Help with MOBO mounting

[yweiss]

Hello, so I think i fried my MOBO  so I'm getting now a new PC..
Now does anyone can post here a good tutorial how to disassemble the PC and the MOBO, from which thing I should care of? how to avoid the static? how to NOT burn any thing in the MOBO, I need a good and detailed tutorial.
thank for helping! picture will help

p.s
the old (fried) MOBO when I disassembled it I put it on my hairy carpet there is a chance that the carpet has a lot of static and it burned the MOBO?
what to do with the new MOBO when i disassemble it?  put it on the floor or on a wood?
another thing is that because the MOBO is gonna be mount on a wood the cards (sound,video,LAN) are not hold tight, is it ok? there is a way to connect them tighter?

regard
yw

[bkenobi]

Best bet is to buy a case that you can remove the mobo tray from.  Then, you just mount that to the wood prior to mounting the mobo.  Bonus points if the card retention hardware is mounted to the mobo tray!

[JustMichael]

I am just wondering why disassemble the pc at all?  Is there not enough room for the pc's case inside the cabinet?
As for the cards not being held tight, the cards are held by the slot on the motherboard and then screwed down to the case.  When you take the case away, you take away 1 of 2 things holding the cards.

[Smeghead]

Keep it away from carpet and wear an anti-static wristband
but yeah like he said, if you can just keep it in the case why not?

[yweiss]

The problem is that i dont have room for it in the cab because i'm building jukebox inside an old cupbored.. so i have to get it out from its case, regular rubber gloves is good for tuching it? they anti static?

[yweiss]

When i disassemble the MOBO, what better to put it on wood or metal? i dont want to burn another MOBO..

[bkenobi]

You can put it on anything that isn't conductive.  If it hasn't been powered up in a while, it shouldn't matter as the charge on components tends to dissipate over time.  I personally use an anti-static bag or just lay them down on a towel.

[JustMichael]

You might want to take a look at this post and ask the poster your questions.  Oh and don't wear rubber gloves, they are not antistatic.

[newkillergenius]

Use care when moving your mobo.  Anti-static wristband and an anti-static bag would help.   (smeghead +1)

Use plastic PCB feet to mount your mobo.
http://www.arcade-game-sales.com/products/plastic-feet-for/4679-1.html

If you are careful you can use a dremel tool to make a small hole in the PCB (avoiding any traces) and use a small zip-tie to hold
your peripheral components in place.

(Moderator - Making a hole in your motherboard is not a good idea.  Most motherboards have multiple layers and not just the top and bottom layers that you can see.  This means there are traces inside the motherboard that you can't see.)

[CheffoJeffo]

FWIW, I always mount my MOBOs on wood for my MAME builds. That way I can pull them out and swap in an authentic board easy as pie.

Yep, I do have to watch the sway on the cards, but that isn't such a big deal. I yank the MOBO and lay her down on a towel on my bench. No problems to date.

Truth be told, until the OP figures out how he killed his last MOBO (if, indeed, he did kill it), he shouldn't try to do anything with a new MOBO.

His last case was ripped up like it had been hit by a white shark and he didn't seem to understand what rivets are.

I get that 99% of folks don't know what folks here know (and that there is no shame in that as they are actually in the majority), but until they do know, they probably shouldn't mess around with decasing electronics.

To the OP -- take JustMichael's advice and please don't try to decase a monitor. 

[newkillergenius]

(Moderator - Making a hole in your motherboard is not a good idea.  Most motherboards have multiple layers and not just the top and bottom layers that you can see.  This means there are traces inside the motherboard that you can't see.)

This has never been a problem for me in the past, and I have done several setups...  perhaps you have had a different experience?  

[upprc04]

The overall consensus sounds like mounting to wood with PCB feet is good?  Unless you have an available motherboard tray which would be ideal.  I've never had problems with motherboards in the past.  Just be care where you set it down and anti-static wristband never hurts.

[GoingIncognito]

You might want to take a look at this post and ask the poster your questions.  Oh and don't wear rubber gloves, they are not antistatic.

Haha, that would be me .

I haven't worn my anti-static wrist strap in years.  Don't work on a PC on a static-y surface and discharge yourself on an internal metal chassis piece before grabbing at the components and you should be ok.  Try not to pull at the capacitors/resistors/etc will also help minimize any static discharge or accidental breakage.  If you put the old motherboard on a fuzzy carpet it could have had n issue with static, or it's possible a capacitor or whatever part got caught in the carpeting when you moved it.

