OT question for electronics wizards

From: dave dameron <ddameron_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Mon Dec 21 21:32:34 1998

At 07:17 PM 12/21/98 -0700, you wrote:

>gaa. remind me again that English is my native language...
>
>Okay. Let's try again. When it says it wants 7 amps at 115, does it ALWAYS
>want 7 amps at 115volts? or only when the computer it's driving really wants
>all 300 watts it can put out?
>
>
It probably has a 7Amp fuse inside, so the 7 Amps is just the max surge
current. Even then most PC power supplies have less turn on surge current
than a color TV because they have a negative temp coeff. surge resistor in
series with the power input. Many TV's I've seen do not.

Because of lower power disk drives, most PC's draw much less power than one
may expect. Feel the air flow exiting from the PSU to get an indication of
the heat load. Take out all the computer stuff from the case and put a light
bulb inside as a comparison. One can also measure the currents on each of
the DC leads (with an adapter because there are, for example, multiple 5
Volt leads).
-Dave
 
Received on Mon Dec 21 1998 - 21:32:34 GMT