How to Safely Mix Power Supply Cables Without Killing Parts
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- We previously said you should never mix power supply cables from modular power supplies. This is true, but there's a way to do it safely with continuity testing.
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This is pretty basic stuff. In this video, we show how to do a simple continuity test to determine if one PSU's cables can be used with another PSU. You should typically avoid mixing and matching power supply cables, as doing so can cause the death of components or power supplies. It's easy to accidentally short 12V to ground, for instance, or you might get lucky and just be unable to boot. It's still possible to get a PSU running with cables that aren't native to it, however, and that's what we show today.
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Super basic stuff today. We're working on a ton of testing in-house for dying RTX cards and for Z390 motherboards, so enjoy this easy video for today!
Can I fry my PSU if I use CableMod PRO ModMesh Cable Extension Kit? Or does it have to be a specific extension kit?
btosinte website (Build to Order Servers) inc is an authorized seasonic dealer, I had to buy some for an old 750 I lost the cables for. Reasonably priced, the alternative are sites that sell seasonic sleeved cables at "enthusiast" prices.
The perfect example of explaining something simple in a confusing manner ...
Your schematic skills are astounding ...
BTW, OL is OVERLOAD not 0L ...
@@g.s777 Extensions won't damage your PSU, because like their namesake they only extend the end that plugs to your component. The location of the pins is the same, they don't switch places and won't matter since you're extending the 24pin, 8pin EPS, or PCI 8/6pin. OTOH the modular cables that come out from the PSU the side that plugs into your PSU have propietary plugs and pin outs and they may switch, move around. Those need to be specific to your PSU or line of PSU, even within tha same brand the pin out can change from model to model. TL,DR: Extensions doesn't matter what PSU you use it on. Modular cable replacements, you need the specific for your brand/model.
Sometimes you can also use an ATX pin extraction tool. To swap the wires around and re order the pins at the PSU end.
Let me make a niave comment, wouldn't it be great if PSUs had a standard for the cables as well as the other standards out there (size ATX, efficiency 80+ etc). I wonder why there isn't more consistency, feels like it'd be a win for everyone? I'd love to keep my cable mod cables for my corsair power supply for 2-3 builds, perhaps I can after watching this.
I suppose it comes down to how willing the manufacturers are to work with each other. The trouble is that everyone thinks they have a better "standard" than their competition, and no one really wants to concede and adopt what someone else is using. EVGA, for example, has universal power headers on some of its PSUs (so you can plug EPS12V in anywhere, or PCIe anywhere), but this is expensive and bulky. While EVGA likes it as a marketing point, another company might not for either cost or size reasons. Then you have the inverse -- some company make extra small connectors to meet tinier form factors, which introduces different complications. Fortunately, the system-side is standardized, so we only have to worry about one end.
Just re-pin the cable.
@@kennya5165 with what tools`i live in little denmark and is not easy to finde the right tools. so i tried making my own. :S but yeah that didn't go so well. i have the Corsair RM550x and love it. but it's in a Metis tower (mini-itx) so my pci-e was waaay to long. only need a few inches :P would love to make one myself. because the cablemod site confused me. soo yeah maybe with the right tools. just can't find em.
Do same connector on both ends with same pinout; Issue solved ...
@@Lorten369 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GOIY1NE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - This is the tool I have to remove the pins from the connectors, I think it works great. This is really all you need for it unless you're doing a bunch of other modifications. Other channels (maybe even GN, I haven't seen one from them but I don't know) have plenty of custom sleeving tutorials that demonstrate how to use the tool and remove pins. If you don't know how to map the psu pinout, there are videos on that as well. You will need a DMM (Digital Multi Meter) if you need to map it. But you can usually find the voltage map on the manufacturer's website.
If you turn that dial on the meter one more click, it will just ring when you find the ones that connect.
Just make sure you didn't turn the volume off :)
@@kennya5165 There is no volume control for the continuity tester of voltmeters.
@@tikabass actually, on some there are. I recently had that issue with a guy I work with, he thought the speaker was broken. turns out the sound was just turned off. pretty sure it was a Fluke. He's an old guy, doesn't know much about electronics, just knows how to "check the millivolts" on the load cells.
@@kennya5165 I have a fairly old Fluke that does this. Its the one with the yellow button on the rotary dial.
@@kennya5165 I've never seen one. Not on a Fluke, nor on a Metrix, nor on an Agilent, nor on any other meters I've worked with in the last 30 years. Even bench-top ones. A continuity tester is not a metronome. If there is a pot on the meter, it's to zero the resistance reading,, not a volume control.
