Hardline said:
Hello,
I have a Dynamax case (my favorite) I am trying to build a
system with. The case seems to be shorting out my new motherboard. Can
I place the motherboard on rubber washers (1 or 2) below the mounting
screw holes to elevate it a little? Will this cause a problem such as
melting of the rubber or any other issue? Any advice would be
appreciated.
Thanks!
The motherboard has tinned rings around each mounting point. The
tinned rings are grounded. The brass standoff on the computer
case is also at ground potential. The purpose of the contact
is to help reduce EMI (electrical noise). The standoffs ground
the motherboard to the chassis.
The motherboard is also grounded through the black wires on
the main ATX power connector. So if you insulate the standoffs
it is not the end of the world. The black ground wires on the
main power connector, provide a return path for power currents,
so insulating the standoffs should not prevent the thing from
working.
The I/O plate also has springy metal fingers, and those metal
fingers help ground the metal boxes around the I/O connectors.
Again, the purpose of that contact is for EMI containment. It
is supposed to prevent electrical noise from leaving the computer
case. (Well, that is the theory at least.)
On my computers here, most of the electrical noise they generate
(hash lines on the TV set) are caused by conducted emissions on
the power cable. Inadequate filtering inside the power supply is
the reason.
Now, what is the problem with adding washers ? It upsets the
placement of PCI/AGP/PCI Express cards in their slots. If
you lift the motherboard with wsahers, it rests higher than
normal. I/O cards, once their faceplates are screwed down,
will be sitting on an angle in their slot connector. If the
angle is great enough, either pins won't make contact, or the
wrong pins will make contact. You don't want that.
To prevent shorting, try to position the motherboard so it is
centered over the mounting points. Shorting can be because of a
couple of reasons. A standoff with an excessively large diameter,
might come in contact with something on the motherboard. Or
screws or washers could contact something on the surface of
the motherboard.
I would first try a thorough visual inspection, to try to figure
out what is going on, before I'd try washers. If you try washers,
you'd want to compensate on the height of the standoffs as well,
if this is going to be a permanent solution.
And if the case isn't cutting it, replace it. Sure, it may look
cute, but if the computer doesn't work, you've got nothing but
a big door stop
Paul
