Tuniq Owners, How tight are your screws?

sd

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Feb 29, 2000
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I cranked mine right down by hand until I saw them hitting the MB tray.
 

VinDSL

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Apr 11, 2006
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Originally posted by: Cheex
Tighten them good but DO NOT let them touch the tray!!!
Yeah, that's basically what I do...

Plus, I'm a little paranoid about breaking the heads off, so I lube the springs, and the threads with a LITTLE silicone grease, before starting... ;)
 

sd

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Feb 29, 2000
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Originally posted by: Cheex
Tighten them good but DO NOT let them touch the tray!!!

Why, will it short out the board? Don't see how it could do that?
 

Cheex

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Jul 18, 2006
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Its a possibility that it could short out the board and/or the processor (I've heard of this happening and was sternly warned). What I did with mine is that I rolled a piece of tape and stick it to the center of the underside of the backplate. Then I cut a neat square of the motherboard foam padding that comes in the box, then stick that on the tape so that it covers all the corners of the backplate and the tips of the screws, then I mount my motherboard into the tray. That way there would be no chance of the screws touching the tray.

Good Luck!! :thumbsup:
 

sd

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Thats a good idea. I think I'll try some strips of black electrical tape and back the screws off a bit. Thanks a lot.
 

VinDSL

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Then, again, I've read about guys installing longer screws THROUGH the mobo tray -- using standoffs between the mobo and the tray -- and basically bolting the whole shebang together -- HSF, CPU socket, backing plate, mobo, mobo tray -- everything!

No HSF 'droop' with this setup! :D
 

aigomorla

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Sep 28, 2005
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Originally posted by: VinDSL
Originally posted by: Cheex
Tighten them good but DO NOT let them touch the tray!!!
Yeah, that's basically what I do...

Plus, I'm a little paranoid about breaking the heads off, so I lube the springs, and the threads with a LITTLE silicone grease, before starting... ;)

vin did you hear, springs might actually make your contact worse.

Im debating on removing all my springs off my waterblocks. They say a springless kentfield mount will get near = temps across all 4 cores.

The springs over time lose memory, and then you get a shifted weight caused by the sink.
 

The-Noid

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Nov 16, 2005
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Tighter the better I actually went and got bigger springs so it would tighten farther.
 

Cheex

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Jul 18, 2006
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Originally posted by: sd
Thats a good idea. I think I'll try some strips of black electrical tape and back the screws off a bit. Thanks a lot.

That should also work quite nicely.
 

sd

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Feb 29, 2000
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Took the board off, and put black electrical tape in place. For some reason the screws didn't want to loosen easily so I left as is. They touch the tape, but just barely. I'll know tomorrow when I fire this baby up for the first time. Wish me luck.
 

sjandrewbsme

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Jan 1, 2007
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I think the way it's supposed to work is that the tip of the backing plate near the screw holes (where there is a raised portion of steel - kind of like a riser) is supposed to touch the board.

The tip of the hole stands up vertically, it penetrates the board and provides rotational statibility. The base below can touch the board as it's only like 2mm larger in diameter and there are no traces on the backside of the board there.

Kind of like this (section view):


====| . | . |=====
____/_.|._\______
______________

(= is the mobo PCB)
(- is the backing plate)


You can see on that pic that the tapered portion of the backing plate could touch the underside of the board and the flange around the mounting hole actually penetrates the board.

I also think that the point of the hole flange that penetrates the board is that it's for alignment and a screw stop - i.e. you turn the screw until it bottoms out against this flange.

I *think* this was the intent.

What *I* did was to put some cushioned adhesive rubber on the topside of the backing plats such that no portion of it may touch the board. The standoffs near the hole still penetrate the holes in the board, but the rest of the plate doesn't touch anything.

As far as torque is concerned, I would count turns until it "feels" right. The purpose of the turn counting is to make sure that each screw has the same pressure. When done it's pretty tight - as soon as I start feeling the PCB straining I stopped. I wanted to make sure it's plenty tight for thermals and to prevent the drooping.
 

VinDSL

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Originally posted by: sd
Took the board off, and put black electrical tape in place. For some reason the screws didn't want to loosen easily so I left as is...
That's because the springs are digging into the screw heads & plate!

That's one of the reasons I put a little silicone grease on the screws & springs... ;)
 

VinDSL

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Originally posted by: aigomorla
vin did you hear, springs might actually make your contact worse.

Im debating on removing all my springs off my waterblocks.
Yeah, I hate springs... they're just convenient!

I think I'll try leaving them off too... :D
 

VinDSL

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Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
I also think that the point of the hole flange that penetrates the board is that it's for alignment and a screw stop - i.e. you turn the screw until it bottoms out against this flange.

I *think* this was the intent.

As far as torque is concerned, I would count turns until it "feels" right...
Yep, that's the intent, AFAIK...

I do the same as you, but I use those little red fiber washers (made for mobo standoffs) on the backplate flanges -- don't like the backplate digging into the mobo PCB, you know? :D

Torque?

I 'gauge it' by sight, not feel -- make sure the same amount of threads are visible on each screw. Seems to work the best for me! ;)

Example

Look at the threads -- not quite bottomed out, but close...
 

aka1nas

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Aug 30, 2001
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Originally posted by: VinDSL
Originally posted by: aigomorla
vin did you hear, springs might actually make your contact worse.

Im debating on removing all my springs off my waterblocks.
Yeah, I hate springs... they're just convenient!

I think I'll try leaving them off too... :D

I was unable to install the Tuniq on my 939 setup with the springs on. It's still on quite tightly without them.