Thank you Corsair and Seasonic for using the same connectors with different wiring. It made one of my PC upgrades much more exciting and eventful.
same thing for me
Wish i knew this 4 months ago. Mixed some evga cables with a seasonic psu and i fried a 500gb mx500, 2 tb wd black , rbg controller for my corsair fans and the psu itself.
$400 bucks gone in an instant.
That's heart breaking even for me to hear
Username checks out.
I killed a 4tb hd by accident that way and it's almost too easy. Now I'm very careful. 🤪
I'd love to see a photo of the inside of the failed PSU to look at failure analysis. If it's just the capacitors then it should be easily fixable.
I wish each company would just have their own connectors or something to make it obvious that PSU cables aren't universal. My brain is programmed for proprietary stuff to just use some wacky connector or form factor. If it fits then I just assume it's a universal standard.
Something tells me it would be helpful to get it standardized on the PSU side. Not only for end users, but for custom cabling manufacturers.
Wow... how lucky have I been. I've been mixing and matching power supply cables for years without an issue, thank God. I assumed the keying on the pins was designed to prevent you from plugging the wrong cables into the wrong slots and causing a problem. I've had some cables that *almost* matched, but had one or two pins differently keyed, and so of course in those cases I was not able to use the cable. Who knew that wrong cables can have right keys? What a bizarre thing for manufacturers to do. Why even key at all then?
Same.
I've built many PC's since 2007 and never had an issue using cables between different PSU's.
Say, want to co-buy lottery numbers?
@@colors5108 lol. Yea, I've been lucky.
Thank you very much, I'd heard that you shouldn't mix cables but until seeing you individually test and draw a diagram of the cables I didnt completely comprehend the reason why 👍
I understand why, but I don't understand how I'm supposed to know which cables to buy
Great video but the diagram was a mess xD You could've just wrote the pin number of the PSU connector to the corresponding pin in the standardized connector. This way you would get rid of all these confusing lines.
Any reason you used resistor mode instead of continuity mode? Continuity mode is more convenient because is makes a sound so you don't have to look at the screen.
I suppose you could have a funky cable. Like say a quiet* fan cable. But yeah the beep is nice.
to save headphones users, to not have several loud beeps in the video, it irks some people like nails on chalkboard
some cheap multimeters don't have a continuity mode, and one of the points was to show how to do this with a cheap multimeter.
because some of the wires are weirdly connected. One time he got 20 Ohms between two ground pins for some reason, continuity mode would not have spotted that.
@@nottheengineer4957 20 Ohms is probably not going to be in spec of a cheapo multimeter anyway. The accuracy goes to useless really quick near the single digit range unless it's specifically designed to handle it. I've fallen into this precise trap myself.
If you want to measure it without a fancy meter anyway, the right way to do it is to send a known current down the cable (1A should be good for these cables) and measure the voltage drop (or known voltage and measure the current, but you need a really low voltage), then use Ohm's law to calculate the resistance.
When you know you're the reason for a GN video... Haha
and im sitting here and wonder who has so many different psu cables and mixed them up :D
@@TheHalo294 see what had happened was...
I thought it was Science Studio. Didn’t he blow up a system using wrong cables to an RGB controller back a while?
@@colinberry2991 yes
Nzxt hue I think
And here I thought I was the only one left who actually likes "ketchup and mustard" cables better. They make it a lot easier for guys like me who make a harness to power their monitor off of their PSU
Also, I've seen people on Reddit saying you can't do this because the gauge of the wires might also be different. It's true, the gauge might be different, but it doesn't matter. Unlike the PSU-side connector, the wattage is standardized. Therefore, all PSU cables are rated for the same wattage (unless they're cheap shit I guess)
I'd be interested to see how you do this. I'm looking to make a on/off switch for my Bose sound bar so I don't have to keep using the remote control.
Basically, I read the output specification on the power adapter that came with my monitor and saw that the output was 12v at 0.75a. Used my multimeter to confirm the voltage and then cut apart and clamped the line to confirm the amperage. Then I completely cut the wire and soldered it to an old molex extension I had. Plugged that into my test bench PSU and confirmed with the multimeter that the output was the same, then ran the cable through an open PCI slot on the case and plugged everything in. In the end I freed up an outlet and my monitor auto-turns-off with my PC. Make sure to get the polarity right, that little dash could be the end of your electronics if you don't notice it
I also have my wall-powered speakers rigged up with an automotive relay to 'unplug' my speakers when my computer turns off, but I can't recommend anyone does that unless they have experience working with mains power. Instead, if you want something to 'unplug' with your computer, there are specialized power strips that will shut power off to their outlets when one outlet isn't drawing power. Like this one - www.amazon.com/TrickleStar-Outlet-Advanced-PowerStrip-Joules/dp/B00JPDYYSM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541216912&sr=8-4&keywords=automatic+power+strip
@@trapperjohn7571 Thanks for your reply, I do appreciate the detail. My project is going to involve opening the sound bar itself and somehow hard-lining the power-on signal into the remote sensor so I can use a button instead of the remote - turning it on with the computer would be even better. Adding in volume control would also be sweet. I don't want to disable the sensor as that will remove any future ability to use the sound bar for anything else. Even though our projects aren't too similar, it does give me some ideas.
