testing p/s at home

[ComputrMotorcycl]

I heard that i could test power supplies with a volt meter. i have a 400w amd/p4 certified one, and i need to test it for consistency. please tell me how to do it, thanks

[MDS]

might take a look here and power it up and check it out

[ComputrMotorcycl]

i hooked up a voltage tester and i got 2.6V when just the ps is on, not powered up. is this normal? or am i ok?
Also when my comp is powered up w/ the psu that i have, none of my drives work, that is why i am concerned. HELP ME!

[Redwolf]

The PSU always supplies the mobo some power. What leads did you test for the 2.6 Volts? The Vcore, 3.3, 5, or 12?

Hmmm...no drives, eh? Have you tried the drives in other machines? Have you tried the computer with only one drive (like just the hard drive or just the floppy) installed?

[ComputrMotorcycl]

The leads i tested were the 13 and 14 pins which were on MDS's website. And no, i have not tried it on a different computer, but today i am trying an older working psu on my drives to see if anything turns on this time. I have a new psu coming from newegg, its a 300w. Is there a possibility that all my drives are shot though? or is that impossible? just need some info.