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The screws on my mobo.....

O

Omizzle

Senior member
There these felt(sp?) rings that go around the screws that I use to hold my mobo in place. I put my felt(sp?) rings on the top of the mobo (under the screw head). My friend and I are wondering if that is the correct place to put them. There were not enough of them to be on both top and bottom, or else I would have done that. I havent powered on yet because I am afraid of a short from the mobo to the metal plate behind it through the screw.

Thanks for your help

 
I don't even use them at all. Just so long as none of the standoffs are in the wrong place, ie. where there is no hole lining up on the motherboard, you don't need to worry.
 
What mobo do you use? Mine didn't come with any felt rings, the mobo has a little metal ring around each of the screw holes to protect the board itself. As long as you have the standoffs in the right place you should be fine.
 
A long time ago motherboards used to come with paper washers to keep the motherboard from grounding out.
 
Nowadays I think they all have built-in washers. Anyway I wouldn't worry about it Omnizzle, turn the thing on and let her shiny dual-GPU'd ass rip.

I have to admit turning the computer on for the first time is the scariest part, took me 2 days to get myself to do it but once you do, it's a big relief. Good luck!
 
If you're worried about shorting your board, cover each standoff with electrical tape (poke a hole for the screw) or paint them with finger nail polish or something similar so that they're electrically-insulated from the motherboard.

 
Originally posted by: arcas
If you're worried about shorting your board, cover each standoff with electrical tape (poke a hole for the screw) or paint them with finger nail polish or something similar so that they're electrically-insulated from the motherboard.
Click to expand...

"OMGWTF nail varnish killed my SLI rig! Teh noooeess!!!11!"

:laugh:
 
I don't think it matters on any modern motherboard. There was a time when the boards would have all sorts of ground loop problems if you didn't use insulating washers or plastic standoffs, but these days I don't think you have to worry about.

You are building something newer than a 386, right? 🙂
 
I hear that it's good to have the screws contact the motherboard because they act as additional grounds. And i've used bare fingers and bare screws in my systems for years without any problems. 🙂
 
why would they have the screw points in metal and not the board mask coating if they wanted you to go and cover them with washers? Think about it.
 
This topic comes up at least a couple of times a year.

Usually the paper washers come in the baggie of screws packaged with cases NOT with the mobo itself. I'm of they opinion that they are to allow for thermal expansion and contraction (cycling) of the mobo when all the mounting points are rigid (e.g. screw and standoff) - and also to discourage over-tightening (you can crush the mobo layers). The old nylon standoffs were anything but ridgid and allowed for thermal cycling on their own. - there were often only two screw and standoff mounting points while the rest were nylon snap-ins.
. I like to use the paper washers when I have them, on all the screws except the one closest to the center of the mobo. They are probably not really needed, but it's something I consider a "good practice". YMMV...

.bh.

Rain, rain GO AWAY!
 
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