Hm, you might have a tricky project in front of you. If the remote is the only way to operate the sound bar, then it's likely that everything's done in software via whatever chip it has. It could be tricky to interface with. I"m taking a total stab in the dark here, but maybe trying to replicate the actual sensor's output with an Arduino
Anyways, good luck!
Good timing on this video. I just ran into this problem with two EVGA PSU's a 500BQ and a 650BQ. I assumed incorrectly that the pin outs would be identical they were not, luckily there was no damage that I'm aware of but just a PSA even with the same manufacture and same product line DO NOT assume the pin outs are the same.
Very Helpful! I have a SATA 3.3 power cable that had the 2 GROUND wires swapped with each other when compared to a older SATA cable & Molex to SATA 3.3.
As long as the keys match you can also swap wires around to go to the proper pin on the power supply. I did this with needing 4 Molex cables for a server backplane and used random Corsair and Evga cables which used standard 6pin pci-e plugs and swapped around the wires to match the power supply I was using. They make tools to remove the wire from the plug though I used a staple folded in half clamped in some locking plyers and spread out about an eighth of an inch with a flat screw driver. I also sanded the inside of the two ends of the staple to make it easier to insert into the plug and worked great since it's easy to make again if the staple breaks instead of buying a new tool that also break periodically.
On another note power supplys have a safety feature that checks the wiring before powering on so a good power supply will just not turn on if you are using a wire with the wrong pin out but that is not something to rely on when expensive parts could die in a cloud of blue smoke. I always recommend shorting the power up pins on the 20/24 pin plug and with a volt meter testing each unknown cable has the proper voltage or ground where it is specified to be on the plug.
be careful with that
i have 2 power supplies, and when i tested the voltages for a molex connector cable, the voltages were WILDLY different. when plugged into one of the PSUs, it read 3 volts between certain pins, 12v between other pins. plugged into another power supply, it gave ONLY 12v on the pins.
so, even if the connector can fit in the power supply, that does NOT mean the wiring and power levels are correct for that connector.
Overall this is an excellent video, with a lot of good information in it. Only a few mistakes which I have outlined below.
0:43 "or you could damage the power supply" Unlikely unless you have a cheap power supply, almost all modern units have short circuit protection and whatever you're plugging it into is unlikely to have voltage present at it (unless it's being powered from another power supply) in which case feeding low impedance voltage into your PSU ground can damage it depending if it's got protection on that side as well, but the "worst" you're likely to get is a short circuit, which will usually cause the PSU to shut down. You have a significant chance of destroying the part you plug into it though.
if you connect one of the rails and ground to a ground line on your GPU/MB you will short them and the short circuit protection will engage. However, if you connect a 12V rail to a minor rail you stand a decent chance to blow up an output capacitor. This goes doubly true if you connect the -12V rail to anything.
5:23 "we're just going to use a resistance check, so it's a continuity test" If you click your multimeter one click clockwise from where it is, you'll put it in continuity test mode, it will "beep" when it detects continuity (usually under a few hundred ohms check your user manual. a cable is less than 1 ohm so it will definitely work) This saves you from having to stare at the multimeter all the time and will save a LOT of time and effort. It was also left in autorange mode, so it has to range through all the resistance ranges, which takes time. If you *are* using the resistor check for this sort of thing (and there are good reasons to use it, but continuity testing is best done in continuity tester mode) then leave it in manual range for whatever you're working on. it will be much faster.
6:49 "OL" stands for "overload" so it's "OL" not "0L" no big deal though.
6:56: You are charging the capacitor that's in the cable with the multimeter. This is expected behavior for a cable that's got capacitors in it when you put the leads across the power and ground for it. Try measuring the "voltage" of a capacitor and you'll see the same thing.
11:20 "pin 1 doesn't need to go to pin 7, ... it just needs to go to 5,6,7 or 8" This is almost correct. It most cases this is fine, but in some cases the PSU might have different rails attached to that connector, and if you wire them up differently it can load up one rail more than the others on the PSU which can overload the rail while keeping the other rails the same. This was a major concern with my last PSU, which I had to completely rewire. However in most cases it's ok.
