M2-ATX +5v voltage too high!

**nobb** · 12-09-2009, 10:13 PM

My carpc powered by the M2-ATX has been running stable for over a year now, but I just realized right now that my +5v rail is reading 5.85 volts. This hasnt appeared to cause any problems, but today, I tried to plug in an external 2.5" drive that runs straight from USB and the drive just clicks when plugged in. Strangely, the external drive works just fine in all the other computers I have at home, so I am suspecting that perhaps the voltage is too high for it?

I'm not sure, does anyone have any comments? Anyone else have abnormally high +5v rails from your M2-ATX? All my other voltages are within spec.

**nobb** · 12-12-2009, 08:13 PM

Ok, it looks like my voltages are actually too LOW. Everest Ultimate shows my voltage as 5.85v, but in reality, I measured the voltage to be about 4.8v and 4.74 with my usb wifi dongle plugged in. Strange that the voltage would drop so much from a usb device that pulls only 500mA.

I think I managed to fix my external hard drive problem (for now) by using three USB ports for power instead of two.

For anyone that has measured the voltage from their M2...could you chime in as to what numbers you are seeing? The M2 is rated for 8A on the 5v, and Im pretty sure Im no where near that.

**Ramb0_Command0** · 12-16-2009, 08:56 AM

Do you have the USB cord coming from a hub or another device? If so that could be the reason you are having issues with the external drive.

I haven't ever checked my voltages but I'm pretty sure they're never exactly what they are supposed to be...