Physical & Corrosion Damage
Liquid ingress and microscopic corrosion may leave no obvious surface clue, yet create leakage paths and delayed failures.
The PCB is graded under a bench lamp, the PCIe fingers and power connectors under magnification, and the input rails are diode-checked for shorts.
No power is applied until the PCB, cooler and power connectors are inspected and the rails are resistance-checked.