12v to gnd is easy enough to figure out and control. 12v to the 5v rail can become interesting and is where I'd imagine where most of the problems arise. Power supplies do die if you do this, I have done it
I agree with Reuben, there can be a scenario where you feed back the 12V to the 5V rail and I'm sure not many power supplies will be happy about that, even if they have short circuit protection.
@@jackwhite3820 Fairly sure all psu's out there have short protection. In the 80 plus standard I think..?
@@ReubenHorner Hi Reuben, that's a good point to bring up, one that I hadn't considered. (I didn't think about modular motherboard cables). First of all, let's recognize that this will definitely happen if you put both a 12V and 5V into the ground connector of the motherboard. I think the PSU itself will be OK if you do this, but you will blow up an electrolytic capacitor depending on a number of factors. This is doubly true if you connect the -12V rail to anything.
I still think the rest of the unit will be OK, but I wouldn't expect every user to be comfortable soldering new capacitors into their PSU. I'm just used to proper lab PSUs with output protection (sometimes even including gas discharge tubes) on the output, so they'll be OK even if you accidentally put -1200V across it.
OL does not mean "Overload" it means Open Lead, or it in short there is not current flowing through the leads, when doing electrical in houses an Open Lead usually indicates that there is a break in the Black lead or in a White lead.
I swear this GN channel feels now like a College class....thank you for all the useful information you provide us!
Nice video. You can also just plug the cable only into the psu, turn the psu on (jump it) and probe the cable end on voltage setting with the multimeter ground connected to the chassis of the psu. Good way to double check your work before you plug an expensive component into it.
Should work for all but the 24 PIN Motherboard cable.. On the motherboard you have +3.3V sense and +5V Standby to worry about.. As well as possible double wires to some connectors.
@@tisjester I don't think it will work for SATA either, but neither does the method in this video :/ surely there must be a way to safely test it...
"OL" means "over limit" or "overload" (resistance is higher than what the multimeter can measure). And the meter has a dedicated continuity mode. And, diode mode can do the same but faster (voltage drop ~0 V for a short).
When I needed a second CPU 8-pin cable for PSU, I just used PCI-E 6-pin (NOT 8-PIN) which came with it. Only differences are the key, orientation and number of pins. Rotate 6-pin 180° and plug in, works great, and cable can sustain pretty good load. Not the most elegant solution, but the cheapest and easiest one for sure.
Not dangerous?
@@Iamtherealsunnot until heavy overclocking or generally power-hungry CPU is user. Anything lower than say 150W should be fine, anything above and I won't risk it.
@@penguin86bitals thanks good to know my friend!
It can still be dangerous to mix and match some cables since some PSU cables have capacitors and sense lines going back to the PSU. That means some of the PSU side pins are shorted together which could lead to issues. How many PSUs have this feature I don't know but it's present on some higher end Corsair ones.
This could of saved me 14tb of data 2 months ago. Thankfully 99% was backed up.
*spit take* My storage is smaller than that. 14TB is expensive unless it is made up of an array.
@@Aereto 14tb is the minimum for small home servers
You won't believe the adrenaline rush when I realized they all graciously blew up. (2 6tb WD Blue + 1x512GB SSD + 1TB SSD)...Stupid PSU vendors! they should but a freaking big red paper to be seen first as you open the PSU....pretty much like the paper on the conductonaut liquid metal.
I was still cold sweating defeated on the carpet ordering new drives with my phone.
Of course corsair denied any help to recover the little data I didn't back up.
@@quiky9065 My storage is 0.8PB, but I have a lot of raw footage, so much that I bought a 4U Supermicro barebones.
@@piers389 thats not anymore a small home server o.o
i have a 4x4tb + 2x10tb on windows storage, mainly aimed at home teater stuff. effective space is no more than 15tb tho and its time to another buy
This is my kind of video. During the pandemic, last July, was given an OCZ 500W semi modular PSU but without it's Molex harness. I wanted one to run the back case fan on full for exhaust. Just the week before, my son's ANTG PSU died in his CYBERPOWER pre built from 2016. Was able to canablize all the cables (non modular) from it and used connectors from 2 of them, a multi meter, soldering pencil and RUclips (to see how to remove pins from connectors) to make up a solid Molex harness that works great. I used the multi meter to measure continuity, resistance and voltage for each wire.
As I wanted to use a psu connector from a older psu, this video makes me want to scream. Thanks Steve, you saved my parts.
