PSU Diag Equipment ??

What kind of tests do you want to perform? There is some really high end equipment that can cost in excess of $10,000.00.

You can buy a cheap alternative - around £20 - £30.00 that allows you to plug the various connectors from the PSU into a device that shows if it supplies the minimum ATX voltage - however while this will tell you if the PSH works it doesnt give you any detailed information on the voltages being supplied - just a green or red LED for pass / fail.

How does a GEEK shop determine your power supply has to be replaced ?
That is the testing I want to do. 10K is a little out of range !

Thx for your Links, especially the "How to Conduct" one. I got somewhat side tracked with this testing project, but should be back on track this week when the PSU tester arrives. I have 2 supposedly Dead PSU, 1 Maybe Dead PSU, and a Good PSU to experiment with. Will undoubtedly have more ?? as I proceed, but for now, your response is best answer. Thanks again.

Best answer selected by ksiemb.

I hope this thread is still active, as you gave me some good leads before. But I think I screwed up & ordered a wrong PSU tester. The Power Supplys I want to test are for the DELL Dimension Desktops 4400, 4500. Both have a 20 Pin + 4 Pin Connectors to the System Board. The PSU tester I ordered from Geeks.com is DG's Power Supply Tester for power supply ATX, BTX, and ITX Compliant Power Supplys. Description says: 1.8 LCD 20+4 Pin PSU tester w/8/6/4 Pin Connectors. The receptacle on the tester is 24 Pin, and is much larger than the mother board connector, so of course, nothing fits ! Where did I go wrong, and what should I order ?

Your help (and Patience) is greatly appreciated.

I may have jumped the gun on my previous post. The 20 pin Mother board connector fits in the rightmost 20 of the meter's 24 pin receptacle. And the 4Pin mother Board connector fits in the 4 rightmost connectors of the 6 pin receptacle on the meter. Hope this is correct.

The meter shows what i believe are normal readings. Except 12v.2 which reads LL. the 12v reading is around 12.

The meter flashes and gives a single beep for each flash.

Am I doing this correctly ?

disregard my previous post. After trial & error and a magnifying glass, I found where to connect the 4 Pin Motherboard connection. I have tested a 250 watt max output unit from a DELL 4400 and all readings seem normal.
12v 12v2 sv?? PG
12.0 12.1 5.1 32.0 ms

+12v +5v1 +3.3v
12.0 5.1 3.3

Is the Power Good rating 32.0 Good for this unit ?


When connected to the mother board, there is no power. I suppose this is power on button failure ?

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey