Power supply shorting out - possible reasons?

[RandomPixie]

I've been reading a bit about PSUs and I read somewhere (I forget where) that if you don't connect the PSU wires correctly, then it could cause the whole thing to short out, something to do with the rails.

I don't fully understand it but it got me thinking... what if my PSU shorted out because I didn't connect the wires correctly? Like I put too many components on one 'chain' or I didn't plug them in the right order etc. Would that cause my PC to short out? I know it's not my components because everything runs fine with my old PSU. I've ordered this to see if my new PSU is actually working or not. And this is the PSU that keeps shorting out.

Is there a correct way of connecting the components to the PSU... like is there a certain order they should be connected or something?

[Beldgarath]

no order required for putting your plugs into say a chain of hdd & rom.
Most psu's have enough seperate cables to not bother with chaining several components of the one outlet.
Your old PSU looks like it could handle more than enough gear hanging off it. Say all you got there is a stuffed psu it happens.

You could check all your connections and make sure there are no pins touching each other above the plug, some times they get pushed out(very rare)

Looks like it has a very good ventalation so dust wouldnt be a factor. Just bin it and move on.

[RandomPixie]

No, that's not the old one. The old one is a 360w PSU that I've had for about 4 years. The one that keeps shorting out is a new one. I'm only asking just to rule it out before I RMA it. I'll test it with the tester kit when it comes, and if it's a dud I'll send it back. If it's shown to be working then it's not the PSU, in which case I don't get why it's shorting out.

Ebuyer thinks it may be shorting out the motherboard or maybe a component is shorting it out (i.e. my new graphics card - which I have no way of testing because it requires at least 450w to power it - my old PSU is only 360w). So I thought maybe it was because I had too many components chained or something. I had the HDD, a fan and the GPU chained, and then I had the rest of the components and another fan plugged into the plugs on the other wires.

Do you think it's possible a brand new GPU could short out my mobo, preventing the PC from booting?

[Beldgarath]

If the powersupply is starting up then powering down it could be your mobo yes. It could be any component. But you saying in original post that there is not issue with your old psu. So that leaves the new graphic card or new psu.
Or just bad luck that your mobo has failed same time as you got a new psu.

[RandomPixie]

Yeah... well I'll know wwhich one is causing the problem when I receive my PSU testing kit. It's not the mobo, it works fine with the old PSU. The new PSU does power up then powers down a second later.

Cheers.