Electrical – Desktop PC power supply is Inductive or resistive loads

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are those power supply inductive or resistive loads?

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Best Answer

They are a mostly resistive load in that the AC voltage is converted to DC, then is used to drive a switching power supply. The transformer it uses is isolated from the AC input.

There is an initial surge of current as the supply switch's ON as it charges up capacitors, but quickly settles down to whatever its load demands.

Really, it is a dynamic load that is not inductive but not resistive either. An increase in AC supply voltage may show a decrease in current as the supply only draws the wattage it needs. If the AC voltage drops low it will pull more amps to maintain the voltage(s) it puts out. You could say it acts like an intelligent resistor as it varies by load and line voltage to keep the power to the load steady.

As long as the load is steady it behaves like a constant wattage supply.

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