Power supply problem?

[tw]

Originally Posted by glatt

I just looked up some instructions online for testing a power supply. It's fairly involved.

Procedure is simple. First, do not disconnect or remove anything. Buy or borrow a digital meter. Set to 20 VDC. Measure a purple wire from PSU where it connects to the motherboard. It should read about 5 VDC. Report that number to three digits.

Measure the green and gray wires both before and when the power switch is pressed. Report those 3 digit numbers.

And finally, set the system so that it is accessing as many peripherals as possible. For example, download from the Internet, while playing complex graphics (ie a movie) on the video controller, while powering multiple USB devices, while playing a CD, while playing sound loudly, while ...

Measure any one yellow, oranage, and red wire while all these devices are powered. Also report those three numbers. The next reply will actually report what is and is not defective without doubt.

A power supply tester is virtually useless. Cannot report many power supply failures. Do not report about other parts of the power supply system. No numbers mean a reply can only be speculation.

[glatt]

I already disconnected everything from the PSU by the time I read your post, tw. I was unable to get any readings at all from the female connectors of the PSU. I think the prongs of my multimeter are a little too fat to fit inside them. I did do the hot wiring thing from the 3rd pin to the 4th pin. That's supposed to run the fan. I plugged the PSU in, and the fan ran for about 5 seconds and then stopped. I tried unplugging and replugging several times, but the fan doesn't run.

Your idea to leave everything connected and take measurements while the system is running all the peripherals won't work here because it won't start up.

I"m going back in, and I'm going to see if I can figure out a way to get a measurement from those pins.