should i adjust my rails?

[covana2244]

I have a thermaltake purepower 480watt psu, I is at 12.02 idle and 11.90 under load, should I worry about adjusting the pots?

Also is there a quick way to discharge a psu? I want to solder some different fans in but can't wait for ever.

[David]

I wouldnt worry unless you are experiencing stability issues. You are usually fine unless your voltages are more than 5% out - ie less than 11.4v or more than 12.6 volts.

[glock19owner]

I would start worring if the rails start to drop more or if instability issues start to arise...

Take the PSU to your local TV repair person..they should be able to discharge it for you...

[covana2244]

I heard if I put a screw driver over the caps it would discharge it, is this true? Also how long would I have to leave it off for in order to let it drain naturally?

[larrymoencurly]

11.90V is off by just 0.8% and can't be a drawback unless you're overclocking to the extreme.

To discharge the high voltage capacitors, pull the plug while the PSU is still running, and they should drain down in 5 seconds, or 20 seconds if the computer is already turned off. The bleeder resistors themselves can discharge the caps in 20 minutes, but I've seen Enermax PSUs without any. If your mobo has a power indicator LED, the caps have drained once it's one dark, but you always want to check the PSU with a voltage meter anyway before working inside it.

The main problem with trying to discharge the caps directly is that they're hard to reach, and you could receive a jolt while removing the circuit board to discharge them. But you should be able to discharge them by touching the diode bridge's "+" lead to the center terminal of the rear voltage selector switch and then by touching the bridge's "-" terminal to it. But I don't know what to do if the PSU has active PFC (power factor correction) and no voltage selector switch.

[Ad Rock]

If I remember correctly Larva has said that if you unplug the PSU and then just try to turn your computer on without the powercord being plugged in the mobo will drain the last remaining charge from your PSU.

I think it is mostly monitors that you have to worry about the caps keeping a long charge in them.

[ati]

yup thats what i do when i need to discharge. just unplug your psu then press the power button. if you have any lights youll see them turn on for a split second or so.