Dang! Socked it to my socket with a sock.

[trents]

I was attempting to protect my motherboard circuitry while removing a water pump/block on which I had used Liquid Ultra as the TIM. I laid down several old cotton socks on the board to cover it. Got everything all clean with little mess but when I snatched up one of the socks a socket pin came with it, one that had inadvertently gotten snagged on the pin. Fortunately, I had another of the same motherboard on hand that I use for my test bench. Moral of the story: Don't use soft cloth to protect an LGA socket.

 

[Automata]

The black block off plate that comes with the motherboard works very well for preventing damage.

 

[EarthDog]

Sorry to hear that trents...

The black block off plate that comes with the motherboard works very well for preventing damage.

A little common sense goes a long way! No way would I use anything soft like that. If I don't have my cover, I use a small cardboard cutout and some tape to hold it in place.

 

[Toraidhe]

I actually just reuse the plastic boxes that they come in from the manufacturers myself. I hear a lot of parts resalers will give those away. But i also really like the cardboard idea, got plenty of that around.

 

[trents]

Sorry to hear that trents...

A little common sense goes a long way! No way would I use anything soft like that. If I don't have my cover, I use a small cardboard cutout and some tape to hold it in place.

Most people would credit me with a fair amount of common sense. I think the issue was I didn't know those little pins had barbs on the end of them. They are so small, close together and hard to see, even with a magnifying glass. Yes, in retrospect, something thin and hard like a piece of cardboard would have have been better to use. Slip it between the cooler block base and socket as you disengage them. I'm sharing this for the benefit of others who might be needing to do the same thing.

I wish they would go back to putting the pins on the CPU. That's not fool proof either but I've certainly had fewer disasters with the PGA style than with the LGA.

 

[Johan45]

Sorry to hear that Trents are you sure the board won't boot. Mine id missing a pin and works just fine. Packing tape works pretty good also

 

[EarthDog]

Good point Johan...

trents, find a pinout of the socket and see which pin it is... you may not need it!

I think the issue was I didn't know those little pins had barbs on the end of them.

Not really barbs... well, I suppose they can be... but... Here is a close up showing them.. they are just pads at the end... but if caught the wrong way, they can hook, yeah.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/735361-Socket-1150-bent-Pins

 

[trents]

Yeah, the board won't boot. I tried it with several CUPs know to work. The bios beep code says their is a problem with the system timer.

Pin ball AN8 near as I can tell which is assigned to VSS whatever that is: pg. 112 and following.

 

[trents]

Great news! Board is not borked after all. Apparently what I thought was a broken pin is just a blank hole by design. In fiddling with it I was able to straighten out the pin next to it which had been bent by the sock snag. As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Shizam!"

 

[larrymoencurly]

Most people would credit me with a fair amount of common sense.

IOW you knew that cotton wasn't sufficiently anti-static enough to be safe around chips?