Can't get the screws loose on the drive caddy (lenovo e120x)! Someone really torked them tight or glued them in. :(
$9.9 to buy one used from someone that either figured out how to loosen the screws or has the right tools.
Venting here.
On Dec 24, 2013, at 8:43 AM, Robert Moskowitz rgm@htt-consult.com wrote:
Can't get the screws loose on the drive caddy (lenovo e120x)! Someone really torked them tight or glued them in. :(
$9.9 to buy one used from someone that either figured out how to loosen the screws or has the right tools.
Venting here.
If the head has been stripped, the driver is wrong sized for the screw. An exactly right sized driver with moderate pressure will unstick a tight screw so long as it isn't actually glued. And in that case with even more pressure it should still crack the glue with less than Herculean effort.
If the screw head is stripped and sticks out a bit you can use a small file to create a couple notches top and bottom of the screw then use needle nose pliers to unscrew it. Or you'll have to drill it out.
Chris Murphy
On 12/24/2013 11:33 AM, Chris Murphy wrote:
On Dec 24, 2013, at 8:43 AM, Robert Moskowitz rgm@htt-consult.com wrote:
Can't get the screws loose on the drive caddy (lenovo e120x)! Someone really torked them tight or glued them in. :(
$9.9 to buy one used from someone that either figured out how to loosen the screws or has the right tools.
Venting here.
If the head has been stripped, the driver is wrong sized for the screw. An exactly right sized driver with moderate pressure will unstick a tight screw so long as it isn't actually glued. And in that case with even more pressure it should still crack the glue with less than Herculean effort.
If the screw head is stripped and sticks out a bit you can use a small file to create a couple notches top and bottom of the screw then use needle nose pliers to unscrew it. Or you'll have to drill it out.
Thanks but...
Right size screwdriver: Phillips #0; I have been doing this for close to 60 years. Stripping phillips head screws that is :) Heads not stripped. yet. Being careful. Lots of pressure tried. Including holding screwdriver with wrench and trying to turn. But can't maintain enough downward pressure to get it to budge. Heads not raised enough to grab with any pliers I own, and I have a lot of them. Maybe try and file the heads square and see if that makes grabbing them easier.
Stupid manufacturers.
Something I've done successfully in the past for small, nearly stripped screws:
Put a drop of crazy glue in the screw. Put the screwdriver in as straight as you can and balance against something. Let dry. Now try to get the screw out.
Sounds crazy, but it has worked. Of course, this is last resort before drilling it out.
--murph
On Tue, Dec 24, 2013 at 11:54 AM, Robert Moskowitz rgm@htt-consult.com wrote:
Right size screwdriver: Phillips #0; I have been doing this for close to 60 years. Stripping phillips head screws that is :) Heads not stripped. yet. Being careful. Lots of pressure tried. Including holding screwdriver with wrench and trying to turn. But can't maintain enough downward pressure to get it to budge. Heads not raised enough to grab with any pliers I own, and I have a lot of them. Maybe try and file the heads square and see if that makes grabbing them easier.
On Dec 24, 2013, at 9:59 AM, murph murph@member.fsf.org wrote:
crazy glue in the screw.
neat trick.
Chris Murphy
On 12/24/2013 12:08 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
On Dec 24, 2013, at 9:59 AM, murph murph@member.fsf.org wrote:
crazy glue in the screw.
neat trick.
At this point it is well worth trying. I not only want the caddy for the new SSD, but the old drive I want to put into an enclosure.
On 12/24/2013 12:21 PM, Robert Moskowitz wrote:
On 12/24/2013 12:08 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
On Dec 24, 2013, at 9:59 AM, murph murph@member.fsf.org wrote:
crazy glue in the screw.
neat trick.
At this point it is well worth trying. I not only want the caddy for the new SSD, but the old drive I want to put into an enclosure.
If you damage the screws and have to replace them, remember that they're probably metric threads!
--doug
On 12/24/2013 12:08 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
On Dec 24, 2013, at 9:59 AM, murph murph@member.fsf.org wrote:
crazy glue in the screw.
neat trick.
BTW, the reason I can hold this conversation and talk about taking apart a drive caddy, is I have an old one from a fried system.
On 12/24/2013 08:59 AM, murph issued this missive:
Something I've done successfully in the past for small, nearly stripped screws:
Put a drop of crazy glue in the screw. Put the screwdriver in as straight as you can and balance against something. Let dry. Now try to get the screw out.
Sounds crazy, but it has worked. Of course, this is last resort before drilling it out.
Often 5-minute epoxy works better (thicker, goey-ier, can take a bit more torque and off-axis force than Crazy Glue). If the carrier isn't plastic, try a 30-watt soldering iron applied (no tinning) to the center of the screw head. Heat will often loosen that stuff.
That being said, I've drilled and ez-outed more screws (from #2s and up) and bolts (I have old Jaguar cars) than I care to think about. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer, AllDigital ricks@alldigital.com - - AIM/Skype: therps2 ICQ: 22643734 Yahoo: origrps2 - - - - If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate - ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Once upon a time, Chris Murphy lists@colorremedies.com said:
If the head has been stripped, the driver is wrong sized for the screw. An exactly right sized driver with moderate pressure will unstick a tight screw so long as it isn't actually glued. And in that case with even more pressure it should still crack the glue with less than Herculean effort.
My Thinkpads have thread-lock on all screws, so that may explain why it is so difficult to break the screw free.
On 12/24/2013 01:49 PM, Chris Adams wrote:
Once upon a time, Chris Murphy lists@colorremedies.com said:
If the head has been stripped, the driver is wrong sized for the screw. An exactly right sized driver with moderate pressure will unstick a tight screw so long as it isn't actually glued. And in that case with even more pressure it should still crack the glue with less than Herculean effort.
My Thinkpads have thread-lock on all screws, so that may explain why it is so difficult to break the screw free.
The super glue got one out, but still ruined the screwdriver. Then I found a #0 phillips with more substance to it, and it got the other three out. Boy were they tight! Most likely a touch of thread-lock on all of them.
Allegedly, on or about 24 December 2013, Robert Moskowitz sent:
The super glue got one out, but still ruined the screwdriver.
Next time try mildly tapping the back of the screwdriver handle with another screwdriver handle, a few times, while you try to unscrew. You may just crack the seal/cold-weld.
On many occasions, for me, a moderate amount of brute force, in that manner, has unstuck screws that a ridiculous amount effort at trying to just simply unscrew them has failed.
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Chris Adams -
Chris Murphy -
Doug -
murph -
Rick Stevens -
Robert Moskowitz -
Tim