Power supply rails, are these voltage readings ok?

Nick259 · Aug 27, 2012

I have an old x connect 500w power supply from 2004 that had a bulging capacitor so I changed it. I forgot to take before and after readings but do these voltages seem right? Taken with a cheap multimeter but given the age of the PSU there's no point in getting a better one just to test it.

+12v 12.17v
+5v 5.26v
+3.3v 3.4v
-12v -11.30v
-5v -4.70v

erocker · Aug 27, 2012

Looks good to me!

Nick259 · Aug 27, 2012

Even the -12v and -5v readings? Can somebody explain the significance of these rails?

erocker · Aug 27, 2012

I've always seen those read lower, I assume they are supposed to be below 12v/5v

cadaveca · Aug 27, 2012

Nick259 said:
I have an old x connect 500w power supply from 2004 that had a bulging capacitor so I changed it. I forgot to take before and after readings but do these voltages seem right? Taken with a cheap multimeter but given the age of the PSU there's no point in getting a better one just to test it.

+12v 12.17v
+5v 5.26v
+3.3v 3.4v
-12v -11.30v
-5v -4.70v

Specc'd tolerances are usually +/- 10%, i think...

ron732 · Aug 27, 2012

This page on about.com has a nice chart with tolerances and min & max voltage for each rail.

Power-supply-voltage-tolerance

Looks like your PSU is within in range.

Jetster · Aug 27, 2012

Nick259 said:
Even the -12v and -5v readings? Can somebody explain the significance of these rails?

What do you mean?

Nick259 · Aug 27, 2012

Jetster said:
What do you mean?

I am a bit of a noob (despite the fact I can solder!) when it comes to these things but I would have thought that the -12v reading would be closer to -12v or slightly over -12v as the +12v reading is. Same with the -5v. And why can't all the components use +12v?

95Viper · Aug 27, 2012

Nick259 said:
Can somebody explain the significance of these rails?

Standard Output Voltages at PCGUIDE.com

Edit: It is not a deep explanation, but a simple one.

Pehla · Aug 29, 2012

Nick259 said:
I am a bit of a noob (despite the fact I can solder!) when it comes to these things but I would have thought that the -12v reading would be closer to -12v or slightly over -12v as the +12v reading is. Same with the -5v. And why can't all the components use +12v?

my logic tells me that it is uper then -12!! if u use simple mathematics that seems to be ok cause -11 is biger then -12?? am i right??

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Power supply rails, are these voltage readings ok?

Nick259

erocker

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Nick259

erocker

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cadaveca

My name is Dave

ron732

Jetster

Nick259

95Viper

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Pehla

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