bent pins on board - where do I stand w/r/t RMA or warranty

Tea_Bag

Tea_Bag

Tea_Bag

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long story short, I was installing an xspc water block and I must have pushed too hard on the board. around half the pins are bent. its an asrock z77 extreme4 that's about 2 months old. is there anywhere I can send it to be repaired, or would I be able to send it back under warranty or anything :(:(:(
 
warranty would be very unlikely indeed... if you look online most sellers don't cover bent pins of any kind, even if they were bent in transit. it's free to try and bend them back yourself though - with tweezers and a magnifier?
 
I'm pretty sure you would fall under the category of being 'screwed'

If memory serves, no manufacturer will touch a motherboard with bent pins, because it's user damage.
 
Yea I guessed that. I'm not trying to screw over the retailer, I understand its my fault, but I don't want to fork out for a whole new board if this is working bar the pins. ugh. worst part is its not even mine. I'm doing it for a favor for a friend :(:(:(

there are just so many pins I would be here all week bending back, and one looks like its ready to snap. last time I ever do a favour tbh. I'm now £110 out of pocket :(:(
 
you might be ok with asrock,if it was asus then kiss the board goodbye,gigabyte will repair no probs
 
yea I'm normally gentle enough. problem was the clamps that came with the barbs were too big so I had to remove the tubing again when the right ones arrived. that's when it must have happened. there was a lot of left right up down pulling. **** it. :(:(:(
 
Best bet for getting tubing off of barbs is a craft knife, or a stanley knife, it just isn't worth wrecking anything delicate for the sake of a few quids worth of tubing :)
 
If you speak to ASRock or even the place of purchase they may be able to provide
a replacement socket be installed, would probs be chargeable tho.
 
V F said:
I'm curious on what kind of pressure the OP would create to wreck the pins? how soft are they?
Click to expand...

It doesn't take a lot i think, the pins on a motherboard are quite delicate.

to add to that i know roughly how hard you have to force a tube off of a barb, and you would have to shove pretty hard hence my comment above about cutting the tube.
 
I'm sure I've seen someone around here who managed to bend the pins back, though if you've bent more than a few it's probably going to be a hard task.
 
Post a picture of the pins. I bent 3 of my bottom corner pins but managed to straighten them with a sewing pin and a magnifying glass/zoomed in dslr photos. You just have to very gently lift each pin upwards from the end of the pin. I say gently, I mean VERY VERY GENTLY :D they are very delicate but I'm clumsy and I managed it.

I bent my pins without even knowing about it. No idea how it happened. Working fine now though.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8105305965_f694b12d63_k.jpg

The top right 3 were pushed down, I just lifted them and it works again.

I would ask ASrock first.
 
I don't see how you can bend the pins once the CPU is inserted no matter how much pressure, are you sure you didn't put the CPU in wrong and bend the pins when locking the processor down? I usually hold the processor with a finger at each side and lower it as slowly/vertically as possible. I've tightened EK waterblocks to full with no problems, I'd have thought the PCB would crack before anything.
 
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It happens, I did it without even considering that it might have happened. Was only by chance I saw that they were bent. My guess is that I must have dropped my cpu on the pins at some point and not realized the damage.
 
Asrock are pretty good with bent pin returns. They charged my cousin £35 + delivery both ways to fit a new socket, but he ended up having a new board because they took over 4 weeks with it.

Contact Asrock/ the supplier first, see what they say. If its no, bend them back into shape, your going to have to pay for a new board anyway, so why not try and fix it?

IMHO, the best way to repair bent pins is a retractable ball point pen, fixed many bent pins and theyre all still ok to date.
 
SeraphX said:
It doesn't take a lot i think, the pins on a motherboard are quite delicate.

to add to that i know roughly how hard you have to force a tube off of a barb, and you would have to shove pretty hard hence my comment above about cutting the tube.
Click to expand...

So once a pin is somewhat bent or two or a section, it's then lost contact and wont power up? can it damage any components at all if that happened trying to fire it up? or does it just go dead, no power twitches at all?

Antowns said:
though if you've bent more than a few it's probably going to be a hard task.
Click to expand...

I can imagine. Trying to get them all level. That is some task, at least many hours...
 
No it's bloody easy. All you have to do is raise them so they are going to be touching the contacts on the CPU. It really depends how many pins are bent as to how long it will take or if you are unlucky enough for a pin to snap. If a pin is not contacting the CPU it can't boot.

The contacts are quite wide, ideally you want all the pins to line up almost perfectly. Don't worry about the height of them, if you do you will end up snapping them. If they look in line they should be the right height.

All you need to do is use a sewing needle and put it under each bent pin, and lift it very gently.

If Asrock can fix it, might as well get it done by them.

As for damaging anything, it won't as far as I know.
 
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