PCP&C ATX PSU tester?

[oqvist]

I have an Antec 550 W PSU. According to this there is something wrong with it. The green light don´t lit? How certain is it this PSU is indead broken. It works with my 510 deluxe...

[Vertigo Acid]

Have you tried it in a system?

[oqvist]

Yes I had the Antec 550 running my system before. But it´s incredible hard to troubleshoot a PSU and know that is faulty. I had some stability issues anyway.

[gee]

<crap, double post...>

[gee]

That PPAC test jig is far from a proper piece of test equipment; it will only tell you if the power supply is putting out voltage, and chances are it only works on half the power supplies out there.

That jig just has a voltage-indicating LED and a resistive load. All power supplies have a minimum loading requirement, but wether that load has to be put on the 3.3V, 5V or 12V rail varies from supply to supply; chances are this is why the Antec is "failing" on this test jig.

If your Antec runs a computer, there's nothing obviously wrong with it.

[oqvist]

how much do a multimeter cost and how do I use it to test it?

[Elledan]

how much do a multimeter cost and how do I use it to test it?
Anywhere between $5 to $500 and beyond, depending on what you want it to do.

Put a resistive load (resistor, fan, HDD, etc.) on the supply, turn the thing on, and measure the voltages. You might want to put a load on every rail, as some PSUs appear to require this.

[Vertigo Acid]

Anywhere between $5 to $500 and beyond, depending on what you want it to do.

Put a resistive load (resistor, fan, HDD, etc.) on the supply, turn the thing on, and measure the voltages. You might want to put a load on every rail, as some PSUs appear to require this.

Especially Antec Truepowers, because they have *truly* independent output systems for each primary voltage

[gee]

how much do a multimeter cost and how do I use it to test it?
Depends on the meter, really. Something like a good Fluke (i own a Fluke 179) is very accurate and you can trust the numbers you see on them, while a cheap Mastercraft meter might have 5% or more error on its measurements.

For a good PSU load, get an old computer you don't care about or throw one together with spare parts. Fans and HD's alone won't put a good enough load on a PSU to "properly" test one.

To use the meter, ground the black wire on the meter to the case, or to a black wire on a molex. Then probe (with the red probe) through the back of the molex connector where it meets your motherboard, and measure there.

[Vertigo Acid]

Depends on the meter, really. Something like a good Fluke (i own a Fluke 179) is very accurate and you can trust the numbers you see on them, while a cheap Mastercraft meter might have 5% or more error on its measurements.

For a good PSU load, get an old computer you don't care about or throw one together with spare parts. Fans and HD's alone won't put a good enough load on a PSU to "properly" test one.

To use the meter, ground the black wire on the meter to the case, or to a black wire on a molex. Then probe (with the red probe) through the back of the molex connector where it meets your motherboard, and measure there.

Preferably the black wire on a molex, because an improperly or poorly wired system might have a potential between the earth ground that the case is connected to and the floating ground of the PSU.