Brown spots on PCB

[MTVDNA 2]

Hey,

I will probably be replacing my feeder motor, so I screwed off the pcb cover to see what the connectors for the steppers look like. I noticed some brown spots on the pcb:

Is this normal? My machine has been on for about 3900 h, and has printed about 2500 h.

[TheRealJoost 5]

not sure if it is 'normal' but I'd say that the board's silk screen layer is discolored due to heat from the driver chips. Is it 'bad' i.e., is your board about to fail? Probably not.

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Mine looks the same. I consider it as normal.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Well I don't consider it normal... but mine looks the same already for a long time so it's probably no problem...

[Kevparang 10]

Brown spots is really not a problem.

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Well I don't consider it normal... but mine looks the same already for a long time so it's probably no problem...

 

Well, white plastic gets brown with heat. That's normal. But of course one would not see it if the plastic would have a different color. That's maybe one reason why in the past all pcbs were green or brown...

[Kevparang 10]

Well the Arduino is blue,..

[MTVDNA 2]

Thanks guys, that's reassuring. I was not looking forward to having to replace the board, this hobby is expensive enough as it is

[eldrick 65]

The brown spots do indicate degradation from heat.

I drilled some holes in the metal cover under the driver area, to improve cooling there.