Stripped Screw


Rahi374

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May 6, 2014
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I wanted to solder on a few things for repair (DC plus and L shoulder component), but then one of the screws on the back got stripped. (The one by the power slider)

So now I'm stuck. Is there anyway to remove this stripped screw?
 
Is it possible to melt through the screw with a soldering iron!?

...or is the melting point of the screw too high?
 
Oh seriously!?
Okay... I'll have to go out an get a soldering iron first :p
 
Don't try to melt the screw. It's aluminium, or possibly steel, and the plastic around it will melt long before you can melt the screw (not that your soldering iron or what have you would go hot enough).


I managed to strip the head of my screw - either that one or the one on the other side, I forget. I fixed it by drilling out the damaged screw, bought a pack of new ones (they're a common laptop size) and replaced it.
 
Yeah don't try to melt the screw... it won't happen. You would most likely ruin the case in the process.
 
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A lot of ways. When my screw head got stripped I just drilled it out but that requires more precision and patience than most people have (and honestly I glubbed it up and a short while later that corner cracked so don't do this)

A dab of metal epoxy on the screwdriver should fuse it well enough to get the screw out though you may have trouble getting it off again and have to toss the screwdriver so use something cheap from the dollar store. And try not to miss the screw, you don't want to be gluing the driver to the case.

A small flathead screwdriver might get enough grip where a phillips will just make it worse.

I've heard a rubber band can sometimes give you just enough traction.

There exist screw extractors for exactly this reason, they're basically drill bits that go in reverse so they grip and pull on the screw. Not too expensive either.
 
Oh wow... thank you all.

Many methods.

Yeah, after a bit of reconsideration I realized that the case would melt long before the screw.

Right now I'm in exam season, so this weekend I'll take a trip to Akihabara and see what equipment I can find.
 
A much simpler (and often very effective) method is to get a wide, flat elastic band. Place that over the top of the screw, insert your screwdriver into the screwhole indentation and undo with relative ease.  
 
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Oh wow... thank you all.

Many methods.

Yeah, after a bit of reconsideration I realized that the case would melt long before the screw.

Right now I'm in exam season, so this weekend I'll take a trip to Akihabara and see what equipment I can find.
OMG!  Akihabara!  You live close by there?!  I hate you : :lol:
 
A much simpler (and often very effective) method is to get a wide, flat elastic band. Place that over the top of the screw, insert your screwdriver into the screwhole indentation and undo with relative ease.  
Well, it's the screw by the power switch, and it's quite deep, so I don't think I can fit a wide flat rubber band.

A thin one might fit.

Right now I'm in exam season, so this weekend I'll take a trip to Akihabara and see what equipment I can find.
*reads Wikipedia page for Akihabara* :eek: Such an amazing place.
It is :)

Oh wow... thank you all.

Many methods.

Yeah, after a bit of reconsideration I realized that the case would melt long before the screw.

Right now I'm in exam season, so this weekend I'll take a trip to Akihabara and see what equipment I can find.
OMG!  Akihabara!  You live close by there?!  I hate you : :lol:
Well, not THAT close.

Close enough that I can go on weekends, but not after school.
 
Well, it's the screw by the power switch, and it's quite deep, so I don't think I can fit a wide flat rubber band. A thin one might fit.
TBH you only need it as wide as the blade of the screwdriver. It'll stretch down into the recess. You just don't want the band to be too thick.
 
Welp, now I'm screwed.

The screw just got completely stripped from an attempt with the rubber band trick :(

I did get some stripped screw remover (the store was full of screws...), so I'll see how well that goes.
 
Metal epoxy didn't help, superglue didn't help, another screw got stripped (the one by the touchpen), and the screws are in so hard that the thin screwdrivers that I got won't even turn.

*sigh*

I think I'm just going to go back to Akihabara to get a drill...
 
FWIW, I used a hand drill to drill mine out.  That way you've got more control over speed and not going too deep, although perhaps I've more experience using it than other people, since you do need to hold it pretty still vertically while turning the handle so to avoid drilling through the threads and into the plastic.  You may be better off with a variable speed dremel type thing which you can just hold still while it works.

Like I said earlier, gauge the depth of the pit before you start and wrap a bit of tape around the drill bit so you can see if you're going over depth.  If you used the right diameter of bit then, you should have removed most of the body of the screw, but not touched the threads, and not carried on past the end of the screw, so that you can pull out the remains with a toothpick, and a bit of patience.
 
Yay!

I finally got a drill and it worked!

The first screw got drilled to death, no problem.

...then the second screw decided to continue screwing rather than get drilled to death and it kept on going until I noticed it punctured the monitor frame like so...

IMG_0347.JPG


.I hope that's not harmful... do I need to order another screen frame?

Oh, and thanks for the replacement parts ordering page!
 
Heheh, whoops.

I think the wifi antenna is on that side but you probably missed it. Everything should be fine, it's just a hole.

Incidentally, looks like the tab popped out of place. You can just push that back until it clicks.
 
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