Pro tip: had a motherboard short out on me at a client's office in Austin

I was replacing a power supply at a small law firm downtown Austin when I heard a pop and saw a little smoke. Turned out a standoff screw was sitting loose under the board and I forgot to check it before powering on. Cost me $120 for a new board and a lot of awkward silence with the client. Has anyone else had a standoff or mounting screw cause a short like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

anthony_campbell8827d ago

Reminds me of the time I had a PC that kept randomly restarting and nobody could figure out why. Took me three weeks and a lot of swapped parts to realize a loose screw was rattling around under the motherboard. Never assume the case is clean until you've physically checked every mounting point.

dixon.iris26d ago

One loose screw causing that much drama? Seems a bit far fetched to me.

carter.casey26d ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? I mean, I've had a screw bounce around under a board for like six months with no issues before I finally fished it out. @anthony_campbell88 I remember your post about the random restarts, but that might have been a bad PSU or something else entirely, not just one screw.