Power Supply Tester

[21stHermit]

Here's a $8 Power Supply Tester, can it tell me anything useful. Or is this a bunch of blinking LED's that just blink.

 

[Aluvus]

It can tell you that the supply is not completely and totally dead. I suppose it can confirm that you don't have a broken wire going to one of your connectors. That's about all.

Meaningful power supply testing requires that the supply have a decent load on it, and these testers generally place almost no load on the supply.

That one might provide slightly more information than most (after all, it has more LEDs to blink), but it's still not going to tell you much.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Those are good enough to tell you that the PSU will turn on and thats about it. They have a small load resistor in them to provide just enough load to get the PSU to power on. All the LEDs tell you is that it does detect current passing threw the rails and thats about it. If you really want to check a PSU then Place a load on your system and use a DVOM to check the voltages of each rail. As long as the voltage reading is within +/-5% your PSU is fine. So spend about $4 more and get a decent little meter.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Aluvus
It can tell you that the supply is not completely and totally dead.

Another good use is for doing stuff like powering on PSUs to test fans, to hook up an optical drive to retrieve a disc, to test lights, etc.

 

[mpilchfamily]

A cheap paperclip will also allow you to power on a PSU to test fans and drives with.

 

[magreen]

A cheap paperclip will also let you test if current is flowing through the wires.

I know of a good power supply tester. You can see it at jonnyguru.com.