Sparks from motherboard!?

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

It was just a normal day, hadn't turned on the lights in my room yet, plugged the cord from my surge protector into the wall outlet, flipped the switch (At the wall) and I saw blue sparks around my motherboard's CMOS battery for a fraction of a second(Edit: Its not the battery, discovered that after replacing it. Pic attached). I freaked out for a moment then pressed the power button to see if everything was alright. My PC did turn on and boot, but I didn't see the post message that usually appears and it took longer than usual to start the booting process.

 

So I was a bit curious, shut down my PC, removed the cord from the wall, plugged it back in, flipped the switch, and what do you know, I see the sparks again. Repeated it a few more times and found out that it doesn't appear every time (Or its too small to be seen). 

 

I saw these sparks only because my room was dark. So this could have been happening from the time I built it (Late 2016) and maybe I never noticed it cause the room's usually lit. But the 'delayed booting with no post message' thing happens a quite a lot. 

 

Is this a thing to worry about? I mean sparks from a PC component? What could be causing it?

[themctipers]

cmos battery is shorted, i think you should get a new one

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

6 minutes ago, themctipers said:

cmos battery is shorted, i think you should get a new one

If the battery is shorted it shouldn't work right? And this motherboard is just 6 months old. 

[themctipers]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

If the battery is shorted it shouldn't work right? And this motherboard is just 6 months old. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯, just replace it.. it's like $3 for a pack of 5 

[KenjiUmino]

7 minutes ago, themctipers said:

cmos battery is shorted, i think you should get a new one

sounds like it. have you checked your bios settings ? date and time and all that ? should be reset to factory defaults then

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

sounds like it. have you checked your bios settings ? date and time and all that ? should be reset to factory defaults then

All my BIOS settings are the same. Nothing has changed there! 

[TAHIRMIA]

Maybe if your MOBO still under warranty get it RMA'd and checked just to be safe. But like everybody is saying first try and replace your CMOS battery

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

53 minutes ago, themctipers said:

cmos battery is shorted, i think you should get a new one

 

43 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

sounds like it. have you checked your bios settings ? date and time and all that ? should be reset to factory defaults then

 

34 minutes ago, TAHIRMIA said:

Maybe if your MOBO still under warranty get it RMA'd and checked just to be safe. But like everybody is saying first try and replace your CMOS battery

 

Okay guys I replaced the battery and since I still had the side panel off I tried to isolate where exactly where sparks were coming from and Its not the Battery! 

Here's a picture of my mobo, I've highlighted the area- 

[themctipers]

21 minutes ago, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

 

 

 

Okay guys I replaced the battery and since I still had the side panel off I tried to isolate where exactly where sparks were coming from and Its not the Battery! 

Here's a picture of my mobo, I've highlighted the area- 

RMA before Allahu Akbar 

[TAHIRMIA]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

Okay guys I replaced the battery and since I still had the side panel off I tried to isolate where exactly where sparks were coming from and Its not the Battery! Here's a picture of my mobo, I've highlighted the area- 

-snip-

 

I think that your heatsink is touching it. Try with another HS if you can

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

15 hours ago, TAHIRMIA said:

I think that your heatsink is touching it. Try with another HS if you can

There's a lot of space between the heat sink and the mobo. 

[TAHIRMIA]

2 hours ago, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

There's a lot of space between the heat sink and the mobo. 

Is it possible that the MOBO tray at the back may be touching the board?

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

9 minutes ago, TAHIRMIA said:

Is it possible that the MOBO tray at the back may be touching the board?

Just checked that, the standoffs are in place and secure. I'll contact my local MSI centre tomorrow, they're closed today. 

Thanks! and I'll keep you updated if you want.