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Testing PSU thoroughly? Like with a mulitmeter?

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spystyle:
I had a PSU that stopped supplying enough power to run a large hard drive (200 GB) but still worked fine on a small hard drive (5 GB) - it was a 400 watt PSU, it passed testing with two PSU "testers" - an Antec and PowMax.

If my regular testing routine (the two PSU testers) didn't cut it in this instance - what else can I do? Test it with a multimeter? How would I do that? And how can I test the power strip and outlet that it draws power from?

Thank you,
Craig

Samstag:
The supply testers you're using don't put any signifigant load on the supply, so they won't catch a weak supply like you may have (the 200G drive could be the culprit).  I'm not aware of any consumer testers that can find that kind of problem.

With the system running on the 5G drive you can put a voltmeter on the 5/12v lines and probably see the problem.  Depending on the effect the 200G drive has you can do the same with it installed to compare.  But that really isn't going to be helpful information unless you plan to try to fix the supply.  Your best bet is to figure out whether the supply or the drive is causing the problem and throw away the bad part.

ChadTower:

You want to test that drive on another PS... it could be a drive problem.

spystyle:

--- Quote from: ChadTower on April 02, 2007, 12:59:52 pm ---
You want to test that drive on another PS... it could be a drive problem.

--- End quote ---

I did for sure -

The 200 GB drive is running perfectly now on a different PSU, it's been tested with HDtune and Spinrite and is working great.

spystyle:

--- Quote from: Samstag on April 02, 2007, 12:55:41 pm ---...Your best bet is to figure out whether the supply or the drive is causing the problem and throw away the bad part.


--- End quote ---

Truly, I was just wondering if there were steps I could add to my "PSU testing routine" - I lost allot of time over this PSU.

I figured there could be a thorough test for the PSU and also a way to test it's source - the power strip and wall socket.

I guess there aren't any computer techs who are also electricians in the room?

Thanks,
Craig

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