Remove Small Laptop Screw

[ds2chan]

Anybody know of a way to remove a small laptop screw?? I went to go take out my wireless card from my Dell laptop but stupid Dell had tighten the tiny screw so much that it was beyond removal. So, in the end the top of the screw got stripped and I wasn't able to budge the screw not even a little. I started to get the feeling that a machine had tighten the screw.

I tried using small pliers but the head of the screw is round and I couldn't get a grip on it.

I hear that some people have had luck using a dremel to make a little incision into the head of the screw and used a flathead screwdriver but I don't have a dremel and I'm not good with these sort of things.

If nobody has any ideas (keeping in mind this is in a laptop and not in a 2x4 or drywall) then maybe you can direct me to somebody who is an expert with a dremel.

Thanks.

[Fobio]

if you dremel it, have someone hold a vacuum near the screw to catch the debris...good luck.

[ds2chan]

thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind.

[Noisy Crow]

Other options:

--Drill the head off
--Epoxy another screw to the stripped screw head to head and use pliers to remove.

[Ex-Rolla]

you can always use "Grabit"... I heard it works pretty good.

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0543809P/reviews.htm

[ds2chan]

Other options:

--Drill the head off
--Epoxy another screw to the stripped screw head to head and use pliers to remove.

correct me if I'm wrong but isn't epoxy just glue?? Wouldn't the epoxy just rip apart??

Also, I'm afraid of using a drill in my laptop. I'm hoping not to have to resort to power tools. Thanks though. I'll keep this in mind.



you can always use "Grabit"... I heard it works pretty good.

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0543809P/reviews.htm

thanks but these laptop screws are tiny.. smaller than a regular computer tower screw.. isn't Grabit made for bigger screws??

[GHANNAH86]

What model Dell notebook is it?

[ds2chan]

What model Dell notebook is it?

the Inspiron 1525.. why??

[Donutz]

Grabbit won't work; too big. If the screw is totally stripped your only option is to dremel or drill the head off. This is fairly common in the RC world. Where are you located? You can borrow my dremel if you need to.

[ds2chan]

Grabbit won't work; too big. If the screw is totally stripped your only option is to dremel or drill the head off. This is fairly common in the RC world. Where are you located? You can borrow my dremel if you need to.

i'm in the yonge and sheppard area.. how about u??

thanks, i'll keep your offer in mind. by the way.. how difficult is it to keep the dremel steady as not to accidentally cut anything else?? like, even with a steady hand is it easy to accidentally cut into something else??

i'm still debating whether or not to even bother because there is a spare slot that I used for my wireless n card anyways.. i just went into windows and disabled the g card that came with it..

[GHANNAH86]

You got a PM.

[omalak]

posting a picture of the card may help.. I had this happen to my hard drive bay once in my laptop.

I would suggest (if possible) use pliars to cut off the support going from the card to the screw.. Then twisting the remaining support around.. Hopefully that can get the screw off..

I wouldn,t suggest a dremal as the screws are way too small!

You may want to try and fit a slightly larger flat head into the screw with alot of force and then twist.. It may grab onto something and come lose..

Good luck!

[ds2chan]

I have a picture which I'll post up tonight. it's on the other computer..

I was able to remove most of the screw.. well, just the head.. I had to go out and buy titanium drill bits and drill the head off (1/16 size).. I tried steel bits in hopes that it would cut enough off but it didn't work.. I suppose the reason is because for object 1 to penetrate object 2 then object 1 must be more dense (that's what she said).. so, in the end, I cannot insert another screw until I get the remaining half of the screw removed but I did get the wireless g card out.. I suppose if anybody has any suggestions on how to get the rest of the screw out then please let me know.. not a big deal any more but just for future reference..

[ds2chan]

oh, and thanks for all the suggestions..

[Noisy Crow]

Is any portion of the screw sticking out? If so: needle-nose ViceGrips might work.

[Donutz]

I'm near Scarborough Town Center. Shoot me a PM if you want to meet up.

[ds2chan]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/ds2chan/IMG_1882.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/ds2chan/IMG_1882a.jpg

here's what I was facing..

and there's nothing sticking out.. the rest of the screw is left inside of it's housing (or whatever it's called)..

[bunchi]

will you be able to use a small metal saw or dremel it to carve a straight line across that screw? you might scratch the wireless module but you can be careful trying that. may the line as deep as possible and use a regular screwdriver after that.

[Noisy Crow]

will you be able to use a small metal saw or dremel it to carve a straight line across that screw? you might scratch the wireless module but you can be careful trying that. may the line as deep as possible and use a regular screwdriver after that.

You should definitely be able to use a Dremel cut-off wheel to put a slot in that. Make sure that you use some cloths to cover everything else and catch the grit that is ejected so that it doesn't cause a short.

Also looks like there is enought of the head left to use a small screw extractor... the trick will be to find one small enough.

Looking at it.. a small Roberston bit _might_ do the trick, but given that the Phillips head stripped out I doubt it.

[Ogata]

Can I borrow someone's dremmel tool too? My mom somehow broke her laptop and I need to unscrew a few things to see if something is damaged since I already had to bring it back to HP for a recall on the motherboard.