• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

After Testing with Multimeter, Still Confused

D

donalale

n00b
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Messages
5
Hi everyone!

I have been losing motherboards left and right since I bought a Seasonic X650 gold 2 years ago. I had a system die on me (fans and lights OK, no POST, no beeps), and I replaced the M/B and CPU to no avail. I RMAed the seasonic, and the system worked with the new Motherboard & CPU, but the old ones were still dead.

Now I have the same problem again. I have tested the seasonic with a multimeter, and all of the rails check out. They are a little over voltage, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I still think that my PSU is killing my components... what else could it be? Power cord? Power Strip?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.
 
Not installing things correctly could cause the problems you're seeing. For example, placing a standoff for the motherboard tray where there isn't supposed to be one.
 
make sure that the voltage supply in your area complies with the one set on the power supply. this can cause it .
 
os100 said:
make sure that the voltage supply in your area complies with the one set on the power supply. this can cause it .
Click to expand...

He has an active PFC power supply, which will automatically select the proper mode to operate in.
 
donalale said:
Now I have the same problem again. I have tested the seasonic with a multimeter, and all of the rails check out. They are a little over voltage, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Click to expand...

Define 'a little'.
 
That is a really good point about the standoffs. I have not been very careful when checking previously. However, I have bench tested all of my components on a cardboard piece to double check against shorts.

All the problems have developed while in the case. Maybe the shorts have done permanent damage. Now I feel dumb!

My voltages on the multimeter are as follows:

3.3v rail: 3.48v

5v rail: 5.24v

12v rail: 12.8v
 
Okay, the 12.8v reading is extremely high. The 12v rail should read at most 12.6v. You either have a defective power supply, or your multimeter is wrong.

For reference, ATX spec allows 0.6v variation on the 12v rail, 0.25v on the 5v rail, and 0.165v variation on the 3.3v rail. That means the 3.48v reading is also out of spec.

In all likelihood, you have a defective power supply. From what I've seen, the Seasonic X-series generally have a variation of 0.2v or less, so something is way off here.
 
Indeed, something sounds off for sure...

What make/model of muti-meter are you using?
 
donalale said:
That is a really good point about the standoffs. I have not been very careful when checking previously. However, I have bench tested all of my components on a cardboard piece to double check against shorts.

All the problems have developed while in the case. Maybe the shorts have done permanent damage. Now I feel dumb!

My voltages on the multimeter are as follows:

3.3v rail: 3.48v

5v rail: 5.24v

12v rail: 12.8v
Click to expand...

Did you have a load on the power supply when testing these?
 
No load on this power supply, just a paperclip across the power_on pin and ground.

I just rechecked with my grandfather's Fluke 12 multimeter ( I mentioned that I thought maybe I had a bad one.)

Here is what I got:

12v: 12.34v

5v: 5.05v

3.3v: 3.39v

Those look a little better but the 12v is over still! Same with the 3.3v.

Thank you guys so much for your contribution so far! I have asked for help in several places and this is the best response I have ever gotten. :)
 
Fluke is a highly regarded multimeter and should be giving very accurate readings.
Put a load on the power supply and see how it looks. normally a bit of load will bring the voltage down .1-.2v on 12v and a bit less on the lower volts.
 
The second set of values are within the ATX spec. Anything running of off 12V can handle 12.34V with no issues. Instead of waiting for more components to die, why don't you try a new power supply and see what happens?
 
Check the incoming supply power if it is high it will make your psu voltage high as well.
You should use a UPS device if you don't it could be power fluctuations killing your stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top