Scratches on motherboad harmful?

[Berg]

While assembling my computer yesterday one of the yellow thingys that anchor the motherboard to the case got lose while the screw was still in. the motherboard got stuck in the case. took quite a while but with pliers i endeded pulling the whole thing out. There has been some slight damage though to the left side of the board maybe a section less then a cm in diameter has the paint and i think it has cut 3-4 of the lines on the motherboard. Everything works fine now after installing all compnents but i was just wondering if the scatches on the motherboard can cause serious problems in the future? i have MSI Neo4 Plat no-sli mb.

 

[biostud]

if the scratches are deep enough they'll cause troubles

 

[narcotic]

probably no problems... since you mentioned all works well, the lines you've cut are probably for some feature you don't use...
as for the scratches, I've seen motherborads fairly bangged up which turned out to wrok well, not to mention RAM sticks which where kept in worse conditions than trash in some cases, and still worked...
There is the theortical possibility of some performance downgrade if some of the lines are damaged, but its hard to tell from your description.
At any rate, I'd strongly suggest not to let things like that happen in the future. Keep your own gear well treated.

 

[Berg]

well there not 2 deep, i had to use alot of force to tear the screw and mobo holder from the case. I slipped a couple of times with the pliers and screw driver. Mostly i think its just scratched off paint(at least i hop it just is). But it scratched off the on top of 4 of stray lines in the far mid left of the board. THe thing i dont understand is that all lines on teh top of the mb have compliment pairs on the bottom. Are they the same line or just another layer of them? Most likely im fine? if there is serious trouble or loss of features ill just buy another cheaper motherboard with my remaining money because i need this computer to be reliable.

 

[Oyeve]

You are probably ok. I would worry about oxidation on the scratched lines. Get some clear nail polish and cover/seal the scratches.

 

[Zepper]

I would examine the marred lines with a magnifier to make sure none are cut all the way thru. If any are, get some wire wrap wire and a wrapper/stripper tool from Radio shack and tack-solder a piece of the wire to bypass the cut (trace the line both ways until you come to contact points and solder the wire to the contact points then tack it down at several points along its length with hot glue). Then cover the mars with clear nail polish as mentioned above. You can be sure that if there is a cut trace, you will get bitten by it somewhere down the road.

.bh.

 

[Rock Hydra]

I have quite a few scratches on my motherboard from having to remove stupid Slot A fan on my mom's computer using a screw driver. But, it doesn't look like there are any bus lines or electrical lines near where the scratches are and I'm not concerned. Though, I'm not having any problems with my motherboard.

 

[Oyeve]

I blew a trace once on an old asus mobo. I was inserting a PCI card and even though the pc was off, it was an atx board so power still ran thru it. the trace just burned off instantly cuz the card sratched and shorted something. I just located both ends of the trace and soldered some wire. Still workis to this day. Over 6 years now.

 

[Berg]

Thanks for the input guys, i really appreciate it. I just got home from school and examined the mb. Its actually not as bad as i thought last night at 4am. There are 3 somewhat deep scratches but the 3 traces's dont seem to be cut since i see bright exposed copper where the traces run and if they were cut the copper would not be seen right? I guess ill go pick up some clear nail polish tonight after work. Will any generic clear nail polish work to seal? And do i have to put anything to like adhesive paper on top of the polish? Do i have to reseal it every couple of months? Sorry for the dumb questions i just want to make sure im doing everything right.

 

[Zepper]

You just apply the polish once. Unless you attack that same spot again...

.bh.

 

[Berg]

lol that was easy enough. Thx alot just one more question, im at work right now and the drugstore next door has like 30 brands of nail polish. Any specifc good one for sealing? anything to stay away from?

 

[imported_Kensai]

If it doesn't screw up any traces, you're fine.

 

[hippotautamus]

Stay away from pink ones, I hear they cause insecurity and e-penis envy.

 

[Zepper]

Whatever's cheapest...

.bh.

 

[Oyeve]

Make sure its clear.