Burned Motherboard Trace

[cytoSiN]

Does anyone have any advice on repairing a burned trace on a motherboard? It's a small area next to the ram slots on the back of the PCB. I will upload photos after work today.

If you're wondering how this happened, behold:

I recently helped a hardware-illiterate friend build a gaming rig. He lives nearby, so I told him to call me if he needed to do any work inside the case for any reason. He didn't listen. After watching me build the machine, he figured "how hard could it be to install a second fan on my 212+ for push/pull?" Of course, he didn't realize that he would have to remove one stick of ram to get the fan on, but he had watched me install the ram, so he thought he could handle that too. He got the fan on fine, but when he went to replace the ram, he somehow managed to force it into the slot upside down, and then tried to power up. He called me 5 minutes later to ask me why his new fan was causing a "weird smell" to come from his case, and why it wasn't booting up. I arrived shortly thereafter to find that he had managed to burn a trace next to the ram slots on the back of the motherboard, and of course he can't POST or do anything else at this point.

I'm assuming that I can just clean/scrape the burned spot, put some circuit epoxy down to level the pcb, and then solder some wire to reconnect the trace, but that's probably oversimplifying things, and I don't want to cause more damage than he already has, assuming this can even be fixed at all.

Preferably, I'm looking for someone in the NYC area that has experience with these sorts of repairs and might be interesting in helping me out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[allenk09]

Trace where it goes, direct solder a wire from component to component. It's probably ridiculous SMD though. I doubt you can fix the trace itself. You may also try one of those pens that write conductive. Before do anything make sure he knows that he may have to buy a new motherboard either way since he created the problem and you may not be able to fix it.

I'd help...I build SMD kits a lot, but I'm in Albany...so quite a distance.

 

[cytoSiN]

Thanks. He knows he will likely have to buy a new one (and that Asus won't cover this kind of damage with his warranty), but he feels like an idiot and when I told him I was interested in learning how to fix this kind of thing he said go right ahead.

 

[fixbsod]

So I guess when my motherboard says it has a "foolproof" design for memory and it can only be installed one way they didn't consider your friend...

upside down, man never heard that one

 

[cytoSiN]

So I guess when my motherboard says it has a "foolproof" design for memory and it can only be installed one way they didn't consider your friend...

upside down, man never heard that one

I still don't understand how he got the clip to lock into place without breaking the pcbs. I think it's because his motherboard only has a clip on the top, so it clicked into place and the bottom still looked like it was fully engaged, even though it clearly wasn't. I also don't understand how he calls me with the thing still on asking me what the smell was...he didn't think to shut it down immediately...

 

[paul878]

This is how the Pros does it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozH2F3AX8BY

 

[allenk09]

I still don't understand how he got the clip to lock into place without breaking the pcbs. I think it's because his motherboard only has a clip on the top, so it clicked into place and the bottom still looked like it was fully engaged, even though it clearly wasn't. I also don't understand how he calls me with the thing still on asking me what the smell was...he didn't think to shut it down immediately...

I'm guessing more damage was done to that motherboard. You have to be pulling quite a bit of amperage to melt the motherboard and the trace. He probably ruined a lot more things than just that trace. Most of those components are _very_ sensitive to anything. I wouldn't even try to fix it.

 

[God Mode]

Unless you find a bored person working for peanuts, I doubt hiring a pro to do it would be cost effective. Also, those traces running on the back near memory probably route between pcb layers with multiple vias. Good luck fixing that.

 

[dajeepster]

Unless you find a bored person working for peanuts, I doubt hiring a pro to do it would be cost effective. Also, those traces running on the back near memory probably route between pcb layers with multiple vias. Good luck fixing that.

^^ just adding to what he said

Not actually seeing the board, but i'm assuming worst case... just buy a new one. if this was only a a two layered board and you couldn't get a replacement, and mission critical, then get a professional.

but since it's not, it's going to be waaaaay cheaper to buy a new one. considering that the clock speeds these boards run at now adays, you're going to have signal integrity problems. A burned trace will normally take other things with it. Since you've drawn enough current to burn a trace, there are going to be other traces along that same run that have been "violated" and will over time (whether now or later) degrade quickly.

no one fixes traces on boards, if it was just a failed component, then no problem.. manufacturers will just replace the component and retest the board. but a burned trace signifies a deeper issue... other traces are going to start failing due to more stress. A manufacturer isn't going to fix a trace, they'll just give a replacement (NOT saying that asus will do this).

The only time i've ever messed with a board that had a burned trace was to figure out what went wrong with it, but i would never release it back into the wild.... only if it was a one of a kind and i was absolutely sure that that was the only problem and i've tested and replaced all the components on that line.

Call Asus to see if they will RMA it, and if they don't.. suck it up and buy a replacement.

 

[cytoSiN]

Thanks for the replies. I figured this would be the result, but wanted to be sure. I only have crappy cell phone pics right now, but better than nothing?

 

[dma0991]

If that board is mine I'd melt some solder and bridge the gap and insulate the trace. It doesn't seem too bad from what I can tell and your friend is already prepared to fork out for another board so might as well give it a try.

 

[God Mode]

After reading this again. I remember trying to fix a mobo that had a similar problem back in the Pentium 3 days. It ended up working really well and burned any ram that was inserted into the socket. Destroyed 3 sticks out of frustration and stupidity. 1 stick was probably worth as much as a new motherboard back then.

 

[MrTeal]

That doesn't really look that bad at all. Just pull the insulation off a bit of solid core wire, lay it across the gap and solder it on.

Of course, it's entirely possible and actually pretty likely that the one burnt trace isn't the only issue, but you may get lucky. Have you tested the CPU to see if he blew up the IMC?