NH-C14 backplate removal

BaK

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
May 17, 2016
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931
Hi!

I am in the process of removing an NH-C14 (non S) from my old Asrock Z77E-ITX.

Everything went smoothly until I found out that the backplate is now stucked to the back of the motherboard! o_O


The backplate can not be moved at all even when all the screws are removed.
It looks like the rubber of the backplate has turned into glue. Could that be the result of +6 years of pressure and heat?

Middle pad has been correctly removed for Intel 1155 when I installed the cooler back in the days



I tried to heat the area up a bit but that did not help me separate the backplate from the board with a credit card.
For obvious reasons I did not try with anything harder than plastic.

Did anybody already face such a situation?
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Years ago I damaged my motherboard because I used too much brute force. Bad experience.

Other than warming it up (with a heat gun or a hair dryer), I cannot think of anything else. Maybe you can use more patience and warm it up more. I imagine a non adhesive rubber pad cannot be worse than an adhesive one. Also, when you try to pry, try to concentrate on one corner at a time.
 
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princess_daphie

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jan 26, 2019
209
193
happened to me with various parts that get stuck with time, for no apparent reason. they usually give away after prying carefully on every corner and bits and pieces you can grab unto, but yeah, heat can usually help!
 
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BaK

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
May 17, 2016
930
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Thank you very much for your advices!

In the meantime I have contacted Noctua and they have very kindly proposed to send me a new backplate, kudos to them!

Anyway, I still have to remove the old backplate as I plan to use another cooler on the Z77 mobo.

Most problem is there are not a lot of options where to grab the plate and not a lot of spots where to apply forces without damaging the motherboard.
I will heat one corner at a time as suggested and see how it goes.
 

BaK

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Bronze Supporter
May 17, 2016
930
931
Forgot to update....
Old backplate has been removed with enough heat applied to it with an hair dryer :)
The rubber pad were indeed very attached to the motherboard after all those years of use.

From the NM-i115x kit Noctua sent me, it looks like they have improved things as there is no more rubber on the backplate of this kit (NM-IBP2 rev2) but instead each leg has now an integrated stand off with a little plastic washer.
 

tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Forgot to update....
Old backplate has been removed with enough heat applied to it with an hair dryer :)
The rubber pad were indeed very attached to the motherboard after all those years of use.

From the NM-i115x kit Noctua sent me, it looks like they have improved things as there is no more rubber on the backplate of this kit (NM-IBP2 rev2) but instead each leg has now an integrated stand off with a little plastic washer.
Good to know a happy ending!:thumb: