Gassing Off - Motherboards that Smell? 88
dmauer asks: "I recently purchased what ought to have been my Dream Machine. An uber-fast dual Athlon with oodles of speedy RAM, a Geforce4, and a hard drive big enough to choke a horse (all in a snazzy aluminum case, even). So I get the thing home, set it up, and proceed to install Debian, making sure all my hardware is working nicely, etc., etc., and then I realize that there's a problem I hadn't anticipated. It smells." Usually when consumer electronics have a distinctive smell, something is wrong. Has anyone else run into such a problem, before? Assuming this isn't a electronic or health problem, what can one do to eliminate the odor from the immediate area without resorting to periodic fumigations?
Smelly Athlons (Score:2, Interesting)
Try attaching a drive-bay fan, run the computer for a while, and see if it helps.
Re:Smelly Athlons (Score:2, Informative)
If your hardware will break it will be within this time. After the first +500hrs of burn-in most chips will last to the MTBF specified.
And everything you bought will be on at minimum 3 month warranty which you can return.
As for the smell, it might just be some grease or such from the installer in a hot part/supply. If after a couple days it doesn't go away get it looked at. If it really worries you, open the case and try to isolate the location down, see if you can visually find a busted cap.
LAter
smells like what? (Score:2)
if its just your average stinky smell, why didn't you smell it before you got everything installed?
Re:smells like what? (Score:4, Informative)
Someone mentioned getting the motherboard replaced: well, it's a dual athlon, and to my knowledge there's only one motherboard available with the appropriate chipset (the Asus board I have). Or is this something that actually might be different on two of the 'same' motherboard?
Thanks,
-Dan
Dual Athlon boards (Score:2, Informative)
Most electronics do have a smell when you first begin using them. The smell usually goes away after a week or so.
Re:smells like what? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:smells like what? (Score:2)
I also got a lot of laughs when I once checked a computer at school that wouldn't turn on - I sniffed the case and said, "The power supply doesn't smell broken..."
Tim
Re:smells like what? (Score:2)
If a power supply starts to smell, something in it is threatening to overheat. Replace it now, before it decides to kick the bucket and take the rest of the computer with it.
Re:smells like what? (Score:2)
There's more than the ASUS A7M266D (I have one too) with the 760MPX chipset. Tyan's Tiger MPX, MSI' K7D Master (L), Epox's M762A and Gigabyte's GA-7DPXDW are the other 760MPX boards I know of. If you want to go back to the 760MP, Tyan's Thunder MP and Tiger MP are the only boards sporting that chipset.
The various 760MPX boards vary by what's onboard. Some have almost nothing, some others have sound only, and some have Ethernet (with an Intel chip for the MSI). Depending on your cooling solution, some have the 4 holes around the socket A, some don't. But if you chose the ASUS, I guess you don't use them (they can be drilled though).
I don't recall a metallic smell the first times I powered it. It did got hot though :)
Re:smells like what? (Score:5, Informative)
The board did not get cooked long enough at the fab to get all the flux out of the soldier. It will not last long without a good cooking. The soldier will be very prone to cracking until the board is properly cooked.
DO NOT try to accelerate the process by using higher heat. The plastic components will melt. this is normally done before the capacitors are mounted so be SURE not to exceed 140 F.
Let it cool at 100 F for 4 hours then cool overnight with oven powered off still on it's sandbed until the thermometer is reading same as ambient air temprature.
Clean Oven before and after. Use the vent fan the entire time the process is running. Failure rate should be 5-15%. Boot the board clean (no components, CPU, memory) listen for no CPU beep code, add processor, listen for no memory beep code, add memory, listen for no video beep code, and video card etc...
The sand bed is hazardous waste. Flux, while a paste at room temperature, is an acid when heated.
Re:smells like what? (Score:3, Informative)
It may even just be a bad batch of motherboards that was shipped out improperly processed.
Re:smells like what? (Score:2, Interesting)
if you're a do-it-yourselfer, try baking it... my girlfriend gets violently sick when she smells flux (therefore my bench is outside, which is a bitch in south dakota winters), so baking it should get rid of the offending oder....
Otherwise return it if you bought it locally, or try and get a RMA if you got it online..
I've baked a couple boards that didn't get the "de-fluxed" completely, with mixed results, but if you follow his procedure closely (keep an eye on the temps!!!!), you'll be fine
Re:smells like what? (Score:2)
You can perform this procedure (Score:1)
Re:smells like what? (Score:1)
If it's the only board like that, it might be simpler to get your girlfriend replaced :-)
Long drive? (Score:2, Insightful)
Otherwise, stick a plug-in deodorizer in your power strip and keep it fresh.
As an aside, isn't the most common computer 'stink' burn-in which usually goes away? Just curious.
