resistors too close to mobo's holes

[ralf_c]

i decided to change the water in my loop and while i was doing that i noticed that some resistors on my mobo are too close to the mobo's heatsink holes. i didn't see any resistors being directly crushed by the mounting's washers but they are too close for comfort. has anybody seen this on other boards?

[Drake]

Yup, it's very common to have tiny resistors like that near hazard spots. There are many horror stories of people installing a HSF and scraping a few of them off.

[ralf_c]

grrrrrrrrrrr, just gotta be xtra careful then. good thing i didn't crush any of'em cause i didn't notice them at first, when i installed the block i didn't see any thing on the way but the face of the mobo is another story. i am looking inside my case right now and there are some resistors that are even in more danger. too bad i can't fit my digicam in there to get more close ups.

[Synthohol]

here's a Q.
what if hot glue was applied before mounting the washers to form a 1/16" base on top of the resistors first, allowed to cool and harden then the nuts or washers would pose no threat anymore? any thoughts?

[Farabomb]

Yup, got them on bolth of mine.

Be careful but it is possible to pop one or two off and still have the board work. Now don't go and pop a few off to see, it's 85% (totally made that # up) that it will kill the board.

[Farabomb]

Hmm, the hot glue will help but that's a damn good idea to use as a insulator for the mounting hardware.

Gonna have to get a NF7 and try it out ;)

[ralf_c]

hi fara

i knocked off resistors before, don't know how the hell but my mobo was unaffected as the knocked off resistors turned out to the lead to the parallel port, but i ain't taking any chances so i'll just be extra careful when i am down there.

synth, your idea might work but i might unlevel the washers. i know home depot carries rubber washers i think i'll give those a try.

[Drake]

Why not try foam? Seems a lot safer than putting hot glue on them.Originally posted by Farabomb
Yup, got them on bolth of mine.

Be careful but it is possible to pop one or two off and still have the board work. Now don't go and pop a few off to see, it's 85% (totally made that # up) that it will kill the board. 87.5% of all statistics are just made up.

[mdzcpa]

This is a very common problem with the latest round of NF2 boards. The NF7 in particular has some resistors real close to the mounting holes:

http://www.liquidninjas.com/mdzcpa/reviewphotos/NF7/Picture%20019.jpg

http://www.liquidninjas.com/mdzcpa/reviewphotos/NF7/Picture%20020.jpg


What I did to get around this was use 2 thin felt washers on the stand offs. This gave the stand offs enough clearance to rise over the components on the board. It may not work for other boards though (height of components near the holes may be different).

[Ruantic]

These nylon washers were in the SLK900U mounting kit, they work rather well, could probably order them seperately from TR.

[mdzcpa]

Mmmm...yes...very nice Rauntic. I like that much better than my felt washers:)

[spldart]

Hot glue will have no effect on 1/8 and 1/16 surface mount resitors and surface mount capacitors. Just don't cover up the flap pack IC's as they sometimes do produce some heat.

[ralf_c]

looks like abit boards can fit #8 threaded rods but it maybe way too close for comfort. #6 rod with smallest washers possible then!

[Farabomb]

I know Synth got away with #8s in his ASUS. I perfer #6 and the plastic washers.

Anyone know where you can get bulk plastic washers like the ones in ruanitic's pic? I got a few with my Alpha and the shoulder on the washer just clears most surface mount components. They work real well and I'd like a few spares. It would be much better than spending a few hours looking for that damn one that dropped. ;)

[ralf_c]

hi fara

you can find washers of all kinds at www.mcmaster.com. when you go to mcmaster use the search feature and click on the "washers" which will apear to the right.

[spldart]

I think you guys should check out the insulator washers common to T0-3 case style transistors.

http://67.10.210.195:91/washer.jpg

The smaller circle is a self centering ridge. There are a few smaller and larger old style case tranisitors who have different dimensions version of this washer.

[ralf_c]

hey fara, i found some washers that might work. mcmaster catalogue # 90295A080.

specks

for screw size #6
id .156"
od .312"
thickness .031"

[maelstrom]

I haven't seen that on my board, but I have had a problem with bigger/better/faster/more heatsinks because there are a bunch of capacitors that stick up about an inch right next to the CPU on my KG7.

Is that a common thing, or did I just get a silly mobo?

[mdzcpa]

Not really silly...the KG7 is a fine mobo. It's just an older board. Although mobo makers were trying to keep the socket area clear back then (Aug 2001 KG7 release) they really became better at it as things progressed for socket A. Newer boards have more clearance and the newer HSF units have become larger to take advantage of that space. But, some of the newer HSF units now do not fit on older boards as well.