PSA: That $30 power supply tester saved me from a fire hazard

Picked up a cheap PSU tester off Amazon last month. Was working on an old gaming rig for a client, PSU looked fine, fans spun up. Plugged it into the tester and got a PG signal that was way out of spec. Turns out the voltage rails were slowly dying. Cost me $30 and a few minutes of testing. Has anyone else caught failing hardware with these cheap testers?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_ross2d ago

Wait, phone chargers do that too? Never even thought to check those.

allen.ivan3d ago

The same thing happens with old phone chargers too. They look fine but slowly start putting out weird voltages that wreck your battery. Kinda wild how often people just assume electronics are good because they power on.

max_ross3d ago

Read somewhere that these testers catch bad caps way before any visual bulging shows up. Saved a buddy's server build last year that way.