fried my carnetix power supply?

**mustanglou** · 11-10-2007, 08:28 AM

I may have friend my carnetix power supply.

I was attempting to wire a switch into the power line between the powersupply and my lilliput display. I incorrectly assumed it wouldn't matter which of the two lines (power versus ground) I tapped into to add the switch. When I turned on the car with my new power switch set to OFF I was initially puzzled because the display was ON! After slapping myself in the for head, I realized that I must have added the switch onto the ground of the lilliput so while it was pulling power from the carnetix it was going back through the ground connection between the display and the mac mini. I unpowered everything and re-wired the switch. This time, the display and switch worked as intended but the mini wouldn't power up.

I tested the mini inside the house using my original power brick and it works, so that doesn't seem like the problem.

When I turn on the car, the power supply fan spins and the led lights up as usual so if it is broken in some way, it isn't apparent visually.

Can I just put a voltmeter on the carnetix to test it? I only ask because I really don't know much about voltmeters and I'm afraid that my putting the voltmeter leads on the power supply pins will short the power supply and make the problem worse.

**dupa2** · 11-10-2007, 11:19 AM

Voltmeter not necessarily will show correct voltage, you have to put any load on the PS, and then try to measure. Check, and re-check connections first, see what happens when you turn ignition off and remove the key, that led should blink or so (see manual).
Even if you short the output, it's unlikely that you fry it. If everything else fail, you can deem you PS fried