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psu tester

N

ne0-reloaded

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
1,216
can someone recommened me a device to test my psu with. ive been losing hard drives and i suspect it's the psu. the psu has enough power (480w antec) but the spontaneous shutdowns/reboots, my video card saying the external power isnt connected, and dying components makes me think it's the psu

thanks
 
Forget about a PSU tester because those things are good only for finding really gross problems, like a completely dead voltage rail or voltages that are way, way off, like >30%. It would be better for you to test the computer by temporarily using another PSU or test the one you have with a digital multimeter (the cheapest one is more than accurate enough). Also if your problem shows up only under heat or at higher power levels, a tester probably won't find it because it will apply a load of just 10-20W.

I would try reseating every power connector and tightening the molex sockets for the disk drives by slightly prying between each one of their round hollow pins and the surrounding plastic. Pry 90 degrees from the slit that runs down each pin.

A common problem with Antecs after they've been used for a while is that their low voltage electrolytic capacitors go bad. Motherboards can also have this problem with the capacitors near the donut coils.
 
thanks for the tips. even tho u said it wouldnt work larry, if it's not too expensive, ill try the antec psu tester.

ill also try messing around with the things you said too. right now, the only quality psu i have is the antec, so im pretty sure none of the spare ones i have laying around will improve the situation any. i was gonna buy a seasonic psu for my htpc in the coming months, but i guess ill get it now and toss it in there and see if things are better

thanks again
 
ne0-reloaded said:
thanks for the tips. even tho u said it wouldnt work larry, if it's not too expensive, ill try the antec psu tester.

ill also try messing around with the things you said too. right now, the only quality psu i have is the antec, so im pretty sure none of the spare ones i have laying around will improve the situation any. i was gonna buy a seasonic psu for my htpc in the coming months, but i guess ill get it now and toss it in there and see if things are better

thanks again
Click to expand...

Don't wimp out! Get a digital multimeter instead! ;) A tester will tell you that a PSU that puts out only 9V on the +12V rail is perfectly OK. So I'd rather spend a whopping $5-10 on a mulitmeter and easily check the PSU under realistic operating conditions. But I might buy a PSU tester if it cost $2 and I was in spendthrift mood.

It's possible that one of your other PSUs will work even if they're inferior designs, because the Antec may have bad capacitors (look for bulging on their tops) that have reduced its power capacity.
 
....did you say a digital multimeter? brings back horrible memories of circuit analysis labs :(

i'll buy it and try swapping psu's

thanks again
 
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