I am not sure whether this would be a better fit in the Desktop Computing forum, but I think it is more DIY electronics, so I hope it is the right place.
I use a lot of external hard drives, and each one has a power block which plugs into a wall socket or power board. Most of them are too wide to fit in adjacent sockets, so it is a nightmare of cables under my computer desk. I have a new build being delivered soon (hopefully... some of the components are on back order) so it feels like a good time to tidy things up. The new system is using one of those giant Cooler Master Cosmos II cases, so lots of room. I have a spare computer PSU, and a 12V 15A switching PSU I bought for an LED lighting project, and it would be nice to use one of these and do away with the power blocks. I have eight of them at this time.
The problem is, I am nervous about destroying the drives by doing something daft like reversing polarity. My close sight is not flash, and the writing on the power blocks is minuscule. Plus hard the drives are WD My Book, and the others Seagate Expansion. I have not even looked to see if they have the same power requirements and plug polarity. ISTR when those coaxial power plugs and sockets were introduced, there was no standard for inner/outer polarity. I think the drives are all 12 volt, so I can use either PSU, or even spare capacity from the computer PSU. (It is 1200W which is way OTT — don't ask about the overkill. This is one of the items on back order and the builder, PC Media of Blenheim, could source my first choice 1000W PSUs.)
So any input as to whether you'd risk it, and what plugs and sockets to use in a central multi way power block?
Thanks