Did I just damage my motherboard?

[Ken90630]

Preamble: I also posted this in the Motherboard forum. I don't typically do double-posts, but I'm under the gun to get a build done tonight and am running out of time. Thanks for understanding.

Ugh ... Without going into a long story, I've been having trouble getting the I/O shield to 'fit' correctly against the mobo in a new build. After taking the mobo in & out of the case at least 10 times during the process of trying to resolve the problem, I just noticed I scraped some of the paint off the bottom of the mobo right next to one of the mounting holes. I must have inadvertently 'scraped' the board over one of the metal standoffs.

Now the copper PCB is showing thru on the underside of the mobo. If I screw the board down onto the metal standoffs, will I short the board out when I power it up? Should I put some clear nail polish over the bare copper? Or would one of those salmon-pink colored spacers between the bottom of the mobo and the top of the standoff do the trick?

I really need to get this build done tonight, so any quick advice would be much appreciated.

 

[nboy22]

First thing I would do is try to power up the board outside of the case in a static free environment. I once forgot the standoffs completely on my friend's build, and every time I set the motherboard on a wooden table and started it up, it was completely fine. I would then put it back into the case with no standoffs. With no stanoffs, it would just repeatedly ground out. I would recommend definitely doing something to it, anything would be better than a conductive metal. I don't see why nail polish would hurt any, just make sure it's dry.

Also, are you using the correct standoffs, like the brass standoffs that are a brown metal instead of steel? Just want to make sure you're not referring to the case having raised metal platforms when you say a, "standoff."

I would just try to patch it up as best as you can, and then use the correct brass standoffs if you are not, and then put it back together and try. If there is no power with all the correct cables plugged in, then you've probably damaged the motherboard.

 

[C1]

A dab of nail polish should protect the circuit (as they are lacquered or polyurethained anyway). However, as I recall, the places on the MB for the standoffs are re-enforced ground points and the standoffs are designed to not extend past these points (typically silver colored). So even an exposed clad should not be contacting anything anyways.

 

[Ken90630]

First thing I would do is try to power up the board outside of the case in a static free environment. I once forgot the standoffs completely on my friend's build, and every time I set the motherboard on a wooden table and started it up, it was completely fine. I would then put it back into the case with no standoffs. With no stanoffs, it would just repeatedly ground out. I would recommend definitely doing something to it, anything would be better than a conductive metal. I don't see why nail polish would hurt any, just make sure it's dry.

Also, are you using the correct standoffs, like the brass standoffs that are a brown metal instead of steel? Just want to make sure you're not referring to the case having raised metal platforms when you say a, "standoff."

I would just try to patch it up as best as you can, and then use the correct brass standoffs if you are not, and then put it back together and try. If there is no power with all the correct cables plugged in, then you've probably damaged the motherboard.

Yeah, I'm using correct standoffs. They're not the standoffs that came with the case, but I'm using the standoffs that came with the mobo. They're the same 'style,' but the mobo standoffs are of better quality so I'm using them (the brass ones that came with the case kept stripping out). Plus, for some bizarre reason the standoffs I'm using now seem to position the mobo just slightly farther back from the I/O shield (I'm talking a fraction of a fraction of an inch), and that's helping the 'fit' problem with the I/O shield slightly. Very weird.

I went ahead & put a dab of clear nail polish (heh heh -- no, not mine ) over the bare copper spot. I'm waiting for it to dry and will fire the board up soon. *crosses fingers*

 

[Ken90630]

A dab of nail polish should protect the circuit (as they are lacquered or polyurethained anyway). However, as I recall, the places on the MB for the standoffs are re-enforced ground points and the standoffs are designed to not extend past these points (typically silver colored). So even an exposed clad should not be contacting anything anyways.

Well, that's kind of why I'm a little worried here. The raised silver points around the hole are worn down and gone where the copper shows thru. So the standoff will touch the copper in the PCB when I screw it down (just on that one hole, of course). The exposed area is small -- maybe 1/5th of the whole circle around the hole -- but it's definitely going to touch the standoff.

I went ahead & put some clear nail polish on it and am just waiting for it to dry. Dang, that must be annoying for women.

 

[nboy22]

Yeah, I'm using correct standoffs. They're not the standoffs that came with the case, but I'm using the standoffs that came with the mobo. They're the same 'style,' but the mobo standoffs are of better quality so I'm using them (the brass ones that came with the case kept stripping out). Plus, for some bizarre reason the standoffs I'm using now seem to position the mobo just slightly farther back from the I/O shield (I'm talking a fraction of a fraction of an inch), and that's helping the 'fit' problem with the I/O shield slightly. Very weird.

I went ahead & put a dab of clear nail polish (heh heh -- no, not mine ) over the bare copper spot. I'm waiting for it to dry and will fire the board up soon. *crosses fingers*

I've built 4 core i7 machines and 3 of them all have this problem with the shields. Don't know what it is about them but they just never line up properly. Good luck!

 

[Ken90630]

I've built 4 core i7 machines and 3 of them all have this problem with the shields. Don't know what it is about them but they just never line up properly. Good luck!

Interesting. So on those builds of yours where the shields don't line up quite right, do the leaf springs on the back of the shields contact the jacks on the mobo, or do you have space (air) between them like I do right now? And if so, have you had any probs with EMI or anything else as a result?

 

[fffblackmage]

The raised silver points around the hole are worn down and gone where the copper shows thru.

That silver stuff is just solder, which is conductive. Having the standoffs contact the solder is the same as contacting the copper.