Question Something burned on motheboard, help identify the part

[dov1x]

Hi, after cleaning my pc with electric duster I powered on my pc and I saw some sparks coming from the motheboard followed with burnt component smell. My pc still powered on, but I immediately turned it off to investigate, it didn't took me long to find the area where I could see the burn marks. My motheboard is MSI B550 Tomahawk. Any ideas what exactly burned on the motheboard and can I continue using my pc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bill001g]

Does the pc still function. Looks like surface mount capacitors. Not something you are going to be able to fix without special tools and the cost to pay someone is likely as much as replacing the motherboard.

If you get lucky it could be just some slot or port no longer works but everything else is good.

 

[dov1x]

Thanks for the response, so far I only tried booting to Windows, havent tried anything else really. I could send the motheboard for warranty as well, but its a long and tedious process.

I will try booting up a game to see if it works lets hope nothing wrong happens.

Edit;
No signs of instability/or problems while playing Cyberpunk so far.

 

[Misgar]

Yet another computer damaged by "cleaning". I don't understand the logic behind removing a thin layer of dust, until it gets really bad. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

I'd be cautious about powering on the motherboard again with such obvious signs of damage, in case it sets fire to your house. Take care!

 

[drea.drechsler]

...

I will try booting up a game to see if it works lets hope nothing wrong happens.

....

It's hard to tell much from the photo, but look like a large burnt area suggesting significant energy in the event. It's also looks like it could be a VRM circuit based on what looks like a nearby inductor and the large capacitor at ground zero of the damaged area.

If so, the question that should be of concern is: what does that VRM provide power to? The NVME just above it? One of the voltage rails for the chipset just below? something else less important nearby? It may have survived this but it quite surely did it no good by stressing parts far beyond design limits, however briefly. It may even be operating with a voltage far outside of tolerance, now, doing silent damage to other components, such as the NVME drive.

I'd not trust it if the system is used for important work. If just gaming, then use it till it dies I guess.

And I surely do share the sentiment about cleaning too much. More systems die by being cleaned to death or re-pasting CPU/GPU's than actual component aging.

 

[dov1x]

It's hard to tell much from the photo, but look like a large burnt area suggesting significant energy in the event. It's also looks like it could be a VRM circuit based on what looks like a nearby inductor and the large capacitor at ground zero of the damaged area.

If so, the question that should be of concern is: what does that VRM provide power to? The NVME just above it? One of the voltage rails for the chipset just below? something else less important nearby? It may have survived this but it quite surely did it no good by stressing parts far beyond design limits, however briefly. It may even be operating with a voltage far outside of tolerance, now, doing silent damage to other components, such as the NVME drive.

I'd not trust it if the system is used for important work. If just gaming, then use it till it dies I guess.

And I surely do share the sentiment about cleaning too much. More systems die by being cleaned to death or re-pasting CPU/GPU's than actual component aging.

Thanks for your help.

I would like to mention that while I was cleaning, I didn't do anything apart from taking out the gpu out of the motheboard. Perhaps I didn't seat my GPU properly in to the slot? And to be more clear I didn't boot into windows immediately, I panicked and shutdown my pc after I saw sparks coming from the motheboard. After that I opened up my pc and double checked connections (CPU,VGA,ATX etc..) and only then I decided boot up into windows. What's interesting to me is when I booted into windows, there was a notifaction that my GPU drivers has crashed and everything was reset to default values. So whatever got burned might be related to PCIE slot, maybe? I linked a more clear picture from Google, where you could see 3 little capacitors next to a PCIE slot which are completely gone for me right now. I would still like to know what purpose do they serve, and can it demage my other components in the system if I keep using this motheboard.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks for your help.

I would like to mention that while I was cleaning, I didn't do anything apart from taking out the gpu out of the motheboard. Perhaps I didn't seat my GPU properly in to the slot? ...

I tend to doubt re-seating the GPU caused damage at that end of the PCIe slot. Also, power is passed into the PCIe slot at the other end...where you see those two large can capacitors that condition the voltage (also across the PCie aux power connectors). My more likely scenario is something conductive (a single strand of wire, for instance, is enough) was blown into a tiny gap between component leads.

 

[WrongRookie]

Just curious but what PSU were you using for the motherboard?

If its not a good one, the PSU could be the one to blame for damaging the motherboard.

 

[drea.drechsler]

.... I would still like to know what purpose do they serve, and can it demage my other components in the system if I keep using this motheboard.

Those chip capacitors are used in a large variety of applications so it's hard to say with any certainty without knowing what they connect to. But one of the more critical is voltage conditioning or filtering where it reduces large voltage spikes or short duration high voltage peaks. If not there the peaks will degrade the using devices over time even though they appear to be operating normally.

When I looked at the picture of your board again I noted some significant scratching on the GPU extractor lever. That suggests use of a tool of some sort to push on it (I do with mine!) since it's hard to reach down the side of a tall GPU. If so, it's quite likely the tool slipped off and dislodged one of the chip caps, pushing it into an adjacent one to short out a voltage.

 

[dov1x]

When I looked at the picture of your board again I noted some significant scratching on the GPU extractor lever. That suggests use of a tool of some sort to push on it (I do with mine!) since it's hard to reach down the side of a tall GPU. If so, it's quite likely the tool slipped off and dislodged one of the chip caps, pushing it into an adjacent one to short out a voltage.

Good catch. I actually do use screwdriver to push down the lever, because I can't reach that with my hands, and If I recall correctly I think it slipped when I tried to push down the lever to release GPU from the slot which made the screwdriver hit the motherboard, and maybe it hit the chip caps like you said.

Just curious but what PSU were you using for the motherboard?

If its not a good one, the PSU could be the one to blame for damaging the motherboard.

It's XPG CORE REACTOR 850W 80 + GOLD.

I think the safest bet at this point is order a new motheboard and call it a day despite the fact that everything works fine in my pc so far.

 

[WrongRookie]

XPG CORE REACTOR 850W 80 + GOLD

Seems like a good PSU. Are the cabels burned?

I think the safest bet at this point is order a new motheboard and call it a day despite the fact that everything works fine in my pc so far.

You can file for warranty instead. I don't understand how cleaning it can cause such a problem. Its probably a manufacturing defect.

 

[Misgar]

Crushing small components with extreme pressure from a metal screwdriver blade is a perfect recipe for disaster and the most logical reason why your motherboard failed. It wasn't the cleaning that caused the explosion, it was broken components due to operator error.

Good luck getting a replacement board. If they detect any scratch marks from the screwdriver, they might not replace the board, because it's not a manufacturing defect. You might get away with it if the board is brand new, but if the board is several months old, then something must have changed to make it to go bang.

If you dented the fender on your car, would you expect the dealer to replace your vehicle free of charge? Good luck.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Good catch. I actually do use screwdriver to push down the lever ....

The tool I use to push it down is a plastic ruler, and I sort of rock it with the lever so it doesn't slip off. Probably the best tool would be the rubber eraser end of a pencil... but who has one of those these days LOL.

And I also think it's unlikely you'll get a warranty claim for it. Most RMA techs tend to first look for a way to deny claims, often times with much less evidence than the witness marks on the lever. I also have to think they see this sort of thing pretty frequently too.