Repairing motherboard trace and slot damage

[The Von Matrices]

I made a dumb mistake tonight. Have an MSI X299 SLI Plus motherboard. I needed to cut the end of a PCIe x1 so I could put a PCIe x4 card in it. I was using a file, and I slipped and damaged some traces on the PCB. They connect to lanes 1 and 2 of the lowermost x16 slot. If I didn't need the slot, I would just leave it as-is since there is nothing else damaged, but I do need to use that slot and need to repair it.

What would be the best way to repair those traces? I tried making a solder connection but those traces are way smaller than even the tiniest tip I have and the solder just balls up instead of bridging the traces. I was thinking that painting conductive paint on the board might be the best solution since I can scrape off the paint where I don't need it. Is there another method I'm not thinking about?

 

[thesmokingman]

Gonna need a trace pen.

 

[eidairaman1]

Gonna need a trace pen.

With flux to prevent bridging, dont they make adapter cables for this reason today?

 

[Mussels]

Curious how this goes, not something i've had luck with in the past

At least its a surface trace

 

[Ruru]

I've seen some using a fiberglass pen when they've been fixing old 286-486 boards which have been victims to leaky batteries' corroding acid to expose the traces better.

 

[mclaren85]

Never thought MSI draws this lanes that fragile.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

Lay a insulated wire next to each cut and solder a point at both ends away from the damage.
Then coat it with liquid tape.

It won't be easy. contact point must be scraped clean, maybe a touch of fine sanding paper then flux the solder point you made.

Or call it time for upgrades, the easy route

 

[The Von Matrices]

Lay a insulated wire next to each cut and solder a point at both ends away from the damage.
Then coat it with liquid tape.

It won't be easy. contact point must be scraped clean, maybe a touch of fine sanding paper then flux the solder point you made.

Or call it time for upgrades, the easy route

The problem is that each trace is about 0.2mm. It looks a lot bigger due to the macro lens. I don't have tools or the coordination that can solder anything that small. That's why I was considering paint because if I put too much of it on I can at least scrape off the excess.

 

[delshay]

It's a easy fix. I normally just grab a piece of wire, pull/cut a single strand & solder bridging the gap. You need a very small soldering tip around 0.5 - 1mm. I would not do this kind of work without a small soldering tip. Using too big a tip may do more damage. ...Strongly recommended to use a tiny soldering tip.

 

[The Von Matrices]

It's a easy fix. I normally just grab a piece of wire, pull/cut a single strand & solder bridging the gap. You need a very small soldering tip around 0.5 - 1mm. I would not do this kind of work without a small soldering tip. Using too big a tip may do more damage. ...Strongly recommended to use a tiny soldering tip.

I didn't think of the single strand of wire. I didn't know what would bridge the gap otherwise because all the wires I have are way too thick and figured I'd have to buy some special wire. I'll try that tomorrow when I get the chance.

 

[delshay]

I didn't think of the single strand of wire. I didn't know what would bridge the gap otherwise because all the wires I have are way too thick and figured I'd have to buy some special wire. I'll try that tomorrow when I get the chance.

You have to pull out a single strand, tin it with solder, tin the the motherboard trace. Place the wire on the trace & heat it up. It's dead easy for me to do. it's also a good idea to have a MM to check for continuity & shorts after work is completed.

Remember the smaller the tip the better.. I do this kind of repair under magnification with built-in back-light. You need some-kind of magnification too. Do not do this this with the naked eye, you will only make things worse.

You can get wire from almost anything, speaker wire, Wi-Fi cable, fan cable ect, ect anything that has thin stranded wire & cut to size.

 

[Wirko]

Use the solder mask to your benefit.

Scrape away the solder mask paint where it's still intact but don't to it at the same exact place for both traces in a pair. Instead, remove the paint from one trace in one place, and then from the other trace in another place like 3-4 mm away, like I indicated in the pic. It will make it easier to avoid short circuits while soldering.