OL stands for "out of limit" when you are measuring voltage. if you set the meter to mV and the voltage is to high it will read OL for out of limit. It could be dangerous not knowing this because having the meter on the wrong range and using the terminaligy "open line" could miss lead someone to think there is no voltage. when actually it could be higher than the range the meter is set to. be safe
Thank you.. every time he said "zero L" i shuddered lol
OverLoad?
I swapped my corsair ax760 for a new hx1200, and I thought I was sold a dud psu when the pc wouldn't power on. I swapped the main 24-pin connector harness with the one that came with the hx, and lo and beheld, it worked!
I got spooked and swapped everything else over. Here I am! Learning the hard way that psu cables aren't standardized 😮💨
If the plug fits the PSU and is not using the right pinout, you can pull the pins and put them in the correct places at the power supply side. Same way you pull them to sleeve the wires.
Steve, you can also move your range switch one more position clockwise to "continuity." It has the symbol that looks like the sound waves. It will display resistance, as the resistance setting does, with the additional benefit of sounding an audible alarm when there is continuity. Thanks again.
Once I know what is what, I’d de-pin the connectors and organise them accordingly. 5 yrs old your video mate and yet still super helpful
Omg, I have always mixed power supply modular cables. Did not even think about that before because I was quite certain that this is a standard. I guess I have been lucky so far, no dead servers on desktops :D
You can always use a terminal tool or sewing needle to depress the retention tabs holding the wires in the terminals (plastic connectors), then move the wires to their correct locations in the terminals. And then if you can find a kit with the right terminals and connectors you can use a pair of Blue-Point PWC47 crimpers to make your own cables.
I actually made the best one yet, to date, last night.
Scrap inkjet printer. There's a tension cable...no strip? the printer tram rides on it and it is under high tension. The left side connection is a thinnnn and very rigid...spring rigid... piece of metal.
It takes a good sheet metal sheers to cut it.
Cut out a .750" x .140". Then cut down the middle about a half inch so I have 2 - .070" tangs connected at one end. Then with my finest pliers, finesse and patience, started twisting them carefully until they resemble a tiny tweezers. With the ends slightly inward, the hardest part is inserting it into the plug. Then it's just push the extractor and pull the wire.
The tools I had in the past didn't seem to work like they should.
The needle method works but usually distorts the pin...along with the assortment of other items I have tried in the past.
Using new pins is great and the correct crimper tool ensures a solid connection, but, a soldering iron is more versatile for the money. And if your customizing your PSU cables, you should know how to solder also for those other projects.
But yeah!
Bought a Channel Well Technology, CWT, to replace my old Seasonic PSU. (That was actually the first Brand New PSU I ever owned.) CWT uses all black, flat, ribbon style wires for the cables. Very unclean look. My old Seasonic cables are already setup for my PC components.
Their plug, my wire harness.
Now, all I got to do is stop telling you about it and finish the damn thing.
I got online with hopes to find a pin-out diagram. I know how to trace the wires and all that. It's just that, it's late. I'm tired. And I want to have that redundancy for it being correct the first time.
The saga for why my tower is...has been down for a year now is much longer than this reply/comment/jabbering.
I really need its additional abilities...although my laptop is great, wonderful, awesome...okay, great and wonderful...it just-is-not-the same...Shit! I hear our rooster crowing....
UPDATE:
Apparently it was an anomaly. I could never get it it to work the same way since so...went back to the needle and modified safety pin...the safety pin mod is great! all you have to do is....
Don't ya love the Google experts lecturing you about what 0L means?
Steve and his subtle trolling(or reverse trolling) of the audience is the best.
Amazing, you posted this as I was just going through this exact problem with a cable tripping fault detection! PSU is fine btw. Thanks for this!
Hey, Steve. Your video saved me a lot of headache yesterday evening. Just bought a new Seasonic PSU and was wondering why the heck the PC was not doing a beep when the PSU was in. The PSU worked fine when I tested it before, as well as the old one did when I put it in again for testing purposes. Turned out it were two old Corsair cables for SATA and Molex connections I left in. Swapped them out and: Voila, booted just fine. Luckily I got away without damaging any components. At least from what I could see until now.
Made customs cable a while ago. My motherboard has reverse polarity protection on the EPS 12V input, don't ask me how I know ...
So in contrast to all of the unlucky ones in the comments it can also work itself out but don't be me. Check, double check and then run it
When creating wiring diagrams be sure what orientation the plug is and if the cables are supposed to go into the plan or come out of it. This is crucial as I found the hard way. Luckily everything still works.
Thx for the informative video despit the fact that I know all this.
