What is wrecking my mobo's?

[standin wave]

my sense of Humour

Soz Phil - was fiddling with my steam driven PC til the early hrs, then had to get up at 5AM to take laddo swimming - just tired and grumpy I guess

sw

 

[Thickbrit]

Well, my new chip & mobo arrived this morning,im gonna run it out the case and on air for a few days,then in the case on air for a few days,to test all other hardware before i finally hook my mach2 back up.I'll keep you informed,but, please keep your idea's coming,because it's still not making sense to me.Btw i,m working on getting some better pics for you all.

 

[gorby]

At the risk of annoying you....

The same thing happened to me when i did my first prommie installation on my ic7. Id had it about a week running a soft air clock, did the prommie install and then it was borked. End result was it trys to turn on repeatedly with the light flashing at the corner of mobo. I copped out tho im afraid, rma'ed the bitch ("mr scan.co.uk i was using excel and it just turned off!") and got my p4c800-e-d my first asus in years but its lovely...

 

[Thickbrit]

I wouldn't get annoyed at someone trying to help me,i need all the help i can get,but i will get annoyed when i do finally hook up the prommie and it fries my new mobo again(i have an overwhelming feeling of impending doom).I just know i'm gonna be left with a dead max3 and no idea why.I like max3's a lot(2.4c at 325fsb,2.8c at 4ghz-1/1),but if i lose this one, i will probably try an asus. Anyway here's some better pics of my problem,pic4 is the general area,pic5 is detailing the missing components(mc479+481 and pads),which seem to blow themselves from the mobo.

 

[Ferret]

Are you going to use some dielectric grease? That will stop any problem and is easy to clean off.

 

[standin wave]

dielectric grease

Ferret - I'm not sure I agree! The caps are on the underside of the mobo and if there's pressure down on the board, then the grease will be pushed aside and if the caps have a dc voltage on them then BANG ! Grease would help if its just a matter of filling a void with something to stop moisture - i.e. condensation on components, but it is very easily forced out the way. As I said in an earlier post a thin sheet of white PTFE stuck on either the underside of the mobo or the case / tray would ensure no poss contact. Cheaper option - just cut up something like a large white plazzie shampoo bottle (when EMPTY !!) - its just something thicker than insulating tape!

sw

 

[Thickbrit]

Well i've killed boards with and without dc4,so i prefer not to use it (cos it is messy).These components sit inside the the rear prommie cover(with the heating element in it),how could they be shorting on the tray?Also ive dry fitted my prommie & it doesn't flex the mobo as much as the stock 3.2 h/s(which is sitting in case running sweet as a nut),no signs of shorting on aluminium tray or stand-offs.Nothing pertruding from rear of mobo higher than the stand-offs.I know i keep shooting down all idea's,but keep them coming anyway,i appreciate it.

 

[Brwmogazos]

it could be condensation that kills those caps slowly i believe.

i lost one p4c800e a few months back...

now i have used pcb lacquer from maplins and sprayied several times my board...still i had condensation probs...but i guess the pcb remains intact...

 

[Ferret]

it could be condensation that kills those caps slowly i believe.

i lost one p4c800e a few months back...

now i have used pcb lacquer from maplins and sprayied several times my board...still i had condensation probs...but i guess the pcb remains intact...

After seeing the pics of your board Brwmogazos it looks in a similar place doesn't it. Thats why I got the laquer and grease and the solder points are pretty big. To be honest the grease is dead easy to clean of the back, that other spray just melt it straight away.

standin wave - I don't think you get it, the grease would sit under the Mach II backplate, there is no pressure on it.

 

[ZaX]

When I first got my Mach II, I use to wonder why it would go down to -57 C. It turned out that the heating element in the micro freezer was not plugged into the Mach II's control unit so it wasn't heating the outside's of the micro freezer hence condensation use to form. Could a similar problem be affecting your element in the back plate Thickbrit? Condensation could then possibly form and hence your string of dead boards. Check to see if the element works.

Just an idea.

ZaX.

 

[Thickbrit]

Aha,now someone is thinking along the same lines as me,about this heating element.I know i always have it connected,but it could be faulty.How is it supposed to work,how can i check it functions correctly,is it affected by me not connecting the usb wire/installing software ? Also,can anyone tell me how to test and check as many operations of my mach 2, as is possible,before i run it on my mobo,thanks guys.New board is still taking any amount of abuse i give it,and its had a lot !!,if anything other than the mach2 is causing this then it should have happened by now.Just want to test mach2,then i'm going for it,**** or bust.

 

[standin wave]

Dont get it?

Story of my life! You're probably right, Ferret. I ain't got my ic7 max 3 connected up to MachII GT yet, so I hadn't realised how it all went together.

Another 'protection' for the back of the board against any form of moisture is 'conformal coat' - as used for MIL-SPEC environments. It smells lovely too - so its probably bad for you. It is removable if necessary with a solvent, but boards will survive 1000 hrs damp heat (85 °C and 85% RH) no probs

sw

 

[Ferret]

Another 'protection' for the back of the board against any form of moisture is 'conformal coat' - as used for MIL-SPEC environments. It smells lovely too - so its probably bad for you. It is removable if necessary with a solvent, but boards will survive 1000 hrs damp heat (85 °C and 85% RH) no probs

sw

Sounds the same as the plastic coating spray I mentioned on the first page

 

[The Hat]

Me as well

I've just lost a Max-3. Having seen your pics I'll have a closer look at my board. I am gonna stick with the Max and will order another. If this goes I may have to reconsider the expensive but shortlived ways of subzero to the more mundane but cheaper ways of mainstream computing.

 

[Ferret]

Use some Dielectric grease, its better to be safe rather than sorry!