Question scratch on motherboard

[gaalex]

Hi guys, I have a situation that I am a bit scared with, it turns out that with the screwdriver I accidentally scratched a part of the motherboard, the fact is that the scratch looks golden and most likely revealed the copper. The PC works normally and has not given any problems. Should I be worry? And what could I do?

https://imgur.com/p5FLu3J

View: https://imgur.com/p5FLu3J

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hello guys, I have a situation with which I am a little scared, it turns out that with the screwdriver I accidentally scratched a part of the motherboard, the fact is that the scratch It looks gold and most likely it has revealed the copper. The PC is working normally and it hasn't given any problems. Should I be concerned? And what could I do?

It may have exposed copper but that's not tragic unless it also cut through a trace. If it just exposed copper you might want to cover it with a coat of fingernail polish to prevent corrosion. Or do nothing, it probably won't matter.

Try to take a high resolution photo of the area and another zoomed in on the damage as much as possible.

 

[kerberos_20]

tthose traces should be related to onboard audio

 

[gaalex]

Puede haber expuesto el cobre, pero eso no es trágico a menos que también corte un rastro. Si acaba de exponer el cobre, es posible que desee cubrirlo con una capa de esmalte de uñas para evitar la corrosión. O no hacer nada, probablemente no importe.

Intenta hacer una foto de alta resolución de la zona y otra ampliada lo más posible sobre los daños.

It is the best photo I could take. In the photo it is not very noticeable but in person if you see the copper it is not noticeable anyway that the scratch is very deep I think I will put nail polish on it and I will not worry so much I have been using the pc for almost a week with those scratches and I had no problem thanks for your help

 

[gaalex]

It may have exposed copper but that's not tragic unless it also cut through a trace. If it just exposed copper you might want to cover it with a coat of fingernail polish to prevent corrosion. Or do nothing, it probably won't matter.

Try to take a high resolution photo of the area and another zoomed in on the damage as much as possible.

this is the best photo i could take

https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

View: https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

this is the best photo i could take

https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

View: https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

I would just Paint over it with something like nail varnish, I hear Xbox has a great selection (sorry lol) or car touch up paint should be ok.

That screw looks like its seen better days, might want to be careful that small metal filing's from screw don't short stuff out unless you used a magnetic screw driver probs bit's of screw stuck to that?

 

[drea.drechsler]

this is the best photo i could take

https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

View: https://imgur.com/PefBIyE

It might have cut through one trace, it's not that clear. But as said before: it most likely relates to the on-board audio and it looks to me like it's running to one of the rear panel connectors. Best case of the worst case scenario is if you lose anything it might be an input or output to one of those connections which could explain why you haven't noticed it if you don't use them.

I agree that screw sure looks buggered up; it could be the reason the screwdriver slipped and then nicked the board. It might be cross-threaded making removal pretty tough and creating opportunity for further damage to the board if not done really carefully.

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

It might have cut through one trace, it's not that clear. But as said before: it most likely relates to the on-board audio and it looks to me like it's running to one of the rear panel connectors. Best case of the worst case scenario is if you lose anything it might be an input or output to one of those connections which could explain why you haven't noticed it if you don't use them.

I agree that screw sure looks buggered up; it could be the reason the screwdriver slipped and then nicked the board. It might be cross-threaded making removal pretty tough and creating opportunity for further damage to the board if not done really carefully.

If you zoom the image 400% using Microsoft paint, it looks more like they have scratched the protective layer off exposing and with some slight scoring of the copper rails, they struck it lucky this time, but I would definitely paint over them to help protect the copper from oxidisation or worse still shorting out.

Some advice on getting that screw out, Use some small (flat nosed not long nosed) pliers with electrical tape covering each end of the piler jaws, grip the screw head vertically and carefully twist until you can turn with fingers or if its cross threaded keep carefully using pilers until its out, its worked for me before when replacing a friends motherboard.

I'm guessing that maybe the screw is the wrong thread and was a squeeeaky fit. seen it and come across it before in the many years of building PC's at work place or for friends and friends of friends.

OR

The classic, totally wrong size philip's head screw driver heh.

 

[Karadjgne]

First hit it with some isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip, a good saturation. This does 2 things. First is it cleans the area so fingernail polish will stick good, without any contaminants under it. Second, wetness will obscure the lighter areas from the protective layer, giving better visual access to the traces. You'll then (hopefully) be able to see if the traces are damaged.

 

[Deleted member 2947362]

If one of them is cut and you have a steady hand, you can repair it using something like Liquiwire, then paint nail varnish over that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LiquiwireTM-100-Electrically-conductive-electric/dp/B07XBGZRV7/ref=asc_df_B07XBGZRV7?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80882916214133&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482462257768&psc=1