Stripped Standoff Screw

[zach_35701]

I recently rebuilt my computer and put it in a new case (Phantom 530) I also just noticed that one of the screws that hold in my motherboard easily comes out of the case. I was trying to unplug a USB 3 connector, and the screw came out. The issue is that, my whole computer is already built and been running for a few days, and I would really like to not have to take the whole thing apart just to replace the one standoff. The screw stays in fairly well, as I can move the case around without it moving, it only moves if the mobo is shifted a lot. Should I take it apart and fix the issue? Could it cause any technical problems?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Little you can do at this point unless you can get a nut on the back of the screw. That's not supposed to happen as tray should be made of a harder material than the brass screws.

 

[SkyNetRising]

You can use small drop of epoxy glue to prevent standoff screw from popping out.

 

[thx1138v2]

It might be a problem if it is one of the grounding screws for the motherboard. Those typically have little dimples of solder around the hole on the top of the motherboard. Using epoxy might actually electrically insulate the screw from the case if it is a grounding standoff and that might cause a problem. If it's not a grounding standoff epoxy will be fine.

 

[oczdude8]

I think the epoxy/instant glue idea is good. One mobo screw is no big deal at all.

Also, your motherboard is not grounded via standoffs. They are grounded via the PSU cables attached to it. That's why you can easy run your system outside the case on a wooden test bench. That being said, they are probably connected to ground as well (as per normal pcb design)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

It might be a problem if it is one of the grounding screws for the motherboard. Those typically have little dimples of solder around the hole on the top of the motherboard. Using epoxy might actually electrically insulate the screw from the case if it is a grounding standoff and that might cause a problem. If it's not a grounding standoff epoxy will be fine.

All the boards here, that I just looked at and all the builds I can remember all have those dimples Any more than 1 ground screw is redundant.... not to mentioned that the board has redundant ground cables thru all the connectors. Not that there's anything wrong with redundancy.