The Unexpected Consequences of PC Maintenance: A Cautionary Tale

Maintaining your personal computer is an essential task that helps ensure optimal performance and longevity. However, as one unfortunate user discovered, even routine cleaning can lead to unexpected challenges. Here’s a closer look at what happened, how it was resolved, and lessons learned from the experience.

The Incident

Recently, I decided to perform a much-needed cleaning of my PC using a can of compressed air. Unfortunately, during the process, some fluid inadvertently sprayed onto my motherboard (mobo). While this fluid quickly evaporated, the real trouble began when I attempted to remove my GPU. The CPU cooler was substantial, making it difficult to access the PCIe latch, so I resorted to using a screwdriver to pry it open. In doing so, I accidentally scratched the motherboard.

My concerns escalated once I realized that I might have damaged critical traces on the motherboard. This fear turned into reality when my PC failed to start. It wouldn’t even reach the BIOS screen—just a relentless cycle of reboots followed by a black screen. In the past, I had faced similar boot issues that were resolved by properly reinstalling the RAM, but this time it was clear that something more serious was amiss.

Seeking Assistance

In hopes of finding a solution, I shared my predicament with the online community, along with pictures of the scratch on my motherboard for reference. My setup included an Aorus Elite Z390 motherboard and a 9700K CPU. The motherboard’s status LED illuminated red, which indicated a potential fault.

I tried several troubleshooting steps: resetting the CMOS, reseating the GPU, SSD, sound card, and RAM in different slots. I even checked all the power connections, but to no avail. The one component I could not easily access was the CPU pins due to the large size of the NH D15 cooler, which added to my frustrations.

Many suggested that it was possible I had created a short circuit between the traces, which made the situation seem even more dire. I didn’t possess the necessary skills or tools for soldering repairs, and the idea of attempting such a fix was daunting.

The Resolution

Ultimately, after weighing my options, I decided to purchase a replacement motherboard of the same model. Before making the swap, I planned to reseat everything on the old motherboard to confirm whether the issue persisted. However, I was optimistic about the new mobo’s potential to resolve the problem.