rofl, i have lost the screw twice while putting the fan rack back in my 2008 Mac Pro. I don't shake it because I fear I would break something I Just tilt the mac pro around slowly until i see and hear it move then snatch it without moving the mac pro.
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Screwed Up: Dropped screw in processor area
- Thread starter NoManIsland
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Yeah, it's an easy screw to lose when trying to thread it in. I didn't have to shake my machine either, I just turned it upside down and retrieved the screw from the hard drive rack.
Does anyone know whether the sensors that drive the front fan assembly are on the assembly itself, or on the logic board?
I've lost both screws for the fan assembly a few times, my MP never minded my shaking it to get them back . 
Once I also had not pushed the fans back in properly, and they wouldn't run, but I had no issues, maybe because I noticed it soon enough.
As for the cables to the ODD SATA ports on the motherboard (all this is about an early '08 MP), I took a knife and small pliers and carefully cut off part of the black plastic covering the plugs (where it meets the cable), until they did no longer get in the way of the fan assembly (I ended up using cut down straight plugs on the MoBo. as the 90 degree ones never fit properly).
Once I also had not pushed the fans back in properly, and they wouldn't run, but I had no issues, maybe because I noticed it soon enough.
As for the cables to the ODD SATA ports on the motherboard (all this is about an early '08 MP), I took a knife and small pliers and carefully cut off part of the black plastic covering the plugs (where it meets the cable), until they did no longer get in the way of the fan assembly (I ended up using cut down straight plugs on the MoBo. as the 90 degree ones never fit properly).
Fantastic news! I heard back from the tech and picked up my computer Turns out there wasn't a short, or even damage to the fan assembly: the ODD SATA cables had pushed against one of the fans and it had turned off to avoid damage. He was able to reset the fans and the fix was cheap as chips My baby's back He even routed the cables to the optical bay for me properly and didn't charge - beautifully done too. I couldn't be happier As a side note, he said to me that it is very rare for a loose screw to cause a short on the logic board, as the facing side is coated with resin to prevent exactly that - good to know, not that I'd ever test it
Turns out there wasn't a short, or even damage to the fan assembly: the ODD SATA cables had pushed against one of the fans and it had turned off to avoid damage. He was able to reset the fans and the fix was cheap as chips My baby's back He even routed the cables to the optical bay for me properly and didn't charge - beautifully done too. I couldn't be happier As a side note, he said to me that it is very rare for a loose screw to cause a short on the logic board, as the facing side is coated with resin to prevent exactly that - good to know, not that I'd ever test it 
Fantastic news! I heard back from the tech and picked up my computer
Congrats ~~~~~~~ you're getting a collective sigh of relief from the cheering crowd.
JohnG
What he said ^^^^...
Glad your baby is back. Next time you need buy something, buy it from this shop even if it costs a bit more. They've earned your business, eh?
Glad it worked out well for you!
Just a side note: Although the logic board, etc, are conformal coated - thus making it rare for that dropped screw to do damage - it's still not a zero chance. The only way to make it is zero is to find the screw. I come from an aerospace / high tech background (and some aviation), so I'm hard-wired to react with the hard and fast rule of 'no power until it's found'. I remember more than one occasion where we were faced with a multi-hour disassembly of flight hardware (ECM pod) because of a lost washer or fastener.
Just a side note: Although the logic board, etc, are conformal coated - thus making it rare for that dropped screw to do damage - it's still not a zero chance. The only way to make it is zero is to find the screw. I come from an aerospace / high tech background (and some aviation), so I'm hard-wired to react with the hard and fast rule of 'no power until it's found'. I remember more than one occasion where we were faced with a multi-hour disassembly of flight hardware (ECM pod) because of a lost washer or fastener.
Absolutely
If anyone happens to be in Victoria, BC in Canada, go to Simply Computing at the corner of Quadra and Hillside - these guys deserve your patronage 
Glad to hear your system's doing fine.Fantastic news! I heard back from the tech and picked up my computer
That tech did you a massive favor. BTW, that coating is called a solder mask (closer to a synthetic lacquer/varnish, not epoxy resin - it's thinner and doesn't require a hardening agent to set). But it's not always present (cost cutting, so sometimes it's just HAL = Hot Air Leveling, which is solder on the PCB traces).
Even when solder mask is present, there's still the chance something can short, though fairly rare (think voltage regulator section, and that's right around the CPU sockets on most boards ). I second this (whatever tastey beverage s/he prefers).
Glad to hear your system's doing fine.
BTW, that coating is called a solder mask (closer to a synthetic lacquer/varnish, not epoxy resin - it's thinner and doesn't require a hardening agent to set). But it's not always present (cost cutting, so sometimes it's just HAL = Hot Air Leveling, which is solder on the PCB traces).
I second this (whatever tastey beverage s/he prefers).
Just a minor clarification: The final protection of the exposed conductive surfaces is done with a conformal coat.
A solder mask is used to prevent solder bridges (etc.) during wave soldering.
cheers
JohnG
A conformal may not always be there though.
I've made bare copper on a CNC routing table (HAL by hand), though usually this is for in-house proof of concept/part testing (need it quick sort of thing). I don't fool with anything else myself, so I'll send it out to a PCB maker when I need more than that (solder mask + legend, possibly ENIG, ...).
Of course a solder mask is there to prevent bridging between traces (I'd hate to see a computer main board processed through a wave table/jet system without it).
What a mess that would be.