Discuss (9) -
Posted at 12:13 PM on Tuesday 05/1/07 by
Ben
Hotness UNHOT
CensusPC.com has this Aluminum Power Supply Tester with LCD Display for $23 - $4 code CPSS237 [Exp 5/15] + $3 shipping = $22 shipped. It shows you some vital statistics on your PSU compared to what "should" be coming out of your PSU.
  • 1
    SpasticCracka - Posted 12:27 pm PDT 05/1/07 (53 Posts)  Report Spam

    my preferred power supply tester is still a wall outlet.
    .

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  • 2
    effenfish - Posted 12:35 pm PDT 05/1/07 (2190 Posts)  Report Spam

    #1, That won't give you much information. Try putting a Molex connector on your tongue, like a 9-volt battery test. That will tell you something.

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  • 3
    pentium - Posted 12:42 pm PDT 05/1/07 (47 Posts)  Report Spam

    FYI from website ,

    *Warning:
    This product is designed only for power supply output tests. Do not leave it connected to the power supply
    unattended. It generates heat and could possibly damage your power supply.

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  • 4
    grumpydog - Posted 1:34 pm PDT 05/1/07 (1649 Posts)  Report Spam

    I wonder what load it uses.
    Showing me that the 12volt line is 12.1 volts is not helpful if that is at .01amps. How is it at full rated load?

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  • 5
    dave_c - Posted 3:25 pm PDT 05/1/07 (16755 Posts)  Report Spam

    Take your $22 and buy a proper multimeter and a handfull of power resistors.

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  • 6
    grumpydog - Posted 5:24 pm PDT 05/1/07 (1649 Posts)  Report Spam

    my old iwill motherboard tells me the votages and fan speeds with software. It has alarms too if the numbers go screwy, but I guess this will not help if the computer will not run.

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  • 7
    jmitchel - Posted 9:44 pm PDT 05/1/07 (481 Posts)  Report Spam

    I have used this for about a year. It is a quick way to test a PS. If it tells you the PS is good, it is a 90% chance it is. Sometimes it says it is good when it is not. Normally when that happens the PS wont cut on when hooked to the MB, but it will come on and have good voltages with the tester, but a new PS fixes the problem.

    Sometimes it will say a PS is bad when it is not. Saturday a Dell came into the shop and wouldnt come on. I checked it with the handy dandy tester. It wouldnt get any power from the PS. My first thought was that the PS was bad. I pulled it out. It had an extra connector on it. It was labled P7, and had 3 black and 3 blue wires on it. We had a replacment in stock. I tested it too for the heck of it. It would not come on either. So I thought it was maybe something to do with that connector. I tried the new PS in the computer and it worked fine. I hooked up the old one one more time to the MB and it was bad. Apparently the P7 connector has something to do with powering up the PS.

    This thing is for quick tests. It is a valuable tool in my toolbox. You have to know its limitations though. It aint 100%. You need to know that. I dont use it to rate power supplies, it aint made for that. I work in a computer repair shop and use this thing at least 3 times a week. I dont have the time to break out the Fluke for PS problems. You should be able to diagnose and have a PS problem diagnosed and repaired, and ready to go in 45 minutes. It takes too long to do it any other way in a production shop. If wou are at home, messing around with a ps, you got all of the time in the world.

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  • 8
    dave_c - Posted 10:59 pm PDT 05/1/07 (16755 Posts)  Report Spam

    In other words #7, it can only find certain types of PSU failures, not all failures, and it can't qualify a PSU as working properly. As such, at the most it is additional evidence to be considered along with other manditory tests that make it obsolete, not a device suited to do what it claims.

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  • 9
    jmitchel - Posted 12:01 pm PDT 05/2/07 (481 Posts)  Report Spam

    Yes Dave, I agree with you. I have not seen a better tester yet. If I do, I will get it. I just dont have the time to do it any other way. It is quicker to try another PS, than to spend much time diagnosing defective power supplies. We dont fix bad ones anyway.

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