PC Power Supply Testing
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Is there any way to test a PC power supply under load without hooking it up to actual PC parts? I have a power supply tester that shows the voltages coming out of the supply, but it does not place an actual load on the supply.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Is there any way to test a PC power supply under load without hooking it up to actual PC parts? I have a power supply tester that shows the voltages coming out of the supply, but it does not place an actual load on the supply.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
PC power supplies require a minimal load to source output voltages inside the specification range. Some will check if a load is connected and switch off outputs with no load. So each of the 3.3, 5, and 12 V rails should be connected to some kind of load. For the 5 and 12 V rails I would use an old drive (floppy, CD/DVD, or hard disk). The 3.3 V rail can be connected to a load resistor (e.g. 3.3 Ohm, 5 Watt). Finally you must connect the Power On signal (Pin 16/14 for ATX-24/-20) to GND. It might be necessary to connect an additional load resistor to the 12 V rail because the load may be not enough when the motor of a conncted drive is not running. Additional information can be found at the Wikipedia[^] page (see also the links at the bottom).
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PC power supplies require a minimal load to source output voltages inside the specification range. Some will check if a load is connected and switch off outputs with no load. So each of the 3.3, 5, and 12 V rails should be connected to some kind of load. For the 5 and 12 V rails I would use an old drive (floppy, CD/DVD, or hard disk). The 3.3 V rail can be connected to a load resistor (e.g. 3.3 Ohm, 5 Watt). Finally you must connect the Power On signal (Pin 16/14 for ATX-24/-20) to GND. It might be necessary to connect an additional load resistor to the 12 V rail because the load may be not enough when the motor of a conncted drive is not running. Additional information can be found at the Wikipedia[^] page (see also the links at the bottom).
Thank you!
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
-
Is there any way to test a PC power supply under load without hooking it up to actual PC parts? I have a power supply tester that shows the voltages coming out of the supply, but it does not place an actual load on the supply.
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
You will need voltage meter for this.
