Toys for USB drive owners

[Woodstock]

Just a suggestion for those tracking down power problems on their USB optical drives.

Do a search for "USB Power Tester" on your favorite search engine (or online store). There are a variety of testers that will show you the voltage output of your computer/hub, the power consumption of the attached device, and a few other parameters. If the voltage drops as the drive speeds up, the port likely won't support full-speed operation.

I've been using them for a year or so now while testing various Raspberry Pi projects. Only thought about them for optical drive testing a little while ago.

[Billycar11]

i actually do use them i have 2 they some seem to based on a flawed chip/ math error.
5v counts mah fine but 9v pd counts wrong but you can just add 80% to it and it should be about right
not sure how the 19 volt monitoring works.
but defiantly a good tool to see you your laptop or desktop has a junky low power usb port that dips below 5v at not even 1 amp and thats no good for optical drives
a BU40N uses about .85 amps at full 6x speed but has peaks higher

[Wolf359]

checked these out on amazon... which one is good? A lot of junk out there. How about this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-ET ... C78&sr=8-6
kinda spendy though. Anyone have thoughts? This looks like a good toy to have.

[Woodstock]

Have not tried the Klein personally. Their products are generally pretty good. Having the connectors on leads could be an advantage.

The two types I have seem to use the same chip set, just different packaging. The "X" style is what I use most, but I also have an in-line style that came with the resistor pack for load-testing USB power packs.

If I were targeting "precise readings", I'll go for the Klein or similar. Relative readings? Any of the ones with 4 or more stars would be "good enough". 2 of the 3 I bought have hundreds of hours on them. 3rd one I gave away, so I don't think it's had as much use. One of them has several months continuous operation at 0c (monitoring fans in a refridgerator).

[Wolf359]

I got the Klein. Arrives tomorrow. I hope it's worth the money. Looks nice and should last a while which is important.

[Woodstock]

(it will also have the advantage of being harder to lose in a drawer)

(don't ask how I know)

[Wolf359]