How do I tell if my power supply is dead?

[Hoeboy]

It won't turn on but then again this power supply has been known to act weird. Is there a certain odor or method of testing if it's truly dead?

 

[ThaPeez]

Im not sure, but mine died right after building a new system a little while ago. All I did to check was disconnect connect the power from the mobo. If nothing comes on, spins, or lights up, I'll bet it's dead.

 

[Hoeboy]

The thing is this power supply has been known to play dead on me. One point it will act like it's fried and the next thing it turns on. But today it won't turn back on after several tries. I want to be sure it's dead before I waste $40 getting a new power supply.

 

[prolific]

get a volt ohm meter.. stick in the black wire from the meter to the black wire in the powersupplies mobo connector. and stick in the red wire from the volt meter to the yellow wire on the power supplies mobo connector. if you get 12 volts or a little higher or lower then the power supply is good. If u get under 10.75V its dead.. GOod luck.

 

[Hoeboy]

is this with the power plugged in?

 

[Fisher999]

Yes, hoeboy, when testing a power supply with a voltmeter/ammeter/ohmmeter the Power Supply must be "plugged in" in order to test it.

It would be wise to make sure that the 20 wire lead from the ATX power supply is connected to the mobo's
20 pin connector and that the CPU/memory and a peripheral device such as a floppy driver are all installed at the time of testing.

 

[Hoeboy]

i'm sorry if i'm ignorant about a volt ohm meter but are you being sarcastic?

 

[Fisher999]

No, I did not intend to sound sarcastic.

 

[heffe734]

if nothing powers on then it's most likely that it's dead...try again tomorrow and see if it works...if it doesn't then i suggest you start searching for a new PSU.