Good to know, I actually recently bought a used modular corsair psu with a few missing cables. This'll be handy once I get around testing that bad boy.
Thank you so much it was very difficult to find this information and just a bunch of warnings but I got a super expensive 350$ 1200W power supply 30$ because it was missing a few cables! I want to take the risk of ruining my parts but be really really careful.
Why is this the first time i'm ever hearing of this ...
I literally studied robotics operation systems and had a class where we had to assemble computers.
I’ve waiting for a video like this for ages. Thanks GN.
What I do is a bit simpler, I plug the unknown cable in and measure the voltage on each pin. Just use a jumper on the PSU if you can't have the system turned on while doing it.
sleeving cables tonight and this pops up in my feed, perfect timing!
Petition to standardize psu cables across the board
Very helpful video. For my PC I had to so something somewhat similar for the LED strip (a very long yet inexpensive one that I got from a hardware store) to connect it to the power supply. It uses 12v, but the connector has nothing to do with a molex, so I had to properly match the 12v and ground pins from the LED strip connector to the molex. This allowed me to save quite a bit of money, since the generic LED strip is significantly longer yet cheaper than those made for PCs.
I learned this the hard way. Ordered a random SATA splitter for my system and ended up blowing one of my Commander Core XTs which was the first thing connected on that cable from the PSU and luckily saved my SSD from being fried. This was my first build so I didn't know that peripheral cables were pinned differently depending on manufacturer
Great video! Just used this to use an EVGA PCIe cable with a SeaSonic PSU. I found it interesting how the key on the PSU end matched the key on the PCIe end, and then the PSU end had the 12V pins on the same position as the PCIe end.
In any case, thanks a bunch for the info!
SeaSonic is the OEM of some EVGA units I think so would make sense some wires are interchangable.
OL (Oh-El) For "Overload." Means "infinite resistance," or, in other words open circuit. Great video. Thanks!
Nice video, really helpful. Make a series out of it!
god damn it, Steve. Why do you insist on having such a useful channel? Can't we just get a channel with you crossing paths with bears or something?
Silverstone makes a cable replacement kit that works across a whole bunch of its psu's. So it safe to say that silverstone's modular cable are standardised across near all of its psu's.
Good job Silverstone.
I have a standardized, proprietary idea that neither supports or denies the competition's hardware.
Will It Blend? - PSU cables
At some point in life, most of you will find yourselves in a situation where knowing what cables you can or cannot use with a given power supplier will come in handy.
And that's that. It's the kind of thing that actually happens not as rarely as you'd wish for.
No mention of if it's easy or hard to pop the pins out of the socket and re arrange them?
This is commonly done with some types of industrial cables but I haven't tried with computer cabling.
you could connect the cable to the psu and just measure the voltages on the other end before hooking it up to anything.
I agree, I believe a lesson in understanding ground and finding it this way would be necessary for that method.
Yeah, but this requires you to power on the PSU either outside the build or do the test with the PC running. I don't think anyone who needs a video like this should be doing either of those things
Also, you can use a automotive test light instead of a multimeter. If you have a good light, it's much faster and usually easy to see the difference between 12, 5 or 3.3 volts
@@trapperjohn7571 pretty easy to power on a psu while keeping the pc itself off,or just have it turn on as normal and just test the new cable before using it with anything,lots of tests can be done on a running system without much danger.
imo finding the standardized pinouts for the device side connectors online and verifying the voltages are correct is much simpler and quicker.
as for finding a ground that is real easy too,just use a molex connector ground or in some cases you can even just stick the probe to a metal part of the pc case and you should be grounded.if you got a dmm learn how to use it.
I know that already, but this video seems to be made for people who barely even know what a multimeter is
The fact that manufacturers don't just do 1:1 but instead have proprietary pin-outs that are different from one manufacturer to another is not only absolute shitty anti-consumer business practice, which hurts absolutely everyone involved, but it is also plain dangerous. This shit needs to be called out and changed. I want a world where I can go online and find cables in different colors and lengths that aren't extension cables, but cables from PSU to hardware. And they should just work for _any_ modular power supply. That would be true modularity. What a clusterfuck. Companies all suck.
Not your best video, but you are still my favorite
Aw, I was hoping to see some pins pulled and reoriented...
Thanks you guys. I am now confident enough to cut the little clip off my EVGA VGA mod cable and force it upside down into my XFX psu.
I was not able to find the accompany article for this video in your website, can you put it up there?
