Mac mini PPC/Intel Power Supply

[Mi5terDNA]

Hey all,

I'm setting up a 2009 Mac mini to give my parents as an xmas gift.  I plugged it in, installed 10.9, set up their user accounts and then went to hook up my G4 mini in the spot that the '09 was sitting.  I realized that I had been using the G4 mini's 85W power supply when setting up the 2009 mini instead of its actual 100W supply.  Everything seemed fine, and this may be a silly question, but did I do any damage to the '09 mini by running it on the weaker PSU?  Thanks!

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I wouldn't do it for any extended length of time, but if it's still working that you should be okay. It's likely the fan wasn't running at full speed, among other things. Underpowering isn't great, but it's better than overloading it.

 

[Mi5terDNA]

That's what I figured, I noticed SMCFanControl was acting a little weird...  thanks so much!

 

[MacJunky]

It's likely the fan wasn't running at full speed, among other things. Underpowering isn't great, but it's better than overloading it.

Internet says 18.5v for 2009 models and earlier, is that right?If both PSUs put out the same voltage but one is lower wattage, then you are talking less current. As long as you do not trip the PSU's overcurrent protection it should work for testing purposes. If anything is going to die it would be the PSU, unless it failed and killed the mini as well. A good PSU should be less likely to kill things attached to it when it goes pop.

If anything at all, the mini might *might* be smart enough to throttle itself when used with a lower wattage PSU like IIRC some ancient ThinkPads have been known to do.

 

[Mi5terDNA]

I somehow lost the 2009 adapter in my apartment, so I have to grab my spare from work before I can test it again.  I'm currently using the 85W with the G4 as intended, and everything seems to be working great.  I think the Intel mini is fine too (fingers crossed), I was just worried because I ran it on the 85W adapter for a little over an hour while I was installing 10.9 and setting up user accounts.