[mphenterprises]

Good Evening everyone,Is there any piece of equipment that can test how effectively a Power Supply is working? I build computers on a regular basis but never really thought about anything to detect a potential Power Supply failure.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

[techie4fun]

How about a voltmeter?

[mphenterprises]

Figured as much but I didn't think it was that obvious. Thanks for knocking some sense into me. :D

[techie4fun]

Lol-- no prob. My dad's a communications officer in the air force and works with telephone lines and crap ALL THE TIME, so when you asked, the big yellow voltmeter came into mind. :lol:

[mjd420nova]

Just measuring the voltages isn't enough to tell you if a PS is good or not. Most PS units need to have a load placed across the 12 volt and 5 volt supplies, then the amount of ripple measured to assure a clean source. Loading would require a resistance be placed across the output and a current meter to measure how much current is being drawn and what the loading does to the voltage. Not all that cut and dried or simple.

[mphenterprises]

Thank you for the advice. I have a question for you. I went online and found something called a Power Supply Tester. Here is one of the links I found:http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=150958&cmArea=SEARCHDo you think something like this would provide an adequate indication as to whether or not the Power Supply is going bad?

[spike]

Yes and no, It would tell you if the PSU was blatantly bad, but if your problems were intermitent , maybe not, but it would be better than just guessing, or nothing at all. I used to have one of these , it wasn't 100%, but did help.