burnt pci riser (2 times!)

[thomflash]

Hi all,

my rig stopped last night because apparently a riser burnt through. It wasn't one of those cases where people connect to the pci port it the other way around and short circuit: it has been running for weeks without problems. Last reboot was a couple of days ago when I updated Claymore.

I connected a new riser and immediately the riser gave a spark and burnt through as well. Fortunately I still had the powerplug in my hands and could disconnect it immediately.
Picture of what both risers look like: https://imgur.com/a/zppnc

There is no visible damage to the GPU, to the little thingie going into the PCI slot of the MB or to the slot of the MB.

I disconnected the riser and gpu and fortunately the rig could reboot and is still working with the other 4 GPUs.

Is my GPU fried? I'm afraid to test it directly on the MB, because that might fry my MB as well...
PSU: Be Quiet Power Zone 1000W

Any tips?

Thanks.

[leonix007]

Hi all,

my rig stopped last night because apparently a riser burnt through. It wasn't one of those cases where people connect to the pci port it the other way around and short circuit: it has been running for weeks without problems. Last reboot was a couple of days ago when I updated Claymore.

I connected a new riser and immediately the riser gave a spark and burnt through as well. Fortunately I still had the powerplug in my hands and could disconnect it immediately.
Picture of what both risers look like:

There is no visible damage to the GPU, to the little thingie going into the PCI slot of the MB or to the slot of the MB.

I disconnected the riser and gpu and fortunately the rig could reboot and is still working with the other 4 GPUs.

Is my GPU fried? I'm afraid to test it directly on the MB, because that might fry my MB as well...
PSU: Be Quiet Power Zone 1000W

Any tips?

Thanks.

wait, did I read it correctly? PCI slot?

surely will damage it.

dont worry to test your GPU, check it thoroughly for some burnt traces, if none, then try it out, with separate PSU, it will not damage your mb, most probably it wont detect it or luckily would work normally.

[crairezx20]

Did you try to change your riser first?
Or maybe your riser is shortage better to check your riser first. check if you wrap the riser with electrical tape because sometimes the riser is a shortage. make sure that you put the riser on the motherboard with electrical tape.
If you still experience burnt PCIe maybe its a motherboard issue, better to check your motherboard if there is something dust near to PCIe slot, Just clean it and test. hope that it works.

[Za1n]

Hi all,

my rig stopped last night because apparently a riser burnt through. It wasn't one of those cases where people connect to the pci port it the other way around and short circuit: it has been running for weeks without problems. Last reboot was a couple of days ago when I updated Claymore.

I connected a new riser and immediately the riser gave a spark and burnt through as well. Fortunately I still had the powerplug in my hands and could disconnect it immediately.
Picture of what both risers look like:

There is no visible damage to the GPU, to the little thingie going into the PCI slot of the MB or to the slot of the MB.

I disconnected the riser and gpu and fortunately the rig could reboot and is still working with the other 4 GPUs.

Is my GPU fried? I'm afraid to test it directly on the MB, because that might fry my MB as well...
PSU: Be Quiet Power Zone 1000W

Any tips?

Thanks.

If you instantly destroyed a brand new new riser as well as the original, that tells me something is indeed shorted, most likely on your video card. I agree with your instincts to NOT test it out on the motherboard directly, as you will most likely fry that too as you said, instead I would just RMA the GPU and let the service department look at it. If it turns out nothing is wrong with your card (doubtful) then the most you will be out is shipping costs, as they would send you the non-defective card back. If it is bad, they take all the risk further testing it and will repair/replace it for you, assuming you are still under warranty.

If your motherboard has built in video output, you can remove all the GPUs and test it by itself to make sure it is not the cause. I would also recommend picking up a cheap PSU tester, such as a Thermaltake Dr. Power II if you plan to have more than one or two rigs, so you can easily eliminate a bad PSU when these type of issues arise.

[thomflash]

ok, thanks for yout input!
I 'm going to RMA it before I fry something else! Thing is I bought it abroad because a couple of months ago it was so hard to find GPUs and shipping costs are rather high for sending abroad... Hope the warranty is the same for the whole of the EU so I can send it domestically and hope I get a quick answer, because meanwhile I'm mining with a smaller rig :-(

[RYXES]

If a circuit is overloaded, meaning beyond the preset amount of amps labeled on the fuse, the fuse blows (or opens the circuit) to protect the wires from breaking down and burning. Electrical shorts also cause fuse failure. An electrical short can be from the hot wire to ground or a hot wire to neutral.

[edwardceng]

Some Possibilities:
1. Power from PSU to Riser has lack power.
2. try to another PSU
3. The GPU has a problem with temperature.

