Gigabyte Auros B450 I Pro Wifi Just Smoked Its RGB Circuit.

DWD1961

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 30, 2019
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Just smoked it's RGB chips right next to the Riser. Started having RGB problems and finally tracked it back to a bad cable or the MB itself. Got my magnifiers on and some good light, and sure enough, you can see it got hot enough to melt a solder joint, with yellow crap leaking out of one of the chips, and one of the square chips was melted, while two others looked burned.

The last time I had an issue with a Gig board, they sent it back without even repairing it. Not even 6 months old.

Wonderful.
 
Busted capacitor? Sounds like a short to ground. Could be a pinched wire, metal shavings, or damaged connector.

Edit: actually, if the cap failed short, that could have melted the other components, too. Dunno what couldve killed the cap, though.
 
Busted capacitor? Sounds like a short to ground. Could be a pinched wire, metal shavings, or damaged connector.

Edit: actually, if the cap failed short, that could have melted the other components, too. Dunno what couldve killed the cap, though.
Who knows. I just buillt some RGB strips and everything was fine and then I noticed the strip was displaying a funky color. I thought I might have a bad solder joint, so I checked everything and it was fine, no bad or bridged solder on the RGB pads, nothing. So I de-soldered the entire strip, and re-soldered each section by itself and checked each section, and one 3 LED section seemed to be flickering off and on when slightly bent. So I figured that was teh problem and tossed it. Then I soldered the strip together again with a new peice, and the same problem.

That wasn't making logical sense, so I just figured maybe another piece of the strip was intermittently bad (not likely). So I made a BRAND new strip, and checked each section after each solder connection. No problems until the last section. Same problem. Removed the last section, and it worked. Again, looked for any problems soldering problems, and nothing. Put it back together, and it all worked fine. Then, today, I used a factory piece from the RGB roll that has the factory plugs on it, and the same problem. Looked at the factory plug and solder connections, and they were perfect and besides the strip never had a problem. built another small strip, and the problem came back. At this point I'm not making any logical connections to anything except the fusion software, the MB, or a bad RGB cable from the riser. So I checked the caps next to the Riser, and yep, sure the fuck enough.
 
Who knows. I just buillt some RGB strips and everything was fine and then I noticed the strip was displaying a funky color. I thought I might have a bad solder joint, so I checked everything and it was fine, no bad or bridged solder on the RGB pads, nothing. So I de-soldered the entire strip, and re-soldered each section by itself and checked each section, and one 3 LED section seemed to be flickering off and on when slightly bent. So I figured that was teh problem and tossed it. Then I soldered the strip together again with a new peice, and the same problem.

That wasn't making logical sense, so I just figured maybe another piece of the strip was intermittently bad (not likely). So I made a BRAND new strip, and checked each section after each solder connection. No problems until the last section. Same problem. Removed the last section, and it worked. Again, looked for any problems soldering problems, and nothing. Put it back together, and it all worked fine. Then, today, I used a factory piece from the RGB roll that has the factory plugs on it, and the same problem. Looked at the factory plug and solder connections, and they were perfect and besides the strip never had a problem. built another small strip, and the problem came back. At this point I'm not making any logical connections to anything except the fusion software, the MB, or a bad RGB cable from the riser. So I checked the caps next to the Riser, and yep, sure the fuck enough.
Maybe too much current from the LEDs? Does the manual specify the current limit for that header?
 
Maybe too much current from the LEDs? Does the manual specify the current limit for that header?
Naw not at all. I was only running I think 36 LEDs total for a total of .63 amps. The header is good for 2 Amps. I don't think plugging more into it would do anything except cause the LEDs to go dim from a lack of voltage. I remember plugging in the first strip I built and the LEDs got really warm. I didn't actually put that together until tonight. But the second strip was col and worked perfectly until right now. Also, the first sign of a problem, the LED strip wasn't even installed in the machine.

I did remeber smelling electrical burning with the first strip and thought it might just be a bad section in teh strip and it got warm, really warm. I immediately unplugged it. Could the strip have burnt the header?
 
Naw not at all. I was only running I think 36 LEDs total for a total of .63 amps. The header is good for 2 Amps. I don't think plugging more into it would do anything except cause the LEDs to go dim from a lack of voltage. I remember plugging in the first strip I built and the LEDs got really warm. I didn't actually put that together until tonight. But the second strip was col and worked perfectly until right now. Also, the first sign of a problem, the LED strip wasn't even installed in the machine.

I did remeber smelling electrical burning with the first strip and thought it might just be a bad section in teh strip and it got warm, really warm. I immediately unplugged it. Could the strip have burnt the header?
Could have, if it had an internal short.

Back to the current though– do you know the specific type of led on the strip? Could it be 0.63 x 3 = 1.89A (.63A per color)? Still shouldn't have burned it up, but would be a lot closer.
 
