[dfscott]

I think I asked this question a little too late, but anyway...

I'm trying to replace my stock cooler with a Big Typhoon. I was able to remove the cooler fairly easily, but now I can't get the brackets themselves off (which I need to do in order to mount the H-bracket).

I tried gently prying them, and then grabbing the little black things underneath with pliers and twisting them, but nothing seems to work.

It's kind of a moot point now because during my fruitless struggles, I accidentally scored the backside of the mobo and now it won't boot, so it looks like I killed it. However, I'll eventually be able to buy a new mobo and it'll probably have the same brackets on it, so I'll eventually need to figure this out if I ever want to mount my cooler...

 

[cyrixMII300]

how bad did u score ur mobo? reason i am asking is i had done it b4 and the mobo still works fine....as for the brackets...u will notice a small plug on the underside of ur mobo....this is the pin that locks the black supports to the mobo...what u have to do is use a pointed blunt object that fits onto the pin and push it....meaning u r looking at the mobos clean bald backside and u push it away from u towards the other side which is packed with components..

this way the pin loose out and once u get all of them loose u will be able remove the bracket....

 

[dfscott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrixMII300 how bad did u score ur mobo? reason i am asking is i had done it b4 and the mobo still works fine....

um.... pretty good. I basically grabbed one of those black pins with pliers and started twisting. I thought I wasn't up against the mobo, but I was. I cut some pretty good crescent-shaped gouges in the board, slicing through at least two wire paths that I could see.

Once I realized what I'd done, I replaced the stock hs, put the board back in, added the graphics card, dropped a memory stick in, and tried to boot (using the "short the pins" method). All the fans spun up fine, but no activity otherwise -- the screen stayed blank, leading me to think I'd killed it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrixMII300 as for the brackets...u will notice a small plug on the underside of ur mobo....this is the pin that locks the black supports to the mobo...what u have to do is use a pointed blunt object that fits onto the pin and push it....meaning u r looking at the mobos clean bald backside and u push it away from u towards the other side which is packed with components..this way the pin loose out and once u get all of them loose u will be able remove the bracket....

Are you talking about the white pins that connect through from the top? Sort of like the "screw" to the black parts "bolt"? I'm still not sure I understand what you're saying to do here. As far as I can tell, there are white pins with heads (almost like plastic nails) that go through the board. They are held in place with black "spreader-type" pieces.

 

[UberN00B]

Sorry to tell you, but if you dont ahve a posting screen, the chances of it being gone is 99.9% from what ive heard. id RMA the mobo or just buy a new one.. =(

I have a FAQ on this if youd like to read more, just click beside my name, FAQs Submitted.

 

[cyrixMII300]

ok...since ur brackets are of that type that what u would have to do is this....use a plier...they snout type ones..u know the ones where it has a long sharp snout? those then get to the white pins and check if they have spreaders if they dont just pull them out and proceed to the next step....otherwise if they do have spreaders then u got to flatten those and pull the white nail out....afterwards check the black legs for spreaders and then flatten the spreaders and push the black leg into the whole on the mobo away from u...(this is presuming the spreaders are at the bottom of mobo) that should solve the problem.....also try to get ur mobo again and try it one more time....it should work still if the fans are running and everything...

 

[dfscott]

Thanks cyrixMII300 -- I think I finally figured it out a bit too late. I've tried to combine what you were describing with my own experience and hopefully this will help any rookies trying this in the future. Here's how I finally did it (sorry, no pics this time)

1) Remove cooler (this can be tricky as well, but there are plenty of places that talk about how to do this, such as this link).
2) Flip over mobo -- you should see the ends of the white pushpins protruding out the bottom with black v-shaped fasteners securing them.
3) CAREFULLY grap the end of each fastener with needle-nose pliers and twist them until the bottom of the "v" is broken - from this: V to this: \\ / (In retrospect, you may be able to snip these with scissors -- I'll have to try that next time.)
4) Spead the broken black fastener apart to gain access to the bottom of the white pushpin. Push it up with a small blunt object (I just used the end of the pliers). You don't need to push it all the way through -- just enough so you can slip a flat-head screwdriver under the head on the top side. Do this for all 4 plugs.
5) Flip the mobo back over. All four white pushpins should be poking up just a little.
6) Wedge a flat-head screwdriver until each pin and work it out. If you place the screwdriver diagonally across the socket, you can use the cooler bracket for leverage, if needed. Once they are removed, the bracket lifts right off.

Note that this destroys the fasteners so unless you have some spares, this is a one-way trip (but you didn't want the stock cooler anyway, right?). Hope this helps someone avoid the problems I ran into...

 

[Bindusar]

You don't need to destroy the "female" or barb feature of the mounting pin (which may be part of the bracket itself), just get something like a jeweler's screwdriver and in the slot between the two halves is where the base of the pin (nail) is. Just push on that and it will start to raise up on the top side (bracket side). At this point you can either use the same jeweler's screwdrvier to get under the head of the pin and pry it up more or if it is high enough just grab the head with some needle nose pliers and pull it out. Once that is done the barb will be able to collapse and come out of the hole and voila...your brackets will come off.

 

[dfscott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindusar You don't need to destroy the "female" or barb feature of the mounting pin (which may be part of the bracket itself), just get something like a jeweler's screwdriver and in the slot between the two halves is where the base of the pin (nail) is. Just push on that and it will start to raise up on the top side (bracket side). At this point you can either use the same jeweler's screwdrvier to get under the head of the pin and pry it up more or if it is high enough just grab the head with some needle nose pliers and pull it out. Once that is done the barb will be able to collapse and come out of the hole and voila...your brackets will come off.

Ah, thanks -- I didn't realize that. Since I'll probably be needing to do this on my replacement mobo as well, that's good to know.