[SOLVED] Bent motherboard choke

[_ThunderClap_]

I just recently bought a new aours elite b560m mobo and i noticed that the choke on top of the cpu socket was bent a little. I fliped the motherboard and the choke joints were intact and in correct orientation. I have not tested the mobo and cannot do so for a week or so. I wanted to know if i bought a working mobo or a faulty one

 

[drea.drechsler]

I just recently bought a new aours elite b560m mobo and i noticed that the choke on top of the cpu socket was bent a little. I fliped the motherboard and the choke joints were intact and in correct orientation. I have not tested the mobo and cannot do so for a week or so. I wanted to know if i bought a working mobo or a faulty one

It's common for parts to be slightly mis-aligned during manufacture. That doesn't affect operation or performance in the least so long as the leads are making a solidly soldered connection with the motherboard pads.. A picture of the part...both on the front and back...would help understand if the misalignment might be a borderline problem.

 

[_ThunderClap_]

It's common for parts to be slightly mis-aligned during manufacture. That doesn't affect operation or performance in the least so long as the leads are making a solidly soldered connection with the motherboard pads.. A picture of the part...both on the front and back...would help understand if the misalignment might be a borderline problem.

Here are the images:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojxn3HykNxpaFZIgu3r9FuDUalp24TLZ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CYkdaTJHxdubG7DGHhkefxwZpz5qpAnX/view?usp=sharing

 

[drea.drechsler]

Here are the images:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojxn3HykNxpaFZIgu3r9FuDUalp24TLZ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CYkdaTJHxdubG7DGHhkefxwZpz5qpAnX/view?usp=sharing

OK... there are 5 chokes and the one is indeed quite skewed. But the backside image shows 7 pairs of through-hole lead solder pads which co-responds to the 7 capacitors on the front side. So this suggests to me the chokes are surface mount...and it appears I can just see the leads peeking out from under three of them in the front side image.

You need to try and get a bright light and look at the lead on both sides of the questionable choke to see if it's on the pad completely. Even aerospace ultra-high-reliability manufacturing assembly specs do allow for some pad overhang but I simply can't remember what the allowance was from 20 years ago when I worked as manufacturing engineer. The one thing I do remember is it can't be more than half the distance to an adjacent pad or trace; that's not a problem from the direction of the skew.

So let's just say....if it's not more than about 60 or 70% ON THE PAD (30-40% OFF the pad), and showing a smooth, bright solder fillet from pad to all of the lead that's on the pad I'd consider taking it back. If the solder on that part's leads are dull or grainy looking the part may have been jostled while solder was still molten leaving a cold joint that can crack after a few dozen heating/cooling cycles in use. NORMALLY, surface tension of the liquifying solder will pull a part into place on the pads during reflow unless the components are staked, which is doubtful for cheap consumer electronics.

The thing is, the way a CPU VRM works the choke is in series with the output of ONE of the phases. So even if the choke is completely missing the VRM still works but with one of the phases missing, leaving the rest to carry the complete current and heat load of the CPU. Your system would seem to work OK and you'd not know it until a few years down the road when one or more tired FET's start misbehaving and go unstable.

If the lead is correctly on the pad with good solder don't worry about the body of the part. It will just look a bit funny, but everything work OK.

 

[_ThunderClap_]

OK... there are 5 chokes and the one is indeed quite skewed. But the backside image shows 7 pairs of through-hole lead solder pads which co-responds to the 7 capacitors on the front side. So this suggests to me the chokes are surface mount...and it appears I can just see the leads peeking out from under three of them in the front side image.

You need to try and get a bright light and look at the lead on both sides of the questionable choke to see if it's on the pad completely. Even aerospace ultra-high-reliability manufacturing assembly specs do allow for some pad overhang but I simply can't remember what the allowance was from 20 years ago when I worked as manufacturing engineer. The one thing I do remember is it can't be more than half the distance to an adjacent pad or trace; that's not a problem from the direction of the skew.

So let's just say....if it's not more than about 60 or 70% ON THE PAD (30-40% OFF the pad), and showing a smooth, bright solder fillet from pad to all of the lead that's on the pad I'd consider taking it back. If the solder on that part's leads are dull or grainy looking the part may have been jostled while solder was still molten leaving a cold joint that can crack after a few dozen heating/cooling cycles in use. NORMALLY, surface tension of the liquifying solder will pull a part into place on the pads during reflow unless the components are staked, which is doubtful for cheap consumer electronics.

The thing is, the way a CPU VRM works the choke is in series with the output of ONE of the phases. So even if the choke is completely missing the VRM still works but with one of the phases missing, leaving the rest to carry the complete current and heat load of the CPU. Your system would seem to work OK and you'd not know it until a few years down the road when one or more tired FET's start misbehaving and go unstable.

If the lead is correctly on the pad with good solder don't worry about the body of the part. It will just look a bit funny, but everything work OK.

Sorry for the very late reply. I was busy with my exams. I checked the choke and it is fully intact and the connection btw the choke and mobo pads are perfectly normal. I still haven't built the PC yet. Thanks for pointing out that it was a surface mounted component.