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How can I get a screw like this out?

I decided on cleaning my laptop fans today, which I’ve been procrastinating for about a year now because of this one screw. But I just can’t seem to open this with my screwdriver, since whatever I did back when I last opened it it’s nearly circular now. Is there a way to unscrew this?

quixotic120 ,

Put a rubber band between screwdriver and screw, otherwise the other things already stated like CA glue, filing a flathead groove, or drilling the cap off

in the future use the appropriate sized driver and retire drivers when they become stripped

j4k3 ,
@j4k3@lemmy.world avatar

This. The rubber band trick works well for the first step. I came to say this.

prime_number_314159 ,

The rubber band trick is great, and very low effort/cost. I want to say, though, that it can take substantially more force than it looks like it should on small screws like this. You also don’t have to use something shaped for the original driver of the screw. With the rubber to help it, a round cylinder a little smaller than the head of the screw can work very well.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

So if you have a dremel and steady hands, a cut off wheel can make your own slot for a straight Phillips.

Just be careful to not knick anything else. This is more of a last resort thing, but I’ve never had it not work.

Impromptu2599 ,

I came here to say that

ShepherdPie ,

Flathead/standard not a straight Philips.

eRac ,

Flathead is a description of the head profile, like panhead. Slotted is the screwdriver type that is just a single slot.

Warl0k3 ,

Learn from my mistakes, mask off your laptop’s ports and vents before you do this

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Ooof. Not something I’d have thought of myself…

Benefit of your hindsight it’s obvious… lol. How bad were the sparks?

trolololol ,

Keyboard too?

Gimpydude ,

Yes

gibmiser ,

Take the drill bit out of your drill. Open the chuck up all the way and place it over the screw. If there is enough screw head there you might be able to grab it with the drill and just unscrew.

Edit: looking at the other picture makes me think it is recessed and that wouldn’t work then.

CeruleanRuin ,

Cripes, it never even occurred to me that you could do this with a chuck. Thanks for expanding my mind.

DarkSurferZA ,

If you have a Dremel, grind a slot into it and unscrew it.

If it has a hard backing, you can place a flat head screwdriver on it, give it a few taps, apply loads of pressure and turn it out.

If none of these are possible, a drop of CA adhesive on the screwdriver head, push it against the screw, make sure there is no excess leakage, then use a quick set spray. Once the screw has been turned out, use acetone to remove the glue.

If all of this fails, you gotta drill it. A hand crank drill, and a left handed bit. People seldom have these, so I assume this is your last resort.

Final bit of advice, hit the screw head a couple of times before you try any of these as it loosens the screw a tad. Also, sharpen an old screwdriver tip to just the width and thickness of what is left of the screw head slots. You should be able to find one that is already this size in those screwdriver tip sets

Good luck.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

If you have a Dremel, grind a slot into it and unscrew it.

This has saved my ass many times. I keep one of those diamond coated wheels on a spare cutoff mandrel already mounted up pretty much specifically for this purpose.

Harbor Freight has a pretty cheap left handed drill bit set that is sometimes a lifesaver in these situations. Many times I just start drilling it with the left hand bit and often the bit grabs and unscrews the screw before even getting to the phase of trying the screw extractor on it. Sometimes not.

A_Union_of_Kobolds ,

I was gonna say, my Harbor Freight Dremel has been a fantastic use of a couple bucks. I get tons of use from it.

fernlike3923 OP ,
@fernlike3923@sh.itjust.works avatar

Sadly no Dremel. I will try out a screw extractor and buy a few other screws before drilling or getting adhesive, thank you for your response!

ShepherdPie ,

Do you have a large Philips bit (like #3 or #4, the largest one that will fit in whats left of the screw)? You could try using that and tapping the end with a hammer (not too hard since its plastic) while gently twisting it. This usually shocks the screw and breaks it loose.

ace_garp ,
@ace_garp@lemmy.world avatar

Just unbutton it :P

Jackhammer_Joe ,

Oooh man - you’re screwed!

lobo ,

I’ve had good success tapping stripped the screws loose with sometring sharp and a hammer

Not sure if you can get something small and strong enough, small punch or sacrificial screwdriver might work

Here is a video of what i mean

youtu.be/SXNAW96O_d8?si=cxJt59PKdEOQDuqV

vxx ,

Looks like a screwdriver with a slit and the right size might still be able to grab it.

AsakuraMao ,

Ask Frieren to do it for you

fernlike3923 OP ,
@fernlike3923@sh.itjust.works avatar

I believe I have become a skilled enough mage, so I’d prefer solving this on my own.

MTK ,

Try addinv a rubber band between the screw and the screwdriver, it adds friction which sometimes (usually not) helps

ganksy ,
@ganksy@lemmy.world avatar

If you have one of the other screws, and you’re dead sure it’s the same size, you can use a tiny drill bit that is the size of the screw’s shaft minus the threads. Careful drill through the center. The Phillips divit should center your bit.

You might only use this after trying the others here.

Brkdncr ,

Jb weld a nut to it.

Tippon ,

From the two photos you’ve posted, it looks like there’s a little bit of the grooves left in the top of the screw, but not enough for your screwdriver to grip.

Try the rubber band trick first, mainly because it doesn’t cost you anything other than a rubber band to try. The combination of the little bits of the grooves and the grip from the band might do it.

If it doesn’t, a sacrificial screwdriver might work. You basically need to file off the pointy tip of the screwdriver until it can reach what’s left of the grooves, and unscrew it with a bit of downward pressure.

Good luck 👍

Luci ,
@Luci@lemmy.ca avatar

Rubber band?

fernlike3923 OP ,
@fernlike3923@sh.itjust.works avatar

Tried to no avail.

Cooljimy84 ,
@Cooljimy84@lemmy.world avatar

Depending how tight it is you could superglue something to it to turn it ?

fernlike3923 OP ,
@fernlike3923@sh.itjust.works avatar

I don’t really have superglue right now, and the screw looks like this far up, not sure it can be called tight or not.

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/d9dff2e0-7ca7-4b7a-bd26-2817f89e910b.jpeg

(Screwdriver for comparison, couldn’t really find something better.)

Broken_Monitor ,

Pretty much this - depending how much surface area and how good the glue is you might get it or you might snap that right off too. If it fails the next step is to carefully drill the screw out. A somewhat riskier operation but itll get it open

A_Union_of_Kobolds ,

That would have to be a pretty loose screw

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