Plug in deoderizers = neurotoxin (Score:4, Interesting)
Using plug in deoderizers is generally a bad idea. How they work is by spreading a chemical agent that overloads certain neurreceptors in your brain, the ones that sense the "bad smell", so you can't smell it. Using these can really mess up your brain chemistry over the long term, and cause headaches, etc, over the short term.
BBK
Re:Plug in deoderizers = neurotoxin (Score:1)
And here I was thinking that it was
Re:Plug in deoderizers = neurotoxin (Score:4, Interesting)
It's Debian (Score:4, Funny)
Clean the board (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Clean the board (Score:1)
Like, actually dip the boards in alcohol?
And by "Boards" do you mean everything? the MB, the Graphics board, all that?
I must say, the idea of dipping my hardware in anything rather disturbs me.
-D
Re:Clean the board (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Clean the board (Score:2)
- Remove the battery from the motherboard prior to insertion.
- Be sure you buy pure rubbing alcohol. The 70% USP stuff at the Drugstore/Chemists is not what you want for this job.
Bonus:
- The motherboard will stink like polysporin for a while instead...
Athlons cover (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Athlons cover (Score:1)
I've never seen that in either OEM or retail versions.
Re:Athlons cover (Score:1)
He said "I picked off his heatsink to fing he didnt take the sticky protection of the top of the silicon".
He wasn't talking about the sticker to protect the copper insert of a heatsink, nor is he talking about the sticker to cover the heatsink compound. He said "the sticky protection of the top of the silicon". Indicating to me he's talking about the CPU's core/die.
Or maybe he is talking about the heatsink and he just didn't use proper terminology. Either way your response is that of an ass and therefore I am replying as such.
Re:Athlons cover (Score:2)
Silicon with an E (Score:1)
nor is he talking about the sticker to cover the heatsink compound. He said "the sticky protection of the top of the silicon"
Perhaps by "silicon", he was trying to refer to the "silicone" of the heatsink compound, not knowing the difference between silicon implants (processors inserted into a body) and silicone implants (fake tits inserted into a body).
What has Slashdot come to? (Score:2)
If it's a coordinated Troll effort, bravo. Even if it's just stupidity, these people need their mod privs. revoked. More than likely anyone trying this is going to have a burnt-out Athlon.
Thermal Grease [techtarget.com]
Nope (Score:3, Informative)
Tim
I stand corrected. (Score:1)
Still, I've seen the cover on boxed chips, but never on a shipped system. Is that really common practice now?
Re:I stand corrected. (Score:1)
Re:Athlons cover (Score:3, Informative)
Neither do I or Tom's Hardware.
It takes 3 seconds to set an Athlon on fire.
Don't do this folks. Just _very_ carefully scrape it away if you screw up like this instead...
I had this happen to me... (Score:2, Funny)
We have been married for three years now and have two wonderful children.
The lesson is I guess take it back and get another one.
Possibly normal (Score:2, Informative)
I'm reluctant to say it's normal, but I can definitely say that it can be normal. My monitor smelled like burning plastic for a week after I bought it, and there's certainly nothing wrong with it. (It probably was small styrofoam chunks that broke off the packaging material and slipped through the grille on top.) My computer smelled like "new electronics" for a week, because someone at the factory got thermal grease on the inside of the case and the heat just magnified the smell. Gave me horrible, splitting headaches too.
I think it's pretty common to encounter strange smells during burn-ins.
Re:Possibly normal (Score:1)
Case in point, my old Athlon 1.4GHz ran at about 140 degrees (with an ambient temp of 85). My new Athlon 2200+ XP runs at around 95 degrees. Beautiful.
Agreed - I've had this too. (Score:2)
We needed a piece of test equipment for one of our lab setups. While we were turning it on and setting it up, we smelled an odd smell.
We immediately shut down the lab setup, assuming that it was the cause. (Early research/development effort, we fried a LOT of the stuff we were working on in the process.)
Turns out that the super-expensive HP network analyzer we had came complete with the "brand new electronics" smell. After an hour or two the smell was gone.
Re:Possibly normal (Score:1)
return it (Score:1)
if I were you, I'd just return it. (if you are certain its the mobo).
Tell them that it smells and makes you feel ill. They will most likely replace it rather than risk any legal action.
The thing is, its gotah be a fault board, because no one else seems to have the problem (otherwise there would have been a recall).
Cheers
Re:return it (Score:1)
But Canada does operate this way, eh?
Be more careful when you want to pretend you're outside the Americas next time.
ismell (Score:1)
Are you kidding? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Are you kidding? (Score:1)
Re:Are you kidding? (Score:2)
* Cosmo Kramer.
Re:Are you kidding? (Score:2)
all new toys have it (Score:2, Insightful)
I remember my 15" Hitachi smelled for a month or two when I first got it--and I had to sleep in the same room with it!
