Go to a electronics store and buy a Antec ATX power supply tester for 12
bucks or less. Going into a PS without electronic knowledge can kill you the
capacitors carry some lethal wattage if they have not been discharged. The
ATX PS tester will tell you all you need to know. There are sites out there
designated to analyzing a PS, Look on Google for PS test equipment and
testing. It also could be the CPU temperature I resolved my problems with PS
no starts with CPU temp gel. IT works! Dropped the CPU temp by 15 degrees!


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Cilia" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 9:48 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Power Supply problems & testing with a multimeter


> Can anyone provide instructions on how to test a power supply using a
> multimeter.  The power supply (astec model aa20610, max.cont.power 145w -
no
> powerhouse by any standards but neither is the pc that it comes from)is
most
> likely a goner as the pc will no longer power up, post, power supply fan
> doesn't start, etc. The power source is fine as I can power up other pc's.
I
> have a multimeter available but have never used one and would like
some/any
> instructions if you've ever done this before.  My multimeter is a simple
> analog meter with black & red connectors, no digital read out. (Should I
> turf it and get a digital multimeter? I rec'd this one through my a+ class
> but we never really used it during the class or anytime afterwards).  It
has
> a DCV section with settings from 0.25 to 500, ACV section with settings
from
> 10 to 500, Resistance section settings from x10 to xK, DCmA settings from
> 0.25 to 500.  I don't have any plans on repairing the power supply, I have
> ordered a replacement and can change that without any help but I would
like
> to learn how to test electrical component to see what I should be looking
> for when a component does fail.  Even if you don't have instructions but
> know of a good website which may provide this info let me know.  I've
> searched but there's a lot out there.  Any help would be appreciated.
>
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