Scraped capacitors on motherboard... how bad?

[chuy]

I bought this Thermaltake Heat sink & fan for my Abit KT7 RAID and it's so wide that it won't clip over the socket without scraping the capacitors next to the processor. I decided to return it and use a Global Win cooler instead, but I noticed as I was installing it that I had inadvertantly scraped off some of the plastic coating on those capacitors when I was attempting to slide it over the socket - damn sharp heat sink. What I'm wondering is: is this really bad? Should I not attempt to power up the board now, or is a little plastic off the edge of a capacitor okay? (they aren't punctured, just the sleeve has been slightly torn.)

 

[a58pacer]

Chuy,
This is a stick-my-head-on-a-chopping-block type of answer, but I will bet there will be no problem with those capacitors.

If you are placing another heat sink extremely near them, there is a chance they will short to ground through the bare spots.

Your best bet is to make sure there is no chassis ground near the scraped-off areas (oh, 1/8 inch away or so would be OK, probably, we're not talking about high voltage here).

I don't think the plastic coating does much to affect the electrical characteristics of the caps, other than to make sure they are insulated from their physical surroundings. In low-voltage circuits,
air is as good a dielectric as plastic!

Heck, just get some liquid insulation from the hardware store, if you're really worried! It will do as much as what you scraped away.

BTW, all bets are off if you scraped off more than just the insulating cover!

But the worst that will happen is things won't work quite the way you planned. I don't think anything catastrophic is going to happen!

 

[chuy]

Thanks a bunch for the prompt and informative reply a58pacer. I think I might just buy a little liquid insulation just to be on the safe side. Sure couldn't hurt. Also, they look pretty far away, relatively, from any other metal pieces of the motherboard and heatsink.

Thanks again!

Chuy.