I was surprised too.

Post #258,362 by Another Scott 6/9/06 10:36:27 PM Reply	I was surprised too. But it could be a sign that they're selling a lot of power supplies now, not a sign that their quality has fallen. It wouldn't discourage me, but YMMV. Cheers, Scott.
Post #258,364 by Andrew Grygus 6/9/06 10:51:54 PM Reply	Normally, your returns are repaired . . . . . and placed in your warranty replacement pool (anyone who thinks he's getting a new unit in place of his failed one needs a better grasp of reality). Idealy, the pool should quickly come into balance with returns and it usually does. The only way you should have refurbs to sell is if replacements are being refused. If they are being refused, you have some unhappy customers. Now maybe they have some other explanation, but I'd like to see it audited before I accept it. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #258,588 by drewk 6/12/06 12:13:04 PM Reply	Looks like I'll go with the Antec The Silencer refurb supply makes me nervous, and price/performance looks comparable with Antec. Last question before I order: I've got a multi-meter at home. If I wanted to check the old PS, how do I find what to check? (It's already removed. CompUSA and Office Max both said they could test it for me.) I'm assuming if I had the wiring diagram for the output I could just put the probes in the right two leads. Is this layout standardized? Would I be wasting my time, testing it without any load? === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #258,610 by Andrew Grygus 6/12/06 2:32:54 PM Reply	Testing power supplies. Just about any motherboard manual will have the pin asignments for the power connector. I have a little load block that when plugged into the connector turns the power supply on and puts a load on it (switchers may not run at all with no load). A realistic test is to put the power supply on the bench plugged into an old motherboard and hard disk. A power switch from an old cabinet can be used to turn it on and off (or just a screwdriver momentarily shorting the power switch pins on the motherboard will do). Use a good multimeter with thin probes and you can just stick the probes down into the connector from the top alongside the wires. Of course voltages don't tell you other important stuff like ripple (some meters will give you a decent ripple reading when set to AC) and noise. The ATX spec can be found on the Internet. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #258,617 by Another Scott 6/12/06 3:29:49 PM Reply	PC Power and Cooling has info on PS testing. [link\|http://www.pcpowercooling.com/support/ATX_troubleshoot.htm\|ATX Troubleshooting]. They also sell a $10 tester. HTH. Cheers, Scott.
Post #258,626 by drewk 6/12/06 4:01:46 PM Reply	That tester looks like it only checks two wires And a single green light doesn't seem to tell me much about the quality of power it's putting out. But I'll be that's all the guys at CompUSA and OfficeMax would do, so I might as well try it myself. I'll check my mobo manual tonight. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #258,628 by Andrew Grygus 6/12/06 4:18:14 PM Reply	Yes, if the green light goes on . . . . . it means the power supply has activated the "power OK" signal to tell the motherboard power is ready. It says nothing about voltages actually being present at the connector or about power quality. The black block simply puts sufficient load on the 5v output so the power supply will turn on. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #261,586 by drewk 7/13/06 2:22:20 PM Reply	Just ordered it (new thread) Created as new thread #261585 titled [link\|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=261585\|Just ordered it] === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]

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