Precision scraping isn't easy but it's easier than precision soldering. Use a sharp knife with a sharp tip, such as a snap-off knife with a new (or freshly snapped off) blade. Scrape without pressing hard on the delicate copper trace. Make sure you've removed the paint completely - you need clean bare copper as any remains of paint will make soldering impossible.

Then do as @delshay said. It's important to tin each PCB trace before soldering a wire to it. If you can't then you haven't scraped off the paint completely.

In any case, you need some finer tools than what you've used. You damaged the traces of lanes 3 and 4 too, even if lane 4 is roughly 2 mm away from lane 2.

My method does have a downside, you're left with four pieces of uninsulated wire, ~15 mm long, sticking out of the PCB when you have finished. Maybe you can use some glue or paint to fix the wires in place, after testing the PCIe slot of course.

 

[eidairaman1]

You have to pull out a single strand, tin it with solder, tin the the motherboard trace. Place the wire on the trace & heat it up. It's dead easy for me to do. it's also a good idea to have a MM to check for continuity & shorts after work is completed.

Remember the smaller the tip the better.. I do this kind of repair under magnification with built-in back-light. You need some-kind of magnification too. Do not do this this with the naked eye, you will only make things worse.

You can get wire from almost anything, speaker wire, Wi-Fi cable, fan cable ect, ect anything that has thin stranded wire & cut to size.

He said he doesnt have the cordination to do said repair and there are 4 traces in the image, better off to be sent to you or krisfix.de or Northridgefix...

 

[micropage7]

and wait, you need to check if any trace behind that that cut too since now motherboard is multi layer, just make sure everything is ok before you go to the next step

 

[ymdhis]

I normally repair those with thin single strand wire (28AWG I think) but with traces that small and so close to each other, this probably wouldn't work. Heating up one of the wires would make the other one get loose. Perhaps you could try following the trace where each pin goes and directly wire to any solder pads or through-hole pieces. If the trace goes from and to a PCIE slot pin, you might even get around with this issue by soldering a connection from pin to pin on the back side (and you could use thicker cables which can handle higher power better).
A conductive pen may be a better idea, but again, may not be able to draw so thin traces, and no idea how they handle the power requirements.

And there's still the problem where the boards might have damage on multiple layers, in which case you are boned.

 

[eidairaman1]

I normally repair those with thin single strand wire (28AWG I think) but with traces that small and so close to each other, this probably wouldn't work. Heating up one of the wires would make the other one get loose. Perhaps you could try following the trace where each pin goes and directly wire to any solder pads or through-hole pieces. If the trace goes from and to a PCIE slot pin, you might even get around with this issue by soldering a connection from pin to pin on the back side (and you could use thicker cables which can handle higher power better).
A conductive pen may be a better idea, but again, may not be able to draw so thin traces, and no idea how they handle the power requirements.

And there's still the problem where the boards might have damage on multiple layers, in which case you are boned.

Im thinking those traces are around 30-32 (Used to use 28 or even 26 gauge jumper wire for A/VDSL network setups)

Heck i used 28 gauge jumper to repair Christmas Lights with scotchloks lol

 

[The Von Matrices]

I tried soldering with a bridge wire tonight but I cannot get the solder to stick to one trace only - it keeps bridging traces no matter what I do. I'm using the smallest soldering tip I have - see the photos - and I'm not sure a smaller tip is practical. Is there some strategy for soldering I'm not considering?

I normally repair those with thin single strand wire (28AWG I think) but with traces that small and so close to each other, this probably wouldn't work. Heating up one of the wires would make the other one get loose. Perhaps you could try following the trace where each pin goes and directly wire to any solder pads or through-hole pieces. If the trace goes from and to a PCIE slot pin, you might even get around with this issue by soldering a connection from pin to pin on the back side (and you could use thicker cables which can handle higher power better).
A conductive pen may be a better idea, but again, may not be able to draw so thin traces, and no idea how they handle the power requirements.

