Stripped Screws :'(

While trying to upgrade my RAM, I accidentally stripped both of the screws on the main board that have to be removed, and now I don't know what to do.

I tried drilling a hole with a 1/16 bit, but I think that might've just made it worse because when I tried to use one of those screw extractors (Kobalt No. 1), it had nothing to hold on to.

Any suggestions?

 

I do this trick with a dremel in which i made any screw into a regular (flat head) screw. Using a cutting wheel, hold the tool so the wheel is perpindicular to the screw head and cut a dent in it at low speed. Then you can use your flathead screwdriver to unscrew it.

Be careful of metal shavings/dust surrounding the screw after you cut it, and don't cut too deeply. This method worked for me when I stripped the screws on my AA1's cooling unit.

 

Thanks for the awesome tip. I stripped the wifi screw and thought I was screwed. Cost me for the Dremel, but was worth it.

 

That is a nice idea. I tried to upgrade RAM and the wireless card on a friend's AA1, but one screw was so #$@#$ tight I couldn't get to the RAM (luckily 1GB isn't bad), but I have a dremel and may just have to try again tonight. I have those stripped screw removers too but was also thinking that the screws were pretty small.

 

THank you!

the little small black screws behind the battery were a pain in the a$$ to remove and i think i partially/completely stripped them.
I will try this out this weekend,
if it doesnt work, any other suggestions? preferable without purchasing a special screw remover.

 

certain screws are retained by loctite so heating them by touching them with a soldering iron for 5secs or so helps soften the loctite, also use a correctly sized screwdriver in the first place, ie a pozi #1 or philips #1

phil

 

Man, this is me, too. First, I stripped the center screw on the back by the screen. I took a hacksaw blade to the area and sawed off the screw - which worked remarkably well. But now the last screw on the inside on the motherboard is stripped, too! Obviously, I can't hack this one out (no pun intended). Not quite sure what to do now... maybe I'll try the dremel trick next. I tried heating it with a soldering iron, but that didn't help... and that was BEFORE it was stripped. And yes, I am using the correct size screwdriver. This is by far the worst tear-down I have ever done.

 

That is an excellent tip! Thanks for posting it, I do a lot of mechanical things and use LocTite quite a bit. I know about the heat thing but you tip is great for tiny items!

Phil

 

Thanks for the tips.

I found one of the screws on the daughter board is stripped (I believe it was stripped even before I tried to unscrew it) and it's holding me back from installing my RAM

 

Indeed a great tip
See viewtopic.php?f=55&t=15584 for pictures