Could have, if it had an internal short.

Back to the current though– do you know the specific type of led on the strip? Could it be 0.63 x 3 = 1.89A (.63A per color)? Still shouldn't have burned it up, but would be a lot closer.
They are 5050 size. .21 watts per LED unit.

SUPERNIGHT 16.4ft 5050 RGB Strip Waterproof Black PCB, 300 LED Color Changing Rope Lights
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076VG955L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

From the seller:
" Each 5050 lamp bead is 0.2W, current is 60MA "

But all 5050 LEDs pull .21 watts, and I think that is pretty standard, although there may be some high output LEDs in 5050 I'm not aware of.
 
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Cool, just wanted to be sure it wasn't something simple first.

Thinking about it a bit, a good test might be to check the resistance of each set of leds, then calculate the current, to make sure there is no stray paths to ground. Or just measure the current with voltage run across, if you have a good Ammeter.
 
Cool, just wanted to be sure it wasn't something simple first.

Thinking about it a bit, a good test might be to check the resistance of each set of leds, then calculate the current, to make sure there is no stray paths to ground. Or just measure the current with voltage run across, if you have a good Ammeter.
No idea. I don't have a good one but I have one. I just know that the first time I had a problem, the LEDs started getting hot. This wasn't on just one section of LEDs from the same strip, either. One strip I cut at 11 inches and it was the factory end with factory plug, and it always worked. Tonight, it didn't work either. Of course it wouldn't, the RGB caps are melted.
 
Here's what the initial color looked like that would not change. Then the next time had a problem, the colrs would cahnge,m but some would not show up as selected, or not at all. For instance, when choosing green, the lights would go out completely.
WP_20200623_19_14_20_Pro.jpg




Here is what the caps look like, or what ever they are right next to the RGB header.

WP_20200628_18_06_26_Pro.jpg


WP_20200628_18_06_31_Pro.jpg


ROASTED!
 
Is the board still working?
Yeah, I mean it's working, but my wifi is getting worse. I had the wifi/BT problem since day one where I can be using BT to stream music to my BT receiver, and it will knock down my internet 2.4Ghz wifi speed by 40-50%. If I pause streaming BT, it jumps back up again. So if I am streaming music on the 2.4Ghz bank at 128kbps/s and doing a speed test for my wifi internet connection, it will go from 75Mbps to 40-55Mbps. Now, it is all over the place when I am using BT or not, and never gets above about 35Mbps. The little box that mounts the M2 Intel combo Wifi/BT5.0 card is loose on the MB also, and I can physically wobble it back and forth. I tested my connection using a wired connection and I get full plan speed, which is 75Mbps.

Other people here said their experience with GB RMS was good, but I RMA'ed an X58 board back in 2012, and they sent it back without fixing the issue.

Anyway, I have no idea how the RGB caps could have melted. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my soldering. There was a loose LED in one of the sections I connected, and when I moved the led in the silicon a little it would just go off. I just tossed that segment. Maybe the strip is fucked up? I don't know. I know Amazon doesn't even have the board in stock anymore nor does New Egg.
 
Do the RGB LEDs have their own current-limiting resistors? Did you use resistors in your homemade strip? If they don't and you didn't put any into the strip you made, it's likely the LEDs drew too much power which a) makes the LEDs get hot ultimately burns them out; and b) burns out the MB power circuit due to too much current draw.
 
Do the RGB LEDs have their own current-limiting resistors? Did you use resistors in your homemade strip? If they don't and you didn't put any into the strip you made, it's likely the LEDs drew too much power which a) makes the LEDs get hot ultimately burns them out; and b) burns out the MB power circuit due to too much current draw.

No, I just joined the strips by soldering wires to the LED strip pads to create a custom length. I didn't build them. I inspected each of my joints with a magnifying glass to make sure they were clean. When I initially had the problem, the strip got hot fast, but all of the LEDs worked and never blew. I smelled burning electronics and unplugged the strip. I didn't find anything visually wrong, but at that time I didn't inspect the RGB riser/caps or whatever the little plastic square are right next to the 12v RGB pins. I did find the loose LED and just cut that section off and tossed it. I redid the entire custom strip with fresh strip and everything worked. Then a few days alter, I notice the colors are not coming on correctly, and the green option would just shut the strip off. That's when I started to put it together.

I just ordered a different brand strips and got them today. They are not waterproof and I plugged in the strip to the included power and cntroller and they get really warm when they are at 100%.

My riser is 2Amps, and the strip I was using was max .62 amps. If the strip was shorted, the LEDs after the short would not come on, but the entire strip did come on all times. I ws going to test my riser for volts to see if the MB's voltage control let loose, but I wanted to get it to rapair asap, so I didn't have time to do it--DMM gets here tomorrow.
 
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