Step by step inst/on of mach 2 cpu kit.Lets find why i get condensation

[Brwmogazos]

ok after 2 dead P4C800E Deluxe boards i need to find out where on earth does the air slip through from, the intel cpu kit...

As you will be able to see in the following pictures, i have quickly-not carefully as i do every time, applied some seal string on the cpu kit and fitted it in the Asus P4C800E

both my boards have died from condensation on the back of the motherboard...

So please have a look and tell what am i doing wrong and where could be the possible area thats causing condensation might be in the cpu kit...

1

This is the dead board so its not clean as i had it sprayed with pcb laquer after my last p4C died...

2

the back plate orientated on the back of the board

3

the back plates clearance that the seal string has to fill after applied

4

After applying the seal string on the back plate.I always use extra seal string and i always use it over and over so i give it the worm shape and then apply it to the backplate.As i said i did this one quickly so where the two ends of the string meet i havent "connected" them well together+ i always apply loads of string where the wire of the heating element goes throug the string both outside the back plate and inside the back plate by covering all the red thingy that the wires are connected to the heater element, with seal string

 

[Brwmogazos]

5

back plate installed...now i apply some string on top of the screws to cover them fully...

6

back plate mounted...

7

cpu socket...you can see the droop mod here but i have given loads of slack to the wire that lies into the socket area so that it doesnt interfere with the front plate.

8

no string applied...just the front plate lying on top of the board

 

[Brwmogazos]

9

same as above...

10

in these last pics some chips and a mosfet "get in the way of the seal string" so these two areas should be sealed carefully

11

again not so carefully applied, front plate pre installed

12

front plate mounted on top of the board

 

[Brwmogazos]

13

i always apply another small pieve of seal string in this area cos the mosfet gets in the way...the fan header makes it impossible to apply well due to the small clearance it leaves...you can see the left overs from the last application of seal string so you can understand the area that extra small piece takes.

14

this area to be hones i dont cover using extra seal string.could that be the reason where the air is coming from...?i never noticed any oxydisation or any water drops in there after removing the kit

15

i left the plate installed for like 2 mins and then i started pulling upwards gently to see any areas that perhaps the seal string wasnt covering...seems that the mosfet was covered well here...even though i didnt apply the extra piece of string

16

the area seen over the NB heatsink..seal string came off completely from this area..prolly due to the chips or it had no time to stick a lot..i never apply an extra layer of seal string here as i said before only where the mosffet its...

 

[Brwmogazos]

17

this is the area of the droop mod...seal string seems to find it difficult to stick easily on these chips...i guess i would have to apply some seal extra string there next time...

18

looking from the top of the board down the socket...looks like perfect contact there

19

and the area with the leftovers from the seal string that it covers...

20

back to the back plate now...this is where condensation has been sighted for 3 times now...2 dead boards so far.

21

looks like everything is fine here too

 

[Brwmogazos]

22

same here

23

and here

24

after the back plate was removed...in the area of the wire from the heater theres no much seal string in this application as i said earlier..but i always use loads when applying for real...

25

here is the dead board after i removed the back plate...again condensation on the back of the board...two waterdrops can be seen there and a bit of green oxydisation...

26

and another shot of the dead board...

what i am thinking of is applying seal string and covering all of the boards back socket area so when the back plate is installed..it lies on top of the seal string...i cant see why condensation would form there...one thing though would that cause anything to overheat? would the heater melt the seal string ?

dunno what to do tbh...first board lasted 3 months...this one i noticed some condensation after i removed the mach 2...then left it on air...i had attached the mounting plate that goes into the board for the heatsinks to be attached and after removing it it took some seal pcb laquer with it...wasnt bothered spraying again since my mach 2 GT was waiting...it lasted a week...and then died...

the evap i havent shown you any pics of that but i find it hard to believe i could have probs in there...

i noticed 2 times now though that 2 small waterdrops were lying into the evaps head(the copper area)...that area wasnt covered with as ceramique though...so another drop was on the cpus heatspreader..these are the only two places i have noticed 2 waterdrops as far as the front plate is concerned...not signs of oxydisation on the front of the board...EVER...

so please have a look at the pics...and tell me by quoting the image number WHERE on earth the problem lies...

thanks

 

[aXeR]

a really good idea to post that brw.

After looking at the used seal string you can see that it was least effective in some areas for various reasons, i would definately consider a second lenght of seal string to go arround the outside of the CPU kit onto the mobo to insure a good seal

will post more in a sec got something i need to do..

