Intel Skull Canyon NUC6i7KYK - Help! Something blew up!

[AlexGuth1978]

Hi all, this is my first post so please bear with me, however disaster struck today when attempting to change the CMOS battery on my Skull Canyon: After swapping the CR2032 (as described on the Intel website) with a new one and turning the Skull Canyon on, something went up on the motherboard (see attached pictures, I am pointing at it with the tip of my screwdriver). It was like a small short burst of fire and it obviously burnt. I quickly cut the PSU from the power outlet. Since then, I am able to turn the Skull Canyon on, and the fan is spinning, but there is no other sign of life (no led, no output, nothing!). Unfortunately, I am not competent enough to assess what happened here. So I apologize for my naive question: What went wrong and could something like that be repaired? Or can I already dig the grave for the Nuc? That would be fatal! It was a used buy so no warranty can be applied. I am desperate! Thank you for your help! Cheers, Alex

[n_scott_pearson]

There are a great many of these 'wired' CR2032 batteries that are wired backwards. Blame Dell; they did it differently than everyone else and these backwards-wired versions are provided for their systems. If you got one with the wrong polarity and plugged it in, you could very well cause parts to fry like this.

Regardless of (blame for) the cause, the answer is that Intel does not offer any repair service. You might be able to find a qualified shop that could replace a part like this for you, but I warn you that it is entirely possible that this is not the only damage (the damage doesn't have to be this visible).

Sorry,

...S

[AlexGuth1978]

Thanks for your feedback, Scott! Since it was a generic wired CR2032 I bought from a local shop, it it is very possible that I caught an incorrectly polarized one. I just found a repair service specialized in NUC motherboard repair at component level. Price appears reasonable, so I will give it a shot! Cheers, Alex