made a video and a blog post about the process. On the same pile were 2 Dell OptiPlex 3010 SFF desktop computers. They have a market value of £15. Pay £5 in sale fees, £8 in postage, buy packaging materials, pay someone to clean the machines, test them, upgrade them and so on... You'd spent far more than the computers are worth just to sell them. I didn't want the parts to go in the bin but I also didn't want to lose money! Enter the subject(s) of today's blog.
Both machines were taken home and disassembled. I removed absolutely everything from them both. All the steel, aluminium, plastic, copper and wire went in the recycling or our reclamation bins. That left the fans, PSUs, motherboards and front IO. I opted to list both motherboards on eBay. As of writing, one has sold. Whilst I'd only make a tiny bit of money, they wouldn't go in the bin and the profit would pay for the filament for the 3D printed brackets used to salvage the other parts.
The power supply can't just be a dropped in a PC and used. Whilst it is ATX compliant in terms of its connectors and Voltages, it isn't a standard shape and the 24 pin cable is very short. The latter was easy to solve; a 24 pin extension cost me £4 or thereabouts. As for the funny shape, I modeled and 3D printed a bracket that would allow me to mount it in a standard computer case. Easy right? Wrong. If your case doesn't have a DVD drive, you'll likely be fine. The power supply reaches very far in to the case. For the case I chose, it collided with the DVD drive. I made several modifications to the bracket and eventually got the power supply to fit whilst keeping the DVD drive. I only have a use for a CD / DVD drive a few times a year but having one to hand is really... handy!
https://www.printables.com/model/1761831-dell-optiplex-3010-7010-9010-sff-psu-to-atx-adapte
How about the front IO then? Surprisingly, the USB and audio connectors are standard. On a Dell? Really? Yes. Pleased that I wouldn't have to find pin-outs on the internet and reverse engineer with my multimeter, I spent some time making another 3D printable bracket to adapt this front IO to a regular PC. Most of us would like some more USB ports of the front of our PCs. As for audio jacks, there are plenty of cases that no longer have them or server cases which could be repurposed but lack audio from the factory. I had modeled a front panel blank in the past as I get many cases through which are missing their 5.25" bay covers. All I had to do was measure the Dell IO assembly, model it in CAD software and send it to my 3D printer. The first version had some issues so I fixed them and re-printed. It fit.
https://www.printables.com/model/1761844-dell-optiplex-390-3010-sff-front-io-to-525-front-p
The bracket I'd designed required 6 screws. 2 to mount it in the 5.25" bay and 4 to mount the posts that keep the Dell IO assembly locked in place. Each one is a standard #6-32 type. After all, making an adapter that requires special screws would defeat the purpose of said adapter. The IO assembly is a tight fit - that's by design as it helps keep it secure. With that in mind however, the cables need to be lined up and then the Dell assembly placed in the caddy. Once in the caddy, the back posts get screwed on and it is secure in place. Then you just mount it in the PC.
Once in the PC however, I realised the cables were rather short. They were designed for a mass produced computer and thus no longer than they had to be. That would be a problem. The USB header was just long enough if carefully routed. The audio required a 99p (free postage)! adapter which let it reach the motherboard header. Some cable management had the inside of the computer looking as good as it could. Cable management is tedious but if done properly it lowers temperatures, reduces dust build-up, makes the PC easier to work on and it looks better.
Enough of that. What about the fan? Dell used 80mm fans in these models. They didn't use a standard connector (why would they) so I thought of buying some adapters. The issue was, I could only find Dell motherboard header to standard fan header and not the other way around. I could have cut and soldered; I've done that in the past, it was one of my first ever soldering projects in fact. Instead, I opted to sacrifice some DuPont jumper cables. You can use a small flat-head screwdriver to push the tabs holding the wires in place out of the way. The wires can be pulled out one at a time. I pushed them in to a new connector and used a drop of superglue to secure them in place. Once dried, the fan's pins could be plugged in in any order I pleased.
I put one of them to use in an older computer where the excess noise isn't the end of the world; old machines are less efficient and generate more heat so having a fan that runs fast in there is a good thing. A cool computer is a more reliable one. In the end, I used a PSU, fan and IO assembly from one of the 2 machines in a computer (see picture below). Every part in the machine is 2nd or 3rd hand. Used doesn't mean useless. 16GB RAM, an SSD and an i7 equivalent CPU for basically nothing isn't a bad deal! All of it was e-waste before.
All in, it cost £5 to re-use the power supply and front IO. The fan was free but it runs loud as Dell must use some non-standard tachometer implementation. Obviously you'd have to own a 3D printer to make a project like this feasible but a lot of us hackers do now. Mine is indispensable both for reducing waste and general tinkering. You can get a quality one for £200 these days. The best news is it'll be easy to assembly. Gone are the days of having to build an Anet A8! If you don't have a printer then perhaps a friend or a local maker-space does. Otherwise, you could be creative and still get both PSU and IO mounted. I once drilled 2 holes in a PCI bracket to use it to hold a PSU like this one down. It was in use for 2 years...
Thank you for reading. As usual, the accompanying YouTube video is linked below:
(Repair Wins Blog - Post #8)
(June 2026)
