Power Supply Test

[mysts]

How does one test the power supply outside the case. Someone suggested bending a paper clip and pluging it into the green connector and a black connector on the atx plug. I tried this but it did not work. Any suggestions?

[classfour]

I use a power supply tester. Be certain to locate the correct one for the motherboard plut (typically 20 or 24 pin).

[aedipuss]

you can kill a power supply by turning it on by connecting the green and black lines without a load across the voltages. a 10ohm 10watt resistor across the +5 volt line can be used.

[Nelson37]

I have a simple stance on such tests.

If it passes the test, but plugging in the mobo and drives, it fails, what then?

If the test fails, but the mobo and drives plugged in work fine, now what?

Do you leave it on the tester overnite? What loading and heat levels are reached?

Rather than waste the time acquiring totally useless information, plug the suspect PS into another mobo and plug another PS into the original mobo. Save the money on testers, use it for parts. Save the time wasted, use it actually fixing something.

[mysts]

Thanks everyone for your help. We finally got it to work. We sprayed the mobo power plug with a degreaser and then used compressed air to blow it clean. It works fine now.