Why would a board scorch?

[abaker]

Hi guys,

I registered just to ask cause I'm freaking out.

I bought a Z77 Extreme 6 off Newegg, it got here Thursday, I swapped my old one out Friday night. It ran fine all night and the next morning. I was watching TV on the couch and I noticed a distinct burning smell coming from my desk region. Went and looked and took it apart, took a while to realize theres scorch or burn on the edge. Computer shut off and won't post to bios even. The board simply won't boot. The cpu fan spins for a second or two, kills and the board stays silent.

I've got a email out to support hoping I can get a replacement from warranty, but why would this happen? It's just north of the cpu on the edge of the board, like crossing one of the little white highways. I dunno if the pic illustrates it well enough. But, assuming I do get a manufacturers warranty replacement, what the heck should I be worried would have caused this?

Intel dual core cpu, Visiontek 6950 1gb, 8gb ram, 500gb sata hdd, mouse/keyboard, monitor, 850w gold rated power supply. It's the same setup I used on my last asus board, I just wanted usb 3 and another pci-e slot, which I hadn't even used yet.

[- wardog -]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

Dang!

Short of a component failure, look at the backside and see if one of those two screws that fasten the heatsink wasn't making contact to your case. That's about the are they're in.

You didn't route any wires between the case and MB did you?

[profJim]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

It looks like there was a short circuit in the VRMs underneath the heatsink.
Inspect the complete backside of the motherboard to see if there are any other indications of scorching or damage.
It's best that you don't remove the VRM heatsink, unless ASRock wants you to take a picture with the heatsink removed.

[parsec]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

I agree that it looks like a couple of the VRMs fried for some reason... or does it? Here's the bottom of the board in that area:



We can see the eight pins of the eight pin CPU power socket soldered in place, and to its right, the screw hole, both seen in the OP's picture. In this picture, the burnt area is to the left of the CPU power socket solder points, but on the top of the board. There is a lot of nothing on the bottom of the board in the area that is burnt in the OP's picture, besides what appears to be a circuit board trace along the very top edge of the board.

There are no components on the top of the board in the burnt area, ironically that area has "MOS HEATSINK1" printed on the board, which has been completely obscured by the scorching. What seems strange to me is the area of the board closer to the VRMs in the OP's picture, does not seem burnt.

Other than something in the PC case contacting that area of the board, it appears to be a major fault in that area of the board. That's a shame, I hope an RMA of your board is accepted.

[abaker]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

There's no discern-able damage on the underside. No cable ran between the case and the MOBO. Case isn't plastic either. Cooler Master HAF 912. Plenty of room in there. All of my old parts are working in my old MOBO so nothing is "fried" besides the mobo.

I'm at a total loss, given that the board was operational for less than 12 hours and hadn't even been stressed by a big gaming session or rendering and it's cold where I live, and the top corner of the mobo has nothing near when mounted in the case, I'm guessing some kind of faulty board? It looks localized on the topside of the board, though it's right next to where the 12v power input goes, perhaps the board wasn't accepting current well right there? I'm not an expert on electricity but that seems to be my only logical explanation since the underside seems unscathed.

[parsec]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

I agree that it is most likely a defective board, localized to that area of course. I've seen failures of the eight pin CPU power connector, due to apparent excessive current draw. But that is localized to the connector itself, and your board's connector is perfect. Don't forget boards like this are multi-layer, and the VRM chips are surface mount devices, as can be seen here:



This picture was cropped at the top so we can't see the top edge of the board where the damage would be. It's looking more to me like that top trace of the board burned for whatever reason. Who knows why, could still be associated with a bad VRM.

I think the chance is good that board will be accepted for RMA, hopefully nothing else like your RAM or CPU was damaged.

[abaker]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

I agree that it is most likely a defective board, localized to that area of course. I've seen failures of the eight pin CPU power connector, due to apparent excessive current draw. But that is localized to the connector itself, and your board's connector is perfect. Don't forget boards like this are multi-layer, and the VRM chips are surface mount devices, as can be seen here:

[ATTACH]5797[/ATTACH]

This picture was cropped at the top so we can't see the top edge of the board where the damage would be. It's looking more to me like that top trace of the board burned for whatever reason. Who knows why, could still be associated with a bad VRM.

I think the chance is good that board will be accepted for RMA, hopefully nothing else like your RAM or CPU was damaged.

RAM and CPU still work. For now I'm on my old board with no issues.

I'm hopeful with your response that this will be accepted, otherwise im out a nice chunk of change.

Will update when I hear from ASRock

[profJim]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

Important RMA information:
From page 19 in your mobo user manual:

Please save and replace the cover if the processor is removed. The
cover must be placed if you wish to return the motherboard for after
service.

This will protect the cpu socket pins from shipping damage and they might refuse your RMA if the protective cover is not installed.
For your own protection, take several high resolution macro photos of the condition of the motherboard's cpu socket pins.

If you are dealing with Newegg, call their customer support number to set up the RMA and ask them to issue a UPS call ticket so that you don't have to pay for shipping charges. Using the call ticket has the least expensive shipping charges. Newegg needs to receive your motherboard within 30 days of the invoice date for them to send you a new replacement motherboard. Hopefully you saved the original ASRock motherboard box.

I've had excellent service from them the few times that I've had "issues" and each time they were more than reasonable with the solution. It goes without saying that being polite and reasonable is the only way to go.

Hopefully your RMA will go smoothly and it should be covered under the ASRock 3 year warranty for parts and labor.
Publicly discussing RMA problems is not allowed in the forum.

[parsec]

Re: Why would a board scorch?

Prof Jim's advice is SO RIGHT ON! Do NOT neglect to do as he has stated. The missing CPU socket cover will cause an automatic RMA rejection by ALL board manufactures, and retailers!!