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Bench testing PSUs with a $30 tester vs a multimeter, and I'm never going back
Had a customer's rig in my Bay City bench last Thursday that kept shutting off under load, and my old Fluke 115 showed 12.1V on the 12V rail so I figured the PSU was fine. Out of ideas, I grabbed a cheap $30 PSU tester a buddy left behind, and it flagged the 5V rail sagging to 4.6V under load, which the meter never caught because it doesn't put any real draw on the unit. Swapped the PSU and the shutdowns stopped cold. So is a dedicated tester worth it for every tech, or do you all just trust your meter and a paperclip jump? Curious what you keep on the bench.
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rubyschmidt21d ago
Ha, a meter with no load is basically just guessing!
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