Gassing out components (Score:4, Informative)
The important thing is to recognize the normal out gassing from something that's burning. If the smell tastes burnt, investigate the smell right away. If you see any sooty deposits (especially the black kinds), things have overheated to a dangerous level.
Perhaps your manufacturer has not burned in your new machine as long as what had been the norm. Computer manufacturers used to talk about having "72 hours of burn in" or "5 days of burn in". So, maybe you're on the earlier part of the curve in amount of smell being released.
Re:Gassing out components (Score:2)
Hrmmm...
Possibly the Power Supply? (Score:3, Informative)
Perhaps this is what you are smelling, and not a motherboard or CPU. I've never had one of those smell. Just my power supply.
Re:Possibly the Power Supply? (Score:1)
Moth (Score:2)
It must be a bug in your computer. Moths and June Bugs are known to stink like hell. I remember when my dad used to catch them buzzing around his monitor late at night, and then burn them with a little butane torch. Those bugs stunk so bad that even the dog wouldn't eat them!
Sources of smells (Score:1)
Both my home machines are such, so I know of which I speak.
That said, observe the machine running with the top and at least one side of the case removed for a while.
Seriously, if your spouse can handle the smells that come from laundry detergents, then the smells from your computer should not be making her ill if everything is in working order.
- No part of the inside should be hot to the touch other than the metal portions of the CPU heat sinks. At slight risk to yourself, touch *everything* after leaving the computer running for more than 4 hours, preferably doing something irritatingly hard (e.g. "cd
- No proper application of either thermal tape or paste should create smells of this magnitude during operation.
Off-topic, but just a factoid: the fumes from burning aluminum are toxic.
use natural absortion materials (Score:1, Interesting)
Cheers
Probably P/S outgassing; use activated carbon (Score:2, Interesting)
Ideally, you should place activated carbon / activated charcoal around and inside the machine for as long as possible (a week or so is best) and, if possible, store it in a well-ventilated room with outside air circulating freely; the carbon will absorb 95% of the odor. You can pick up activated carbon at a number of places, including pet stores (it also comes in the form of "odor absorber" sponges, which I dislike because they are perfumed themselves!) I've also seen people purchase big bags of charcoal briquettes (for grilling) and place them in paper bags. They don't work quite as well as activated carbon / activated charcoal, but they are good for large spaces (if you've just painted a room, for example).
Your girlfriend seems to have a provocation specific to the type(s) of epoxy or resins used in this machine. Might want to see an allergy specialist. My English instructor back in grade school had a serious provocation to most any smell; especially prefumes. One student forgot my teacher's warnings and wore perfume to class one day; the teacher went into something similar to an epileptic seizure. Not good!
Sounds like your chipset may be EBRS/HCF compliant (Score:2)
EBRS/HCF: little known asm opcodes for Emit Burning Resistor Smell and the more severe Halt and Catch Fire.
I actually saw these with an ECS K7S5A. I think those boards are really neat but their QA SUCKS. I can't think of any other boards that have (literally) arc welded themselves to the case as the northbridge underside underwent catastrophic failure... Lord, nothing smells worse than burning PCBs.
Re:Sounds like your chipset may be EBRS/HCF compli (Score:2)
out of the box it ran well for about 15 minutes
Re:Sounds like your chipset may be EBRS/HCF compli (Score:2)
ECS has always been no more than one step above PC Chips...IIRC, they bought PC Chips a while back. We had a couple of P!!! servers at work that were built around ECS motherboards. (Don't blame me...they were purchased before I got there.) Both boards failed. One was replaced by the builder with another board of the same model and has worked OK since. When the other system started flaking out (when Linux starts acting funny, it's more than likely a hardware problem), I replaced the motherboard and processor with an MSI motherboard and a Duron...never a problem since. (At least that incident gave me an excuse to blow Redh*t off of that box and build LFS on it instead...also freed up lots of disk space because the moron who installed Redh*t on it gave about 10 GB of a 20-GB drive to /var.)
Maybe the machined aliminiumcase or heatsink? (Score:1)
I suspect that the smell will go away as the aluminum oxide forms and seals off the metal from the air.
Doug Eleveld
Re:Maybe the machined aliminiumcase or heatsink? (Score:1)
-d
Common problem (Score:2, Informative)
My wife is very sensitive to chemicals in the environment (yeah, smartass, I know the environment is made of chemicals, you know what I mean). Almost three years ago she bought a new Viewsonic 17" monitor. It smelled so bad when running that it gave her massive migraines. I took it to work and left it running on my development system for 6 months, and it still smelled. Then she loaned it to a friend who used it for a year and a half. We just took it back a few weeks ago and it's just about usable now.
One thing that helps is to place bags of Zeolite on top of the monitor. This is a rare earth substance that absorbs odors and chemicals in the air. We also use these in our new car. Google will find it for you.