Those traces are for PCIe differential data signals so there is no concern about carrying large amounts of power.

And there's still the problem where the boards might have damage on multiple layers, in which case you are boned.

I have tested the board and it works fine with the exception of those PCIe slots.

 

[Ruru]

Don't know how to actually do it, but I was thinking that could you insulate the trace next to one somehow, so solder wouldn't attach to it?

 

[Mussels]

Don't know how to actually do it, but I was thinking that could you insulate the trace next to one somehow, so solder wouldn't attach to it?

heatproof tape of some kind would provide temporary protection?

 

[Ruru]

heatproof tape of some kind would provide temporary protection?

I was thinking something like that. Just don't know would it actually work..

 

[Mussels]

I was thinking something like that. Just don't know would it actually work..

You put tape over the bits you dont want solder to stick to, and they cant since its too cold
This stuffs good to 250C, and while a soldering iron will go above that it wont get that hot indirectly from an accidental tap

Not a specific recommendation, just something i'm familar with from automotive stuff

 

[1freedude]

An idea to through in the ring:

Use super glue to fill in the divot, smooth out super glue, then very sharp pencil to recreate path.

 

[delshay]

I tried soldering with a bridge wire tonight but I cannot get the solder to stick to one trace only - it keeps bridging traces no matter what I do. I'm using the smallest soldering tip I have - see the photos - and I'm not sure a smaller tip is practical. Is there some strategy for soldering I'm not considering?

View attachment 275393View attachment 275394View attachment 275395View attachment 275396



Those traces are for PCIe differential data signals so there is no concern about carrying large amounts of power.

I have tested the board and it works fine with the exception of those PCIe slots.

Your doing it wrong, almost there but too much solder.

Tin the single strand of wire, tin the trace trace both with solder. Hold the single strand of wire in place with tweezers or anything metal that is flat so that the single strand of wire does not move when you place the soldering iron on top of the single strand. Then do the same to the other end of the wire. It look like you have four traces broken, so you have to do this eight times.

If it's not melting the solder that's already on the strand of wire/trace then add flux. If you are still having problems then use low melting solder or increase soldering iron temperature. Increase my iron to around 380 to 440c. Don't worry about the temperature of the iron as long it is touching the wire only.

Because this technique is new to you practice on something dead you do care about. You almost got it right, it just needs refinement. Do more practice on dead devices so that you do less damage to that motherboard.


EDIT: I don't expect anyone to get it right first time. It take's a few go's to master, & then it come's second nature & very easy to do. Once you have become a master, you will be able to deal with burnt/missing traces.

 

[Ripcord]

it looks like you are trying to repair directly over the cut that wont work . like its been said previously scratch the traces in front and behind the cut in a staggered fashion then apply solder to a piece of wire and repair it that way . you shouldn't be apply any solder to the board directly just from the wire.

 

[delshay]

it looks like you are trying to repair directly over the cut that wont work . like its been said previously scratch the traces in front and behind the cut in a staggered fashion then apply solder to a piece of wire and repair it that way . you shouldn't be apply any solder to the board directly just from the wire.

That's correct, but you have to apply solder to the exposed trace where the solder mask was removed. There won't be a lot of solder on copper trace, but it must change color to show you have tinned the trace layout with solder..

OP needs to practice on dead devices & figure it out for themselves without my input. Nobody will get this right even after the first five try's.

EDIT: @OP

Practice on something that has a thicker trace. This will help you in understanding how to solder on the thinnest of PCB traces. & if you still have problems with melting the solder, then turn the soldering iron up to max temperature & use the side of the soldering tip (right near the pointed tip) on the wire. ..Remember you have a tiny tip, you will lose a lot of heat because the tip is small, but you are dealing with a very thin trace so it should melt the solder. You have to clean up that mess in your latest photo as that is a short & will not work.