Warped Motherboard

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   Warped Motherboard

My original B365M Pro4 mobo had a bow to it. The short edges were higher than the center. If I tightened all the mounting screws I was concerned something might crack. Not necessarily the board itself but maybe a copper trace. So I did not fully tighten the screws along the short edges. That was about 3 years ago.

A few months ago a USB2 port died, then a few weeks later another port died. A week ago the mobo failed. I bought a used mobo, same make & model, & it too is warped. 

I tightened the 4 screws closest to the CPU, basically securing the board with the heavy hardware (CPU, RAM, rear panel I/O). I left out the 2 screws by the edge which has the headers for the front panel cables (power on, USB2, audio).

The corner by the power on header sticks up about 3/16" and the corner by the audio header sticks up about 1/8".

This makes me wonder if just lightly screwing down that edge on the original board might have caused its failure. IOW maybe over time a copper path or 2 got stretched too much & snapped. I'm just curious if warped boards are common. If you do have one should care be taken screwing it down?

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Mike99 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 15 May 2020 Status: Offline Points: 304	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike99 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Warped Motherboard Posted: 28 Jan 2023 at 2:03am
	Warped Motherboard My original B365M Pro4 mobo had a bow to it. The short edges were higher than the center. If I tightened all the mounting screws I was concerned something might crack. Not necessarily the board itself but maybe a copper trace. So I did not fully tighten the screws along the short edges. That was about 3 years ago. A few months ago a USB2 port died, then a few weeks later another port died. A week ago the mobo failed. I bought a used mobo, same make & model, & it too is warped. I tightened the 4 screws closest to the CPU, basically securing the board with the heavy hardware (CPU, RAM, rear panel I/O). I left out the 2 screws by the edge which has the headers for the front panel cables (power on, USB2, audio). The corner by the power on header sticks up about 3/16" and the corner by the audio header sticks up about 1/8". This makes me wonder if just lightly screwing down that edge on the original board might have caused its failure. IOW maybe over time a copper path or 2 got stretched too much & snapped. I'm just curious if warped boards are common. If you do have one should care be taken screwing it down?

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 22688	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2023 at 3:01am
	I always tighten down all the mounting screws, snug, not super tight. Warping to some degree is common on most PCBs, particularly the ones with fewer layers like more budget end motherboards. I doubt it caused the issue but I would imagine not securing it properly would be worse than letting it stay warped. As you noted, over time the traces could stretch and crack, unlikely but possible. Warping can worsen over time but I have never had a board warp so much it failed, again though, I always use all the mounting screws and fully tighten them down. There is a reason beyond straightening the board out, the mounting holes all have ground planes, typically these are all connected to one another but some may be isolated in some designs. Poor ground can cause all kinds of voltage shenanigans. So yeah, warping is common, I have several boards in my closet that are warped from various manufacturers. Higher end boards tend to be less susceptible, more layers = more rigidity and support. Hope this answers your questions.


Mike99 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 15 May 2020 Status: Offline Points: 304	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike99 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jan 2023 at 4:17am
	Thanks for the reply - Good point about proper grounding. I'll screw down the other 2 points.