Faulty Packaging/Handling of a motherboard?

  • Thread starter Thread starter george E
  • Start date Start date
G

george E

I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.

What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would cause a
static charge during the shipping process?

GE
 
george E said:
I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.

What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would cause a
static charge during the shipping process?

GE
Click to expand...
My guess would be very little if the mb was immobilized. As for purchasing
anything on ebay I'd say I'd rather be purchasing from a known vendor, then
I wouldn't be wondering if the board got zapped in transit. Guess some folks
just enjoy the risk of it all to save a buck.
 
george E said:
I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.

What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would cause a
static charge during the shipping process?

GE
Click to expand...

Is the bubble wrap pink ? Or clear ? Depending on the
color of the bubble wrap, it could be antistatic.

As for the probability of damage, that would be guessing.
Fire it up and see if it works.

Paul
 
george E said:
I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.
Click to expand...
What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would
cause a static charge during the shipping process?
Click to expand...

Some of the bubble bags are antistatic, particularly if they are pink.

With non static bubble wrap, really depends on the
environment it was packed in, impossible for us to say.

Reasonable chance it will have survived if its summer there.
 
george said:
I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.

What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would cause a
static charge during the shipping process?

GE
Click to expand...

Since you can't see static damage without an electron microscope, your
best bet it to just fire it up.

PS

You can get away with all kinds of mishandling of electronics. They're
much hardier than people give them credit for. Which is not an excuse
to take unnecessiary risks, just that your board is probably OK.
 
I bought a motherboard off Ebay. It arrived in a box, surrounded by
bubble wrap. The motherboard was not put in antistatic envelop.
Click to expand...

and...? Didn't you try it?
There's as much risk it was dead from some other cause as
from bubble wrap when purchasing on ebay.

What is the probability, in your opinion, that this would cause a
static charge during the shipping process?
Click to expand...

It'd happen when putting it in the wrap or when you took it
out, not during shipping itself.

It's probably fine... try it.
 
Thanks everyone for the comments on this.

I tried the motherboard, and got the same results. When the pc powers
on, the bios never posts. I tried another CPU, memory, reseated
everything. I then unplugged all devices from the motherboard.

What are the odds that two different motherboards would not post?

GE
 
george E said:
Thanks everyone for the comments on this.

I tried the motherboard, and got the same results. When the pc powers
on, the bios never posts. I tried another CPU, memory, reseated
everything. I then unplugged all devices from the motherboard.

What are the odds that two different motherboards would not post?
Click to expand...

Very low indeed unless its a common fault with that particular motherboard.
 
Thanks everyone for the comments on this.

I tried the motherboard, and got the same results. When the pc powers
on, the bios never posts. I tried another CPU, memory, reseated
everything. I then unplugged all devices from the motherboard.

What are the odds that two different motherboards would not post?
Click to expand...


Impossible to place odds when they're eBay parts, it can be
the largest variable in some cases.

If we were to ignore ebay, I'd suggest checking the battery
voltage, checking that the clear CMOS jumper is in the
correct position.

When you "unplugged all devices", I presume you left only
the CPU, heatsink/fan, 1 memory module and video. If that
is not what was done, do that and clear CMOS before plugging
AC power back in.

If it is a particularly power hungry video card you might
try another if another is available, and another PSU unless
you're certain that one is still viable AND viable with
these parts' power needs.
 
I have to say that I have had very little bad luck on Ebay. If
something didnt work, the seller would take it back.

Because the two motherboards are displaying the same symptoms, I am
baffled. The video is integrated so I cannot try another one.
Clearing the bios sounds like an excellent suggestion but I cant find
it on the motherboard. I am searching for the schematic for it today.
I tried another Celeron processor too. The memory was swapped too.

What is throwing me is that there are no beep codes to look up. If the
thing would beep its problem at me I would have something to go on.

Would the power supply perhaps play a role? I dont think I have an
exact one to try swapping, nor do I have a volt meter.

I am about to give up on this 5 year old E-Machine.

I really do appreciate your suggests in this thread. I need someone to
look through the window at my delima.

GE
 
I have to say that I have had very little bad luck on Ebay. If
something didnt work, the seller would take it back.
Click to expand...

While most are reasonable, it does not exclude a few bad
apples.

Because the two motherboards are displaying the same symptoms, I am
baffled. The video is integrated so I cannot try another one.
Click to expand...

Untrue, you can still plug another card in, having
integrated video seldom if ever limits another card being
used, although if the board lacks an AGP or PCI Express slot
it might then need be a PCI card... but PCI cards are the
most compatible and often less power hungry anyway so they
are the first pick for troubleshooting purposes.

Clearing the bios sounds like an excellent suggestion but I cant find
it on the motherboard. I am searching for the schematic for it today.
I tried another Celeron processor too. The memory was swapped too.
Click to expand...

Just unplug AC and pull the battery for 10 minutes. This
will clear CMOS.

What is throwing me is that there are no beep codes to look up. If the
thing would beep its problem at me I would have something to go on.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but in past years I noted far more boards beeping
while in more recent they remained silent. It seems beep
codes are only wishful thinking in most modern systems.

Would the power supply perhaps play a role? I dont think I have an
exact one to try swapping, nor do I have a volt meter.
Click to expand...

What does "exact one" mean? It need not be exactly same,
and might be quite undesirable for it to be same if the
supply capacity or quality was the problem. Rather same
type (for example ATX) with decent quality and known
adequate amperage for the parts.

I am about to give up on this 5 year old E-Machine.
Click to expand...

E-machines did often have PSU failures. If it is mATX, just
take a regular ATX (if you had one handy) and set it on a
box next to the system to elevate it enough to plug into the
board and other parts, OR you could just pull the board out
and place on a non-conductive surface which would also allow
more careful examination of the board (like caapcitors), a
disconnecting of the cards and cables (which should only be
a good thing for troubleshooting purposes).
 
Did you check the power-supply?
Does the motherboard have an 20pin + 4pin or 24pin connector..
It might be the 12V rail that is bad..

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