OR if you are OCD about it, you could just use a Molex Pin Removal Tool, and then reinsert the Pin or socket connected wires back into the connector on one end of the cable in the order that you need them to be. All Computer Power supplies use the same 'Molex' type Pins or Sockets on either end of the wires which go into the connectors. (The Pins are roughly the same diameter as a solid copper 12 gauge wire without insulation). The sockets are sized to 'sleeve' them accordingly. Each Pin or Socket has their base with two 'Flared out' sides to prevent them from being pulled out of the connector. A proper 'Molex Pin Removal Tool' will have two cylinders one to fit over the Pins and one to fit over the Sockets. Push the wire into/through the Connector while sliding the appropriate size 'Molex Pin Tool' cylinder over the Pin or Socket. Then Pull the wire out of the Connector. Once all the wires are removed, then continuity check them, and insert them into the Connector where they should be, to match the Connectors connections of the other cable.
Not mixing psu cables should be talked about more. I totally killed some parts not knowing that.
killed my mobo today, luckily my 3070 is okay
As a person that doesn't care about the aesthetics and uses solid side panels, I wish there was more properly colored wires in modular cables. In fact I did some custom cables for modular power supplies, for the purpose of being shorter, and instead of using single color, I used the proper colors as dictated by ATX standards. Makes it so much more obvious and easier to figure things out later.
Finally!! the video that i'm waiting for.
Wish I'd seen this before frying my first gaming rig when updating the GPU and using the wrong cables for the PSU. Live and learn.
Why not just plug it into the PSU and check if all voltages are correct on the other end of the cable?
Well because if the multimeter is set incorrectly this could blow the fuse but yes that is easyer but you also have to connect the right pins (don't remember which ones) to turn on the PSU if you want to check the 24 pin cable.
@@CheapBastard1988
You have to be really careless to set it incorrectly. Plus i think OCP would kick in before fuse would blow.
Checking 24 pin cable this way is indeed a bad idea.
Thank God nobody told me not to switch power supply cables, rip the og build.
The next JonnyGuru for sure :D
I just soldered PCIe cable for seasonic sacrificing one of its EPS cable and Corsairs PCIe cable.
Great content. I love my non modular power supplies
could you use voltage dc on the multimeter to test while the power supply is powered ?, to skip much of the hassle of checking if pin x is equal to pin x with a known cable
I'm thinking about sacrificing some cable extensions to make different bundles for the 5, 12, and ground pins, so that it's easier to measure and compare the pinouts on both cables.
Did you think afterward "I could've just written the source number on the output diagram and not put in all the lines."? :D
I have been sooooooooo lucky to not have fried something thus far. I have mixed and matched so many times. My future builds thank you!
Oh gawd Steve I needed this
Did this to use some extra SATA cables from an older Corsair PSU to use on a newer corsair PSU. Even if the pin outs don't match but you have the same keyed connectors on the PSU side you can just pop the pins out and rearranged to make it work for you. Obviously check, double check and triple check that you arranged the pins right before you plugs anything of value in.
how do you test it with SATA connectors?
@@HazewinDog The SATA power pinouts are standard and are grouped together by voltage or ground in 5 sets of 3 pins. From the key (pin 1): 3 pins 3.3 (or empty), 3 ground, 3 5V, 3 ground, 3 12V. The location of the wires that enter the back of the connector correspond directly with the 3 pins they are located behind. If you're still not comfortable, you mostly likely will be able to check voltage at each wire where it enters the connector to verify everything is where it should be.
I made pinouts by testing each cable, and it's easy enough to swap the pins around if needed. Question, though, when looking at the pinouts between my EVGA 850 G3 and my old Silverstone 700w SST-ST70F, the 8-pin VGA pinouts are exactly the same in where the +12v pins and ground pins are located, but the two bottom middle ground pins are swapped. Does this matter? A ground is a ground, right? Either way, that's the only difference, and everything else is the same. I swapped the pins anyway to be sure, so I was able to use a spare EVGA 8-pin VGA harness on the old Silverstone PSU.
bloody hell.. lol I just want to plug in and play, now I may need to get power supply adapters
If you are looking for the original power cable, you might start by looking if the sleeving matches before starting the continuity test.
I liked older Corsair PSUs that had a proprietary connector on the PSU end that wasn't PCIE power
Thank you for this video. Now its time to go through the bin of "random's" :)
It depends on the supply i just tried to add extra custom sleeves cables to an old psu and it won't work. Yea an OCZ supply is wasted but it's all my brother had so i just bought him a new evga 750w and it works fine.
