I scratched my motherboard with pliers

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Shakez

Prominent
Jul 24, 2017
3
0
510
I made the dumbest mistake and scratched my motherboards surface white trying to remove the middle screw. The screw was stuck so I tried to remove it with pliers. I rotated it for a while only to notice the board had suffered some surface damage. The pliers were flat headed so I don't think it got that deep..still looks real bad though. What do you guys think judging by the picture - should I be worried or extremely worried? :( At least it still boots up.

http://i.imgur.com/LMEGfNM.jpg

Should I apply clear nail polish or something? Or is all hope lost for this brand new mobo? :(
 
Solution
PC Tailor
Your motherboard is built up in layers effectively and judging by the picture you've put on, you've removed the resist from the tracks. This means you've removed the protective coating on the tracks.

Realistically, if you're saying you've retried it and it all still works, then you will likely be fine, as a big problem will usually go bang immediately. However if those tracks are connected to USB ports for example, you may need to test them. Using a multi-meter and testing that resistance is equal on either side of the damaged track is a way of testing if there's any critical damage, but if you're saying you've just booted up normally anyway, then that may not be necessary.

But if you're saying it all still functions normally, you...
Sort by date Sort by votes
PC Tailor

PC Tailor

Illustrious
Ambassador
Jun 29, 2017
7,976
1,572
41,590
Your motherboard is built up in layers effectively and judging by the picture you've put on, you've removed the resist from the tracks. This means you've removed the protective coating on the tracks.

Realistically, if you're saying you've retried it and it all still works, then you will likely be fine, as a big problem will usually go bang immediately. However if those tracks are connected to USB ports for example, you may need to test them. Using a multi-meter and testing that resistance is equal on either side of the damaged track is a way of testing if there's any critical damage, but if you're saying you've just booted up normally anyway, then that may not be necessary.

But if you're saying it all still functions normally, you will be fine, however to help reduce the risk of future problems, I would clear the scratch marks from any debris, and lightly coat it with a nail varnish to reapply a protective layer.

Again, if you're saying you've retried it and it works, you can count yourself lucky (may cause some future problem) but if you can clear it and apply the varnish now, you can reduce the risk of further problems.

In the future, do not use pliers for that application, and additionally, I wouldn't just try and boot up again afterwards as if you DID cause critical damage, you could also damage other components in the boot up test process. A multi-meter would be best served for testing. You're quite lucky sir!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom