Cleaning PCI and PCI Express card edge fingers

On occasion, PCI and PCI Express cards may exhibit symptoms that call for removing the cards and cleaning the card edge contacts where the board connects to the system Motherboard.  A typical symptom might be that the card is not visible to the operating system after a reboot.  The card edge fingers on all Conduant PCI and PCI Express products have a thin layer of gold plating for the best possible electrical contact performance but these contacts can become oxidized or dirty over time.  

If the edge finger contact pads appear excessively dirty or discolored we recommend cleaning first with Caig Laboratories DeoxIT D-Series Contract cleaner and rejuvenator.  After cleaning coat the contacts with Caig Laboratories DeoxIT Gold G-Series Contact Enhancer, Conditioner and Protector.  If the contacts do not appear to be excessively dirty or oxidized, the Gold G-Series product can be used without prior cleaning with the D-Series product.  The DeoxIT products are available directly from Caig (store.caig.com) in various forms such as spray cans, wipes and applicator pens.

To apply the G-series product:

• Wipe off affected connectors with clean, dry cloth.

• Mask off other parts of the board leaving only the card edge fingers exposed.

• Apply a short burst of DeoxIT Gold G5 spray to both side of the finger contact areas (or apply as appropriate for other DeoxIT Gold G series products).

• Operate the card by inserting into any slot and powering on, then power off and remove.

• Wait a few seconds, then apply another short burst of DeoxIT Gold G5.

• Wait two minutes, then insert and operate the card again, testing to verify connection.