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Motherboard painting?

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SkyChotik

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Location
Wisconsin, USA
Anyone who is interested in buying a gaming rig with a window, probably wants an attractive motherboard. I know I do. It's almost the entire reason I bought the ASRock 990FX.

But to get to the point, there are a LOT of really nice, ugly as all hell motherboards out there, or just the stock motherboards in cheap computers people are throwing out that you want to put to good use.

What is you want it to look better?


My question is, how would somebody go about painting a motherboard. I know it has been done, so don't rage because it's impossible, because it is.

Does anybody have experience painting motherboards? If so, I would love some advice, I was wondering how I would go about painting one of my old 775 motherboards. :bday:
 
I personally would not attempt this. EVER. however i guess if you really wanted to, and didnt care about the board, you could try it out. You would have to use some sort of paint that was COMPLETELY Non-Conductive. I guess you could paint your heatsinks ect no problem though.
 
It's not something even worth attempting, but if you feel like taking the risk of ruining a motherboard then cover all the slots and ports with with tape so you don't get paint inside the wrong places. Good luck.

+1 to the non conductive paint, most spray can paint is conductive. Put the probes of a multimeter on the paint of your car and test for continuity. You'll see what I mean.
 
First I'd remove all heatsinks or anything surface mounted that can be removed. You should also mask all slots, connectors, and chips you do not want to paint over.

Then I'd recommend first sealing the board, same way many extreme cooling guys do - using a spray conformal coating for electronics. The extreme guys use it to ensure that melted ice or condensation doesn't short something out - it would also be effective for protecting the board from any conductivity or other potential harmful effects of whatever paint you choose. I have no idea if paint would cause any potential harm.

Not exactly my thing, but protecting from shorting or damaging the board is fairly similar to what we extreme cooling guys do.

It's not something even worth attempting, but if you feel like taking the risk of ruining a motherboard then cover all the slots and ports with with tape so you don't get paint inside the wrong places. Good luck.

+1 to the non conductive paint, most spray can paint is conductive. Put the probes of a multimeter on the paint of your car and test for continuity. You'll see what I mean.

Cars have clear coat, not sure thats an accurate comparison to whatever paint he'd be using on a mobo. Can you do the same test on the wall in your house?
 
Then I'd recommend first sealing the board, same way many extreme cooling guys do - using a spray conformal coating for electronics.

I have some blank PCB's for Pci and AGP, if I put those into the slots, and then pained the board, would I be safe? Or should I go a more secure route and mold some covers for the ports?
 
No, I would not do that. The connectors inside the PCIe/PCI slots move back and forth when a card is inserted. Even when a card is inserted, the holes in the top of the socket are open for paint to get inside, and gum up the mobility of those connectors - it would be likely to cause problems.

I would just tape over them with painters tape, ensuring nothing gets in the top.
 
Is there a certain type of paint somebody here would recommend? I plan on painting just the PCB, and then painting one of my old cases, and doing a window mod.
 
Just to put my two cents in here, don't use a conformal coating with silicone. Paint will not stick to silicone... at least not any paint I've ever used.
 
Anyone who is interested in buying a gaming rig with a window, probably wants an attractive motherboard. I know I do. It's almost the entire reason I bought the ASRock 990FX.

But to get to the point, there are a LOT of really nice, ugly as all hell motherboards out there, or just the stock motherboards in cheap computers people are throwing out that you want to put to good use.

What is you want it to look better?


My question is, how would somebody go about painting a motherboard. I know it has been done, so don't rage because it's impossible, because it is.

Does anybody have experience painting motherboards? If so, I would love some advice, I was wondering how I would go about painting one of my old 775 motherboards. :bday:
You're probably going to compromise any convective properties of anything that you paint. So make sure you don't paint anything that needs to 'breathe'

Have you considered applying an anodized coating to the heat sinks?

I know with a few coolers and a battery charger and some other misc chemicals you can apply a MIL-A-8625 Type I or II, class 2 anodized coat to aluminum. You'd have to read up on electrochemical plating, if I remember correctly there are people who sell kits online for this. If you're really savvy you can probably order the raw chemicals for this on Amazon or something.

Also, If you have access to some sort of cryogenic freezer you can do a type III finish which has substantial wear resistance over type I and II.
 
I.M.O.G. can you elaborate on the "sealant" spray you spoke about? I have an Nvidia 8800 GTS that is green and clashes with all of my evga stuff and want to paint it black or red. Thanks.
 
I've seen a member do this before, and I'd recommend the same as I did to them.
Use Duplicolor barbeque grill paint, as it's one of the most thermally conductive paints you can buy on the consumer market, without being electrically conductive.
Tape all your chips and slots, you can paint the slot edges with care later using the same paint and a small brush to avoid painting the contacts. You can spray the can into the cupped bottom of a pop can to act as a paint container for brush work.
You can paint your mobo heatsinks separately so that the paint job is nice and even looking.
Use two coats, the first super thin, rather see through. It acts as a primer for the second very thin coat.

Taking care and going slow are not bad things, and can yield great results. Blue tape and an exacto knife for trimming are your friends. Don't forget to also mask the spots your motherboard screws contact, so that your grounds to the case remain in tact.
 
I've seen a member do this before, and I'd recommend the same as I did to them.
Use Duplicolor barbeque grill paint, as it's one of the most thermally conductive paints you can buy on the consumer market, without being electrically conductive.
Tape all your chips and slots, you can paint the slot edges with care later using the same paint and a small brush to avoid painting the contacts. You can spray the can into the cupped bottom of a pop can to act as a paint container for brush work.
You can paint your mobo heatsinks separately so that the paint job is nice and even looking.
Use two coats, the first super thin, rather see through. It acts as a primer for the second very thin coat.

Taking care and going slow are not bad things, and can yield great results. Blue tape and an exacto knife for trimming are your friends. Don't forget to also mask the spots your motherboard screws contact, so that your grounds to the case remain in tact.


Sounds perfect! :shock:
 
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