[colecovizion]

While I was trying to replace my internal fan I stripped the screw inside the memory bay of my 15" al. I have looked at numerous sites, but I haven't found any that address removing a small laptop screw such as this.

Fortunately (I hope), the screw I'm talking about stops above the surface (as opposed to flush with the surface). Unfortunately, the screw is 9mm size #0 and I'm out of a warranty with Apple as of last month.

Does anyone have a suggestion or tool that can remove this?

[johnpop]

On woodworking projects I use sand or sandpaper, but i don't think this would work in this case

[Detrius]

Sears has tools to remove stripped screws. Watch out for that logic board!

Warranty wouldn't cover this anyway, as this is accidental damage.

[colecovizion]

Originally posted by Detrius:
Sears has tools to remove stripped screws. Watch out for that logic board!

Warranty wouldn't cover this anyway, as this is accidental damage.

Which Sears one would you recommend? Would one of those drill bit screw removers do the trick, or would that be too much?

[jamil5454]

What about a nice pair of pliers? Needle nose of course.

[markponcelet]

Originally posted by colecovizion:
Which Sears one would you recommend? Would one of those drill bit screw removers do the trick, or would that be too much?

Don't use a drill. Do it by hand. Obviously a tool small enough to fit the screw will be the appropriate one. So just get something you can use by hand, and you'll be good.

I guess you could use a drill bit one, but you'd need a drill that can go very slowly. Good luck.

[wingnut16]

I have had success with the following procedure:

1. Find an old x-acto Knife. (blade and handle)
2. Break off the tip, so that the blade is now blunt.
(the lenght of the break should be smaller than stripped out screw head, so that the now blunt tip of the x-acto knife will fit into the screw head!)
3. Very carefully, press (This will take some force) and turn to the left.


Remember, you are using a x-acto knife! Even old blades are really sharp and can cause major damage to man and machine.

Good Luck!!

[tictactoe]

I nearly stripped two of my screws while trying to upgrade my memory and this was with a small screwdriver. I eventually ended up using the tip of my swissarmy knife.

[bighead]

While my work provides tools, I assembled my own set primarily from Wiha.

My favorites for 15" AlBooks, also my favorite PB, are the Wiha Series 261 #000 and #00. Check out the site here:
http://www.wihatools.com/261serie.htm

They've got some of the best tools out there. Not cheap, but who wants to strip a screw on a $3000 computer with a $1 driver?

[jzdziarski]

Get your screw sets here:

http://pbfixit.com/cart/customer/pro...&cat=55&page=4

[jzdziarski]

and here (15") http://pbfixit.com/cart/customer/pro...&cat=23&page=1

[romeosc]

Originally posted by jzdziarski:
Get your screw sets here:

http://pbfixit.com/cart/customer/pro...&cat=55&page=4

get some JB Weld and glue another screw to it upside down. Let it harden and then use vice grips to remove the new "longer" screw!

[f1000]

Originally posted by romeosc:
get some JB Weld and glue another screw to it upside down. Let it harden and then use vice grips to remove the new "longer" screw!

That is my recommendation as well. Glue a rod to the screw, and then use it to twist the screw out by hand.

An alternative is to solder a rod to the screw, but using glue is probably easier.

[markponcelet]

Originally posted by romeosc:
get some JB Weld and glue another screw to it upside down. Let it harden and then use vice grips to remove the new "longer" screw!

Pardon my ignorance, but what's JB Weld?

And wouldn't that just snap when twisting the screw? Some of those puppies are in there factory tight.

[Dougmc]

I had a dislexic moment: Thought this was going to be an adult story about screwing a stipper.

Sorry to hear about your stripped screw.

I'm not sure that the Sears damaged screw remover dealo will work on those tiny little screws. If it does, it would do the trick. I've had great luck with them on larger screw situations.

Here's where you can see what I THINK has been suggested.

[teknopimp]

is that bit small enough? looks like you could plow thru the mobo with that thing. the screw is *tiny*, almost talkin nanotech here. you should have a skilled technician look at it. good luck.

[ideasculptor]

Did you strip the screw or the screw head? Does the screw trun freely in the hole or does the screwdriver turn freely in the screw? There are many products that will give you grip on a screw with a rounded hole for the screwdriver. If the screw is big enough, just cut a slot in it with a dremel and back it out with a flat head screwdriver. Just go to your local Sears/hardware store and they'll likely have something, although you may have to special-order a really small size.

If the threads are stripped and the screw is turning freely in the hole but won't come out, you'll probably have to drill it our, which would be an ugly process on a tiny screw in a sensitive piece of electronics. Usually you can get a stripped screw to back out if you try hard enough.

--sam

[jzdziarski]

You paid $2500 for that gorgeous powerbook, and you want to use glue to fix a screw? For crying out loud, it's worth the extra $20 to not only replace the screw, but have plenty of others sitting around if you need them.

[anamexis]

Originally posted by jzdziarski:
You paid $2500 for that gorgeous powerbook, and you want to use glue to fix a screw? For crying out loud, it's worth the extra $20 to not only replace the screw, but have plenty of others sitting around if you need them.

Uh, I think the problem is getting the screw out so he can fix it, which is where the glue comes in.

[romeosc]

Originally posted by anamexis:
Uh, I think the problem is getting the screw out so he can fix it, which is where the glue comes in.

JB Weld is a 2 part epoxy you can buy at any hardware store. Mix and it hardens like steel in about 5 minutes!

Yes, once you remove screw. throw it out nad replace with new screw!



JB Weld is a life saver...


I used it once while on a cruise to "fix" a broken hinge on a TI powerbook, until I got back to the states..... worked perfectly until I sent it for repair!

[Link]

At best use a strong glue to get it out, and be careful! -- do NOT dremel that sucker, I'd hate to see 'random metal chips all over a motherboard' - geez!