Question Precautions When Installing Power Supply for The First Time?

[Boris_yo]

Hello, I saw on Amazon there was one review about specific power supply which claimed that it fried their motherboard and that's what I am concerned about. The brand was quality brand by the way.

Are there any precautions to take when installing new power supply to mitigate the risk of frying motherboard? For example should I test power supply without it being attached to motherboard to see that it works at least. If something happens to power supply and it turns off at least you can be safe knowing you didn't connect it to motherboard which it could potentially fry.

Does that make sense? I know it's not a full proof but at least it's something.

 

[Newtonius]

Generally if you're buying from a reputable company like EVGA, Seasonic, corsair, etc then the chances of a defective PSU are pretty rare. They specialize in manufacturing the components to work with little to no variation in power management and efficiency. For the people who had their computers destroyed were just really unlikely and got a bad lottery draw, this is not a common occurrence.

However being safe, especially when dealing with power, is never a bad thing. Some precautionary actions to take when installing a PSU:

• Test it on a mother board before putting it in the computer case. You can't really test it unless it's plugged into something.
• If you have volt meters, use that to see the power output and check if it is stable.
• Make sure you discharge all static from your body before touching the PSU. That should be a general rule when dealing with any computer components
• Keep the fan of the PSU facing open space, typically cases have open bottom grill so putting the fan in upside is ideal. Suffocating the PSU's fan will cause premature death.
• Make sure every cable is fully plugged in firmly.

That's about it, it's not rocket science, just don't be a bozo.

 

[geofelt]

1. Do not buy a cheap psu.
Buy a tier 1/2, perhaps 3 unit from a list such as this:

PSU Tier List [OLD]

Credit to @Starelementpokeand @Energycore for helping out with this long-awaited refresh of the old PSU tier list by Aniallation (who previously went several months without logging in), leaving the old list in need of help. This is simply an update of the list that was flawed in creation by the P...

linustechtips.com

2. Make sure that the wall outlet is grounded. If you are not certain, there are socket testers that can tell.

3. Make all of your psu connections before plugging the psu into the wall and switching on the power button.

4. Some older power supplies have a voltage switch 220/110 If yours is one of those, set that switch properly.
Modern units will autodetect voltage.

Psu testers are almost worthless. They can confirm a dead psu, but not say anything about proper operation.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rucfmsGjPow&t=289s

 

[Boris_yo]

Instead of connecting power supply to all components should connect it to motherboard only to minimize potential damage spread to other components?

I don't have a styrofoam like the guy has in a YouTube video on which it has motherboard. I have my desktop wooden table. Will it be okay for testing
power supply and motherboard?

 

[geofelt]

wooden desktop is fine.