Hi,
I bought a JSAUX transparent backplate back in January. It was one of the early models which came out before there were other color options. I bought it not for the looks, but for the extra cooling it provides to all components under the aluminum shield. I always use a case over it (with a homemade cutout for cooling around the metal plate).
I noticed my backplate is getting “stress” cracks at the edges of the metal cooling plate. My guess is that these are caused to the repeated heating cycles the Steam Deck goes through in normal use. I’ve read some posts dating from a few months ago telling the same story, but no recent ones (or where they banned or smth ?)
I’m about to buy another backplate to have it in stock at home in case the current one ultimately fails, since there’s a sale going on.
I have a few questions for those who bought the newer variants :
Do they also crack ?
Which color is less likely to develop cracks ? (My guess would be cristal, since there are no coloring agents in the plastic)
Is there anything to do to prevent this ? (apart from “Don’t use the Deck, duh !”)
Do the cracks develop to the point the metal plate “falls off” ?
Has the quality improved overall ? (I heard stories about plastic inserts not being installed properly, causing issues with the back buttons. Mine unfortunately don’t have this issue…)
Thank you.
I haven’t put an extra fan on because I didn’t feel the need, I don’t overclock. The internals are already significantly cooler thanks to the backplate and fresh high performance thermal paste alone.
I emailed JSAUX and they agreed to send me a new one. I’ll keep the old one on until it ultimately fails and I’ll have a spare to fix it quickly.