Anyone used progold? Thoughts?

[mresell]

Wondering if anyone has used Caigs Progold on pcb contacts or connectors. Got a system build for a p4p(the mb bowing was freakish enough, glad p4p boards are built to take this) going on and have an agp card on RMA because it turned out somebody had messed w/ card. Very annoying. Kept getting fan errors. The fan connector was messed up and w/ flashlight for close inspection could see very slight finger print marks; couldn't see w/ out flashlight a proper angle up close. They were almost perfectly intact so port contamination has to be very slight. I do not want to go overkill on cleaning.(chemtronics pow-r-was cz would work, but pain to apply to port w/ their applicators; also seems overkill for this) I assume it is finger print oil, but can't be sure. Didn't look like thermal compound, or flux etc... Hate to stick a brand new card in there tho. My thought was to apply a protective coating of progold to new card(let dry) and install card a couple times to migrate coating and displace possible substance.Trying to get info from caig on ESD issues w/ applicators since I am not sure about the applicators they provide. Have heard good things about this stuff, but ESD and power connectors rather than signal connectors is concern about product. Many people swear by this stuff, supposed to be used for edge connectors etc, but the more info I can get the better. I am not keen on the pen or wipes because the pen can get contaminated and wipes dry out in storage also you still have to wipe off excess.

[Brangwyn]

To be honest sounds a bit like overkill to me, it's extremely unlikely that the fan problem had anything to do with oil or residue on the PCB connectors it was probably faulty from scratch (especially if the card actually worked fine other than reporting fan errors).. just think of all the problems Vortech had with Fans this year, they're certainly not foolproof.

[mresell]

Originally Posted by Brangwyn

To be honest sounds a bit like overkill to me, it's extremely unlikely that the fan problem had anything to do with oil or residue on the PCB connectors it was probably faulty from scratch (especially if the card actually worked fine other than reporting fan errors).. just think of all the problems Vortech had with Fans this year, they're certainly not foolproof.

Sometimes I am anal I didn't think fan problem was related, just concerned about putting $200 card in dirty port and messing up mb w/additives. I have heard great things about progold and lubricators(especially preventing scraping of gold plating to tin under, however I have used contact cleaners/degreasers rarely) I got one other message one time. But monitoring program was kicking in to throttle video down since the program was cutting video out to try to adjust fan I think it was a fluke. It flashed by so quickly...I just know it wasn't the fan error. Voltage all seemed fine etc...This was messed up fan connector(i.e red wire not fully in contact and plastic housing somewhat damaged). I could have fixed it, but ...not what I paid for and who know what else was done to card. It looked mint until you looked real close from back. Had not gotten many hours of testing on the card or machine. Seriously puttin a damper on my fun!

[Brangwyn]

I wouldn't worry too much, I buy a lot of hardware frequently you'd really be surprised at the RMA rates, the last ATI AGP Card I brought I had to RMA it twice !

With slots usually contamination isn't a problem the connection is so tight anyway that a far amount of gunk can be on the card and you'll still get a good connection .. and by fair bit I really mean quite a lot, I've pulled a card out of a machine that was actually corroded on the contacts but still working fine becuase a good layer of PCB contact material was still there.

[mresell]

Originally Posted by Brangwyn

I wouldn't worry too much, I buy a lot of hardware frequently you'd really be surprised at the RMA rates, the last ATI AGP Card I brought I had to RMA it twice !

With slots usually contamination isn't a problem the connection is so tight anyway that a far amount of gunk can be on the card and you'll still get a good connection .. and by fair bit I really mean quite a lot, I've pulled a card out of a machine that was actually corroded on the contacts but still working fine becuase a good layer of PCB contact material was still there.

They all oxidize w/ time, but that's pretty amazing it wasn't locking up. Was it AGP? I just don't want windows to be freezing especially needing higher wattage. I actually have been lucky over the yrs. I have bought lots of hardware for me and customers, but not too many RMAS. My main concern was not knowing if it was finger oil. I am very careful w/ vid cards so I am fairly certain it wasn't me. Could be a silicone lubricant or something. Which I don't know if it can even be displaced by contact cleaner. I found some in the case and and am wiping everything down w/ alcohol, because that stuff migrates. RMA's are gettin worse tho. I see monitors go so much more these past few yrs. They can be expensive too for a decent one. I have my second (trinitron tube)monitor now gone after first was replaced under exchange warranty...did the same thing and timing couldn't be worse. Amex buyer assurance bailed me out of a scanner that was just passed warranty so they are processing the claim..hope they bail me out of this. It was just out of 3yr exchange warranty. I had one customer's monitor that was smoking one time...not good.

[Brangwyn]

Most PC parts though won't corrode without some additional moisture present, PCB's etc are already coated with a special layer to prevent corrosion usually.