The PC that I decased for the project had the motherboard mounted to an internal chassis with metal mounting feet, so you don't have to go nuts with finding non-conductive material.  If your motherboard is mounted to a tray it'll make your life easier, but otherwise the pcb feet mounted directly to the wood will be fine.

I agree not to make holes in your motherboard.  You can't be certain there aren't traces where you made the hole, and there's no way you're going to repair a trace that you put a hole through if it was sandwiched in the layers.

If you're worried about the PCI cards swaying you can use small dabs of hot glue to help keep them in place, but be careful not to overdo it.  This can end up being semi-permanent so do it at your own risk.

Also reading back a post or two I should go find some of the other posts by OP to check out how he was decasing.

[newkillergenius]

Printed circuit boards were designed to have holes put into them.  That is how all of the components are added to them in the first place.
If you place a bright light behind the mobo all interior/exterior traces can be revealed, and safe places to make extremely small holes can be seen.

[GoingIncognito]

Printed circuit boards were designed to have holes put into them.  That is how all of the components are added to them in the first place.
If you place a bright light behind the mobo all interior/exterior traces can be revealed, and safe places to make extremely small holes can be seen.

Good point, but I'd still be extremely careful .

[newkillergenius]

For sure-  I guess I have just become so used to doing this now it is just second nature.   

[upprc04]

I don't have a case with a removable tray.  Is it worth trying to find one online (quick search on ebay came up with these http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_kw=motherboard%20tray&_fcid=1&_jgr=1&_localstpos=78727&_sc=1&_sop=15&_sticky=1&_stpos=78727&gbr=1) or just get the PCB feet and mount to the wood.

Is there any other places where you can get a motherboard tray cheap (don't need a case and would rather not buy a whole case to gut it if needed)?

[GoingIncognito]

I don't have a case with a removable tray.  Is it worth trying to find one online (quick search on ebay came up with these http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_kw=motherboard%20tray&_fcid=1&_jgr=1&_localstpos=78727&_sc=1&_sop=15&_sticky=1&_stpos=78727&gbr=1) or just get the PCB feet and mount to the wood.

Is there any other places where you can get a motherboard tray cheap (don't need a case and would rather not buy a whole case to gut it if needed)?

You really don't need a tray. It's a convenience item.

[bkenobi]

Printed circuit boards were designed to have holes put into them.  That is how all of the components are added to them in the first place.

Correct, but they were designed to have holes put in certain places.  As a result, any traces in the sandwiched layers are not run where the holes will be cut.  Most sandwiched boards won't be fully populated with small traces, but that doesn't mean they aren't SOMEWHERE.  If you happen to cut one of them, you will more than likely cause irreparable damage.

If it were me, I'd wouldn't even use this as a last resort.  I would just install a case and make it work.  If the case truly doesn't fit, there's always a way to disassemble it so that the backplane can be used.

[JustMichael]

(Moderator - Making a hole in your motherboard is not a good idea.  Most motherboards have multiple layers and not just the top and bottom layers that you can see.  This means there are traces inside the motherboard that you can't see.)

This has never been a problem for me in the past, and I have done several setups...  perhaps you have had a different experience?  

I was just stating the facts.  It is up to the person to choose what to do or not to do.  I tend not to put holes in perfectly good pc boards.

Printed circuit boards were designed to have holes put into them.  That is how all of the components are added to them in the first place.
If you place a bright light behind the mobo all interior/exterior traces can be revealed, and safe places to make extremely small holes can be seen.

Yes most pc boards have hole put in them.  The holes were designed to go where they are.  Some are for mounting the board to something else and some are for components.
Not all components use holes for mounting.  Surface mount components do NOT require a hole to mount them to the pc board.  They attach right to the copper pads.  As for the light, that would probably show you all the traces unless they used some much smaller than normal.

[newkillergenius]

Surface mount components do NOT require a hole to mount them to the pc board.

Every day is a school day 

Anyway man, do whatever you feel comfortable with.  There is more than one way to skin a cat.
As Michael said, if you dont really have to remove it from the case, why bother with the extra work.
Or, maybe you are like me, and want everything to be stripped and mounted for that clean pro look.

Either way- good luck- and watch out for that static!