this post was submitted on 01 May 2026
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Do-It-Yourself, Repairs and Fixes
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Share tips and tricks to keep people from throwing out that broken item. Repair before replace!
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Seeing exposed copper is fine, you just don’t want that copper to be broken. A trace that is exposed is not protected as well, but will still work
Do you really think it's a good idea to try firing it up as is? I can get some clear nail polish. I might be willing to try if that's your recommendation. I've calmed down since last night.
Edit: Is there any risk of damaging the SSD's and GPU? I wouldn't think so?
If you visually inspect it and it doesn’t appear the copper that is exposed is broken you’re probably okay. If the copper traces are broken the issue will be more instability/unable to post. If the traces are shorting (eg lifted from the board and touching) more damage could occur theoretically but you should be able to see this and the damage doesn’t look that extensive
I would unplug all peripherals to test. Basically minimum needs to post - psu, cpu, 1 stick of ram. It’s very unlikely that anything would break but this ensures all that stays okay and more importantly eliminates a bunch of variables all at once
I'm happy to say it works great and now that I installed the new cooler it works better than ever. Thank you for helping me overcome my doubts! Is the cooper okay being exposed though? I couldn't find clear polish.
It’s not the end of the world but sealing it at some point is probably a good idea. Uv mask is the best option and is online even at places like amazon/ebay for like $8, often comes with a (shitty but workable uv lamp to cure it
Clear nail polish might work too but I don’t know longevity, like if it would get hard and flake off after awhile especially with heat cycling inherent to that section of the motherboard
Another cheap and easy option is kapton/polyimide tape, a roll of this is dirt cheap (unless you get a crazy amount), it’s non conductive, and it can withstand far more heat than your cpu will ever make. It’s just tape so you just stick it on there. But that’s the stuff I use to mask off sections of the board that I don’t want to get hot when I’m doing hot air rework soldering so it can easily withstand like 4-500F
exposed copper will oxide. Oxidation on a mechanical piece, i wouldn't care. On a board, you better cover it.