ATX Power Supply Tester

ericlp

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
6,137
225
106
Ever want quick way to check to see if your ATX power supply is good?

This is a pretty neat gadget. Most places I've looked want 19.95. Didn't even check for shipping.

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/specials/index.htm

PCPwerandcooling have this on sale for 8.50.

I orderd the 12 drive caps for 2 bucks more to get it to 10.50. But you can order more Paste, Tumbscrews or whatever to get it to 10.00.
Free shipping for anything over 10 bucks.

But wait! It get's even better. Toss in the FREE Drive Caps, Compound Paste, and Thumbscrews with your order. Good way to trick out your case and have a new tester to play around with.

I thought it was worthy of a Hot Deal since. It was on Sale and with the free stuff Plus free shipping makes this an excellent deal if your looking around for a tester.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
Great price, I think I will order one to clear my pile of power supplies without risking a motherboard. I don't have the device in hand, but I followed the gizmo test link and read as much as I could. What you get is a female ATX power supply connector with:

Jumper to make the power supply turn on.
Green LED to show its working.
4 ohm load of power resistors on the +5v line. (draw is about 1 amp).

Not too fancy of a test, so why buy it? Try and find the female ATX connector someplace to make your own, and this tester starts looking pretty good for the money, and you could always add stuff to it.

Linkified
ATX Tester at PCpower and Cooling
Gizmo Test review
 

random

Senior member
Jan 19, 2000
592
0
0
Jumper to make the power supply turn on.
Short the green wire on the ATX connector and one of the directly bordering black wires.

Green LED to show its working.
If the fan comes on, the PS works.

4 ohm load of power resistors on the +5v line. (draw is about 1 amp).
*grabs resistors and an LED from pile and wires them up in series to make my own...*
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
I don't know how risky it is,but what I don't want to do is test a $3 swapmeet power supply on a good working motherboard I most likely paid 10 times as much for.
 

mrVW

Senior member
May 18, 2000
992
0
0
an old hard drive will test ATX or AT power supply... a 20GB hard drive is worth about $5 these days :)

Yha, I know you have to get it to turn on :)
 

breweyez

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
2,347
2
76
good item for when your in the field. never priced it, but it seems like a good price
 

Hossenfeffer

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
7,462
1
0
When you factor in: 1) Minimal effort, 2) A useful tool and 3) free shipping this comes out to be a good deal. Nice find!
 

yodayoda

Platinum Member
Jan 8, 2001
2,958
0
86
looks like a really good site with lots of great items. picked up this and that to get to $10, and you never can go wrong with free shipping
 

Hossenfeffer

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2000
7,462
1
0
Just got the tester and the freebies via UPS today. A well put together little tester. For ~$10 you can't go wrong. This is the second order I've placed at this site and they'll keep me coming back for more.
 

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
Got mine yesterday and already have a little rig with an old hard drive to fully test power supplies. It paid for itself with the first ATX powersupply that went from my untested junk pile to the working stuff pile. I think the idea is good enough I may just put together is simple 4 pin drive power tester. Time to order that LED kit I guess....

Free LED thread

www.pcpowerandcooling.com is a good place to keep bookmarked anyway, as they almost always have the best prices on this sort of doodad. They also have a nice line of extra quiet power supplies.