Conformal Questions

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Hey guys,

As some of you know, I've been having some issues with my non-conformal'd P5Q-PRO. I'm going to be buying some conformal today to finally conformal my P5Q-PRO in hopes that it eliminates my moisture issues completely. I've been told it will...

I would like opinions from those of you who have conformaled a motherboard before. I would love it if you could give me some opinions on how well I've taped off my board, and what else I need to tape off.

So far I have taped off: All of the PCI and PCIe slots, all three of the board's heatsinks, the ram slots, the motherboard power connectors, the motherboard front panel connectors. I have NOT taped off the fan headers. Do these need to be taped off?
I've taped off the whole board, though I probably don't plan on doing the whole thing, I'm just doing it to be safe.

Here's a picture. What do you think?

I'd also love to have opinions because I plan on conformaling my other motherboards as well for the benching party (my regular P5Q, my UD5P, my UD4).
I'd take off the north and southbridge heatsinks but they are the "push pin" design.

Thanks!

Seebs · May 27, 2011

Ben taking the heatsinks is not so hard. I take them off of my boards with a pair of needelnose pliers... Just grab the pins on the back of the board with teh plier and squeeze gently while pushing at the same time... You just need to be careful not to scratch the pcb and damage one of the traces on the back...

MattNo5ss · May 27, 2011

I'd take the heatsink off as well. I'd also cover the battery and any fan headers you may use.

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

xXSebaSXx said:
Ben taking the heatsinks is not so hard. I take them off of my boards with a pair of needelnose pliers... Just grab the pins on the back of the board with teh plier and squeeze gently while pushing at the same time... You just need to be careful not to scratch the pcb and damage one of the traces on the back...

Then how easy is it to get the back on? Simply just pushing them through?

I'd really like to avoid taking them off if all possibly, I'd rather not damage another board. Is it possible to do so, without taking off the sinks, that is?

Also, should I tape off all of the jumpers?

Seebs · May 27, 2011

Putting them back on is a simple as just lining the pins up with the holes and pushing until they snap through.

As far as damaging the board by taking the heatsinks off and putting them back on; you would have to scratch the pcb and damage a thread...

I really don't know much about conformalling a board so I can't give you any advice on that part; all I can tell you is that every board I have seen being conformalled has had them off.

MattNo5ss · May 27, 2011

You need to tape of anything you may use, or you'll have to peel conformal off of whatever it may be.

Janus67 · May 27, 2011

Hmm, debating doing this this weekend as well before I take my i7 cold. Does conformalling really do any damage? I don't see why it would hurt resale value if it doesn't hurt anything, unless people want something shiny and new.

Do you plan on painting it on or just using the spray can?

MattNo5ss · May 27, 2011

Janus67 said:
Hmm, debating doing this this weekend as well before I take my i7 cold. Does conformalling really do any damage?

Conformal doesn't do any damage, it's just a silicone coating.

Janus67 said:
I don't see why it would hurt resale value if it doesn't hurt anything, unless people want something shiny and new.

If people want something shiny, then they SHOULD conformal their boards

Janus67 said:
Do you plan on painting it on or just using the spray can?

It's usually in a spray can, so it's really easy once you have things taped off.

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Well I took off all the sinks except the SB heatsink because I really don't plan on going that far with my conformal coating.

I was talking to Ed and he recommended just taping off the die and spraying everything else. He also recommended spraying the mosfets and THEN scrape them off with a screwdriver of some sorts.

Pics:

How about the TIM on the die of the northbridge? Should I just use regular TIM (all I have access to it Ceramique)?

Janus67 · May 27, 2011

What type of conformal are you going to use acrylic or silicone?

think it is possible to pick up a can at lowes/home depot or would I be looking at a more specific store type?

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Janus67 said:
What type of conformal are you going to use acrylic or silicone?

think it is possible to pick up a can at lowes/home depot or would I be looking at a more specific store type?

Chance has told me Fry's has it, so I went and checked yesterday and they did, just didn't have the cash on hand to buy the stuff. You may be able to get it at Home Depot/Lowe's, but I'm not sure.

And definitely silicone. I don't know anything about acrylic conformal.

Off to get conformal!

MattNo5ss · May 27, 2011

bennoculus said:
I was talking to Ed and he recommended just taping off the die and spraying everything else. He also recommended spraying the mosfets and THEN scrape them off with a screwdriver of some sorts.

I used a q-tip and nail polish remover to remove conformal from any chips I had sprayed, and it worked well.

bennoculus said:
How about the TIM on the die of the northbridge? Should I just use regular TIM (all I have access to it Ceramique)?

Yeah, TIM is TIM. Ceramique is fine.

bennoculus said:
And definitely silicone. I don't know anything about acrylic conformal.

I would think acrylic would crack under extreme cold because it's hard whereas silicone isn't. That's just a guess though, I'm not sure :shrug:

Bobnova · May 27, 2011

Silicone or forget it, IMO.

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Well conformal is now aquired from Frys. They have the "Silicone Conformal Spray" brand, white bottle with green accents. :thup:

About to spray this baby down. That's MattNoss, that's a good idea. Nail polish remover + qtip will work great.

EDIT: This stuff sure has a strong smell...

ChanceCoats123 · May 27, 2011

It's not just your opinion, Ed. It's the truth. Acrylic CANNOT stand the kind of temperatures of anything sub zero like Dice or colder.

As for the tape, make sure your overlapping tape isn't covering transistors and such. You want all electrical contacts covered with conformal.

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Two coats have been completed, I've been giving it some hair dryer love after each coat as well.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I know it was kind of a no-brainer but I was pretty nervous. Don't feel like damaging another motherboard...

I hope someone else can get some use out of this as well.

Janus67 · May 27, 2011

Nice info (to use Silicone - I thought that is what it would be but wanted to check). Unfortunately there aren't Fry's here so I may have to search around other places. I doubt radio shack would sell something like that. I'll have to call lowes/home depot but I doubt they would have it as well.

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Janus67 said:
Nice info (to use Silicone - I thought that is what it would be but wanted to check). Unfortunately there aren't Fry's here so I may have to search around other places. I doubt radio shack would sell something like that. I'll have to call lowes/home depot but I doubt they would have it as well.

Could always order it as well!

Janus67 · May 27, 2011

Yeah but it wouldn't get to me by Sunday for my DICE run

I think I will be OK as long as I'm careful like how I was with my 775 setup (or even more so).

bennoculus · May 27, 2011

Janus67 said:
Yeah but it wouldn't get to me by Sunday for my DICE run

I think I will be OK as long as I'm careful like how I was with my 775 setup (or even more so).

Yeah, be real careful and insulate well and everything should go smoothly. I spend about an hour insulating alone, I don't know why I'm getting so many moisture issues on my non-conformal'd P5Q-PRO.

Anyways... Got the PRO back up and built. Put the heatsinks back on and everything. Just waiting until tomorrow to power it back up to wait until it's all dry. Should be all ready for some serious ownage with my E6600 that's going to arriving tomorrow

Pics of the final result. I only did JUST past the northbridge. For future reference, I just took a Q-tip soaked in acetone to remove the conformal on the tops of the 'fets.

If you look closely you'll notice that one half has that conformal'd purpleish sheen! Yay!

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