> Hi Picdude-
>
> I have to disagree with Mike, its ok to connect like you propose AS LONG
> AS the power supply and PIC circuit are otherwise isolated.
>
> I have done this myself.  I used a 12V car tail-light as a 5V ballast.
>  I also transferred the fan from the 12V supply to the 5V supply, which
> made it much less noisy as I don't think heat will be a problem at 120
> mA ;-)

        I'd have to agree, many power supplies deal with the "no load" issue, and
the ones that don't do not need a load anywhere near 50W to be usable. Only
way to know for sure on a particular supply is to try it out. I regularly
use an old AT power supply as my "breadboard" power supply. TTYL

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