[remauto1187ma]

Are your risers touching one another at the PCIE slots?  This has been a known problem for some motherboards. The problem is that the soldered rear of the adaptors touch the usb socket of the one next to it and that shorts it all out.  The fix is stick a piece of non conductive material between them all.

[Geraldo]

First of all, you gave us wrong information about your problem. See, what the first comment you get is.

wait, did I read it correctly? PCI slot?

surely will damage it.

You were mentioning PCI slot two twice. I know the other would understand what you mean, if.....that's true that what you say refer to PCIe slot.

It wasn't one of those cases where people connect to the pci port it the other way around and short circuit..

There is no visible damage to the GPU, to the little thingie going into the PCI slot of the MB or to the slot of the MB...

Ok, let's say it is no big deal!
Back to the point, so you decide to RMA your GPU? or a risers? I read all of the suggestion from the other member here, and almost all deserve to be try. As long as you didn't do physical change, the warranty will be still valid.

[Howardroid]

the bottom of riser always covered with some material like fabrics by default to avoid short. Did you removed?

[thomflash]

I did RMA the GPU and instantly got a new one from the shop. Good service!
I connected the new GPU with a new riser and all went well. So probably was the GPU.
Sending the risers in for RMA wasn't a good idea or possible since bought overseas...

The stuff underneath the risers always comes loose because of the heat in the (open) rig:-(
Doesn't anybody else have this problem? So all of my risers are 'naked but I'm really careful not to short anything. And this was not what caused my problem.

[Geraldo]

I did RMA the GPU and instantly got a new one from the shop. Good service!
I connected the new GPU with a new riser and all went well.

Glad to hear that you were getting the new replacement card.

The stuff underneath the risers always comes loose because of the heat in the (open) rig:-(
Doesn't anybody else have this problem? So all of my risers are 'naked but I'm really careful not to short anything. And this was not what caused my problem.

What material of your open-air rig by the way?

as above said, usually the Risers have the insulator materials in the bottom side (how about yours?) If your rig case made from insulator materials (such as wood) you don't need to worry.

[Mohondoa]

The stuff underneath the risers always comes loose because of the heat in the (open) rig:-(
Doesn't anybody else have this problem? So all of my risers are 'naked but I'm really careful not to short anything. And this was not what caused my problem.

Please as much as possible do not change anything from riser you have bought, especially insulator under pcb riser, although your rig material made from wood this does not guarantee not short circiut. Better you keep using insulator, if no please you can looking for materials such as rubber or double tape to cover it.

[thomflash]

My GPUs are screwed at the front and supported at their end, so the middle part is just hanging, not touching anything. The insulating rubbers always fell off because the heat made the glue come loose and I prefer taking them off before they fall down and who knows block the cpu fan? :-/

Another thing: when installing another rig I somehow broke a PCIe port: some pins of the slot on the mobo are displaced and shorted so the rig won't start anymore. I hope nothing else is damaged... I guess sending the mobo in for RMA is a waste of shipping money because they won't replace it when they see physical damage?

Would it be an option to just remove the PCIe port myself by unsoldering it and will the mobo then just think there is no GPU connected to it? It's got more slots/ports than I have GPUs so I don't mind missing one.

Thanks for helping

[Geraldo]

My GPUs are screwed at the front and supported at their end, so the middle part is just hanging, not touching anything.

Ouw, that's good. I thought you were placing the middle side on something, before.

Would it be an option to just remove the PCIe port myself by unsoldering it and will the mobo then just think there is no GPU connected to it? It's got more slots/ports than I have GPUs so I don't mind missing one.

How about just pull out PCIe pins that were broke, instead of pull out all of the sockets with melting the tin (a bit risky I think)

[thomflash]

Very hard to remove those single pins, because they are so tiny and inside the slot...

[Geraldo]

Very hard to remove those aingle pins, because they are so tiny and inside the slot...

Ah IC, do with your own way. Just be careful with the Solder temperatures, if it too hot may affect other parts near the PCIe socket that you want to pull out.

Good luck, hope you sorted all of your problems soon. 

[thomflash]

But will it work or will the board not boot because without the port it will get an error message because something needs to connect through?

[Geraldo]

But will it work or will the board not boot because without the port it will get an error message because something needs to connect through?

Don't worry, as long as the troubled one only those PCIe socket, It will work. Even I've wiggled the pins (PCIe 16X) a few times until they snapped off while I was facing the same problem with my old mobo, and that mobo still working properly after. 

Which PCIe socket that troubled, by the way? (PCIe 16X / 1X)

[thomflash]

And do I have to remove the 16v capacitator next to it?

https://imgur.com/gallery/eGVizLI