 

[mcmad]

Ive not had a great deal of experience on prommies (only had 1 !) but I worked on cryogenic vacuum systems for a number of years so know a bit about leaks..

First thing is, are you cleaning the board, plate, heater etc with alchohol first ? I would use a lot of IPA & drown the mofos with it first (IPA will evaporate any moisture there), once the IPA evaporates mount it, there will naturally be moisture on all surfaces & you are sealing it in when you mount the plate without cleaning it first, shouldn't be much of an issue really but obviously we are looking for something small in your case.

from what i can see m8, seal at the back looks ok, I would however suggest you use another round of string outside of the back plate, what I mean is mount as normal then put a round of string where the plate touches the board & spread it out with your finger (will end up looking like sealing around a shower base or a bath if you know what I mean).

Looking at the actual corrosion, is the soldered contact from a component on the other side of the board ? looking at your sealing there, there are a couple of possible gaps are far as I can see, mosfet & IC, should really cover these completely as there could be a very small air gap underneath or between the pins of these, again mount as normal then surround the mount with spread out seal as above.

a good clean with IPA first would also be a good idea on top.

Im surprised you are getting problems looking at your mount though, seems kinda strange you are getting water droplets as the mounting looks pretty good, especially on the back.

Try cleaning with IPA first then use a spread out seal as opposed to relying on only the small surface area of seal string you are using at the mo.

 

[gorby]

m8 im going to be putting my rma'ed board in tonight so well see whose dies first

It all looks fine to me, m8 i know this sounds stupid but do you cover up the screws from the freezer head with seal after attaching? I never did an im thinking this is what killed my board.

I have also modified my kit to allow for the mofsets and lowered profile by around 4mm. on the back i dont use seal on inside of plastic i attach it and then just coat the perimeter like attaching a sink. Im not sure if this helped for conden but it did reduce my temps by around 2 degrees.

Having said this my board still died so im going to invent some kind of overclocking god and pray to him tonight after install is done

 

[Brwmogazos]

with IPA u mean alcohol?

i got pure alcohol here...i am using it to clean the board so that i can RMA it

i brought the alcohol from greece where u dont need a prescription

no i havent used alcohol first.

I used seal tring arround the back plate and the front plate in the very first installation i got mate...still the board died but i didnt use a second layer after swapping my cpus

i will be using some grease once i get this farnell website able to checkout my order hehe

so the plan so far is:

clean with alcohol

apply grease both in the cpu socket on the front and in the back up to the point where the seal string contacts the board.

use 2 seal string layers one after the first installation...

especially on the front arround the mosfet and droop mod area...

use a second layer of seal string into the evap head too...

and in the are where the evap tube meets the head

gordy i always use seal string on the screws...

 

[slim]

I can't see any of the pics...?

 

[standin wave]

I can't see any of the pics...?

me neither - they were there last Friday (7th May)

sw

 

[aXeR]

wen i checked the host it says this:

[size=+1]Maintenance Status[/size]We are sorry for the invonvience. The service will be available to you shortly. We are in the process of dealing with network issues brought up by our Internet Links provider.

Thank you,

The Phaistos Networks team (contact us)

 

[Phil Stanbridge]

wen i checked the host it says this:

[size=+1]Maintenance Status[/size]We are sorry for the invonvience. The service will be available to you shortly. We are in the process of dealing with network issues brought up by our Internet Links provider.

Thank you,

The Phaistos Networks team (contact us)

hehe LOL. Cheap service providers eh?

 

[aXeR]

lol idd ill host em for you if u want brw

 

[Brwmogazos]

LOL what do you expect...these guys give you 12mb webspace if you want for any account u can create...

its a Greek website..so i have 2 accounts only by registering

cant blame them for that ehhehe

 

[Brwmogazos]

Here we go...

this time i am gonna be more carefull

my condensation proofing is here

neoprene from o-c

dunno yet which thickness to use...

dielectric grease....4 tubes lol i ordered loads..didnt know they were 100gs...

2 cleaning sprays which are boss in cleaning the board from laquer...in seconds my board was spotless...

great stuff....

will be running on air without a case though for the time being till i get a replacement intel kit..that may take weeks though

here are some pics

application of grease everywhere in the socket...and the back too...neoprene on top which i will have to cut in size...<-thats gonna take some time..

and two layers of seal string...

what do you guys think?

 

[slim]

Good luck

 

[gorby]

whats the wetsuit supposed to do, since its designed to keep water in.....

sry if im being dumb

 

[mcmad]

its dense enough that it stops moisture penetrating.