Under appreciated super informative video. Huge fan
i do not how many stuff i have "damaged" while plugin the wrong PS to the wrong device
(i have terrible eye sight so i mistake em constantly) now i paint the cables with colored rings so i see the difference
How would you do this testing if you dont have any knowledge of which cables were the correct one for the power supply? I just got a big of psu cables from a relative and a evga Psu 1000 p2. I was able to separate the Corsair because they are identified. The rest seems to be an assorted of evga cables however there are different models of evga cables all lumped together. Thanks for making this video. This is the only one of its kind and I’ve found so far.
Some cables have Capacitors on them as well to control ripple. They will usually jump between wires (power and grounds.)
Many thanks for this! Very useful!
Not sure why but that opening had me.
Which is why I have been saying for YEARS that the plastic on the connectors should have printed on them the name of the manufacturer and the model of the supply barring that everyone and I mean everyone should be forced to follow a specific standard.
Wow I am a certified tech and I didnt know those cables weren't standardized. Thanks a lot.
Really? I would think this is one of the 1st pieces of wisdom any trainer/teacher would give out. If you are self taught?!?!? There is sooooo much that is NOT covered in any certification. The nuances of PC repair.
@@tisjester No i went to college I was not self taught. Also as techs we don't deal a lot with gaming systems when we do repairs. Most of our power supplies are not modular. I have built a fair amount of gaming rigs but never encountered this issue because I hadn't had a reason to mix PSU cables. I am glad I saw this video before an issue came up.
@@diablojd52 why you need college just to repair PC?
I was just talking about this the other day lol, shared!
My friend was having problems with his computer. The PC shop couldnt work it out and eventually he decided to just buy new parts and just reuse his power supply. After getting it set up he found that the computer would crash under load so he decided that the PSU must be faulty. He bought a new PSU and plugged it in but left the old cables in the machine. There was no smoke or anything but but it didnt boot. Now after swapping the proper cables into the system it still wont boot. It says something along the lines of "USB over current, system will power off after 15 seconds". He has tried disconnecting all devices except for power and HDMI but it still keeps saying the same thing. Has he fried his mother board? If so, is it likely to have damaged anything else? Its ridiculous that this is still an issue. How many people have fried equipment just because they didnt know?
If the connector fits but the pin-out doesn't match, you could pop the individual pins out of the connector and put them where you need.
This is helpful I got custom cables for a seasonic prime ultra but just bought the asus thor built from a seasonic hopefully my cables are interchangeable
@6:20 OL on the Multimeter (not zero L) is for "open load"
Huge pain in the ass. But I've done it for stuff like making my own Super Nintendo S-Video adapters. If you can find whatever retention tabs inside the contacts in the plug, they can be unclipped, swapped and adapted for whatever PSU you need. If you're gonna go through the effort don't wanna leave empty-handed.
So are extension cables safe? If different power supplies are wired differently, why do they make "universal" cable extensions?
I swore off extension cables since a few months ago when my extension cable burned the plastic on one of the connectors that went into my 3090. I had to scrape the melted plastic around one of my 3090's pins so I could fit the original PSU cable. I swapped PSUs just to be sure it wasn't the PSU. But boy oh boy. Never again. Never.
And people wonder why I don't use modular psus or sleeved cables. The colors are their for a reason. A few months ago Science Studio mixed psu cables on one of his rigs, blew out a bunch of parts, then started blaming the problem on a light controller. Someone finally showed him that he had used the incorrect psu cable.
ATX has standards for everything else so there is absolutely no legitimate reason for not having one for the psu side connector. It doesn't matter what the psu makers want, it's what the ATX standard should be. Just like Dell, Packard Bell, (and a few others) were forced to go with standard pinouts on their systems there needs to be a standard and everyone needs to follow it.
And for the record, you can get a cheap DMM for $3.00 (sometimes less) at Harbor Freight that will do this. No need to spend $30 or more if you aren't working with high current or need precise measurements.
Great video!
Can I use the red cable and the black one interchangeably while measuring voltage?
I just want to say that if you use a standardized connector for a unique purpose, you’re a monster. The connectors on these modular cables are the same on both sides with just a thicker clip on the psu side, WIRE THEM THE SAME ON BOTH ENDS! I believe that this is deliberate Sabotage. It’s outrageous.
0L is "O.L." stands for "Open Line" in resistance/diode/beeper mode.
I fried 5 hard drives, a PCI E USB card, a DVD drive and a keyboard by thinking I could plug a new PSU directly into my already installed cables. Oh and the power supply died too 😃
What about cable extensions?
If they are on the motherboard side they are standardized just like he showed. If they are on the PSU side they are not and you may need to check in the same way if they are not for that specific PSU.
@@CheapBastard1988 They are on the mobo side, i feel safer now. (Cablemod modmesh kit) thanks.