I painted a mobo, now half of the RAM slots don't work. What did I break & can I fix it?

Xickle · Feb 23, 2015

So I've decided to mod my old motherboard by covering it in a thin layer of plasti-dip. Before I sprayed it, I secured every input/connector, so no paint got into it. I secured the CPU and RAM slots extra well, and I highly doubt that paint went in there. Plasti dip is easily removable, and non conductive.

Now for some more technical info, which might help you guys: The two slots that are broken are both part of memory Channel A. Whenever I run the computer with RAM sticks plugged into that channel, I get a warning that the cpu has detected a malfunction on Channel A, and that I need to plug it out and in again. The memory on Channel B works perfectly, and if I switch the sticks around, the situation doesn't change. Right now I'm running it without sticks in Channel A, and everything is fine.

I would like to learn from my mistakes, which means that I need to know where I went wrong. Hopefully you will be able to give some assistance!

terry4536 · Feb 23, 2015

The first thing that comes to mind is that the paint is going to interfere with the electrical contacts in the RAM slots.

terry4536 · Feb 23, 2015

How do you fix it? Probably you don't. If there is any conductivity in the paint, there is a chance that it could short if it is powered up.

Plus portions of the motherboard do get hot. That could lead to issues of burning the paint off.

Xickle · Feb 23, 2015

terry4536 :

I've explained this in the first post. The paint is absolutely not conductive, it's mainly rubber, and it can be peeled off. It's pretty thin, and while monitoring the temperatures I saw no increases that would be of concern. Maybe by a degree or two.

I've taken extra caution while protecting the ram slots, and have seen no paint inside or on the slot while taking a closer look. Is there anything that could break and effect the RAM channel, and isn't the slots themselves?

terry4536 · Feb 23, 2015

There is no rubber in paint.

Xickle · Feb 23, 2015

terry4536 :

It's Plasti dip

terry4536 · Feb 23, 2015

One of the principle trouble shooting procedures for RAM is to simply blow the dust out of the slots. If the electrical contacts (on the RAM & Slot) are blocked by the product you used the RAM slot is effectively dead. Do what you can to clean the contacts. That is all you can do.

Tradesman1 · Feb 23, 2015

Did you reattach the CPU cooler after 'painting' ? If so you may have the cooler on too tight in a corner or side whaich can affect the memory channels as you describe, loosen it and snug it back down, not overly tight but snug and try again

Xickle · Feb 24, 2015

Tradesman1 :

I've tried it yesterday, but there was no difference when I ran the computer. In case it helps: the error reads "The following channel did not pass the cpu memory test" and below it lists "Channel A"

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I painted a mobo, now half of the RAM slots don't work. What did I break & can I fix it?

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