Is hand power tool (electric screwdriver) useful for computers building?

[JoshB2084]

2 minutes ago, mr moose said:

Could you use a T-handle driver set? 

 

 

 

I would be worried about the torque of battery ones stripping threads.   I have snapped many screws using those small battery powered drivers so would be very reluctant to go near a PC with one.

Tried that T-handle driver before, and hurting my hand waist much worse.

 

[Evolution.]

I wouldn't recommend this to everybody but I straight up just had a regular drill with a bit extension to reach in the hard to get areas as long as you set the speed low and don't overtighten you'll be ok. It was nice tbh but you have to be careful not to stab any components as the drill has some weight to it in these delicate tasks ive been using it for years so i have some practice 

[Kisai]

2 hours ago, VenomZ_ said:

I wouldn't recommend this to everybody but I straight up just had a regular drill with a bit extension to reach in the hard to get areas as long as you set the speed low and don't overtighten you'll be ok. It was nice tbh but you have to be careful not to stab any components as the drill has some weight to it in these delicate tasks ive been using it for years so i have some practice 

That's precisely why not to use a drill in the first place. Drill's are strong enough to push a screw through drywall and a 2"x4" block of wood. Your MB PCB is 0.031in thick.

 

Ideally, you don't use power tools at all. Some of the recommendations in this thread aren't designed for electronics, they're designed for, like IKEA furniture, where it's doesn't require the drill torque but still requires significant amount of hand movement otherwise. The only tool recommended in this thread that is actually designed for electronics is the one in Senka's post https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DB7ZT5P

 

Most of the other ones, including the one I suggested are not designed for computers because they are simply too big and dropping them in the chassis can cause a lot of damage.

 

Like, the tool I use at the office the most are the jeweler style screw drivers like this:

But these are horrible to assemble a PC with. They're really only good for dealing with the itty bitty spaces on the motherboard and I use screw drivers with larger handles for chassis screws. Another strategy I use at the office, is that previous staff destroyed quite a number of mechanical hard drives, so I use some of the smaller magnets on top of the metal part of the screw driver to temporarily magnetize the screw driver to hold the screw driver until I get a half a turn on the screw and then remove the magnet. This can also be done with "screw driver" drill-style bits that aren't magnetized.

 

But I must say again, don't use power-tools on assembling the electronics. If you happen to overtighten any of the screws on the PCB's, you crack the PCB and then the entire thing is destroyed.

[Bitter]

Honestly, I use my electric 1/4 inch snap-on driver all the time for PC work. I just turn the clutch down to the lowest or 2nd lowest torque and put it on low speed. It makes assembling things really fast! If you get a driver with an adjustable torque setting and use it on low you'll be fine. It takes a decent amount of force to strip and crack things on a computer, you'll clearly feel and hear the resistance when something isn't fitting right.

[DoctorNick]

I sometimes use and have used, when working in PC store, when building large orders of PC's:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Screwdriver-Generation-rechargeable-USB-cable/dp/B07X4J9JHC/ref=pd_sbs_107_t_0/258-8392283-7958262?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07X4J9JHC&pd_rd_r=2d99fa52-fdf6-4254-b2da-6ebe6bae7d60&pd_rd_w=4pN05&pd_rd_wg=Y4riH&pf_rd_p=e44592b5-e56d-44c2-a4f9-dbdc09b29395&pf_rd_r=51Y4NPBDWZ6DNHM0D66Z&psc=1&refRID=51Y4NPBDWZ6DNHM0D66Z

 

Or you could get something like this push to activate - automatic stop:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-3-6V-Smart-Cordless-Screwdriver/dp/B079NL17NT

[Automobili3XF]

I use my Bosch GSR1000 to take apart and build PCs all the time, as long as you know how to control the speed just so you don't overtighten the bolts, you should be fine.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Whatever you decide on (or have already decided on), be very careful when starting screws. No matter how weak the driver, it still will be very easy to crossthread a screw when starting it with the power driver. If it doesn't cause you too much pain or other trouble, try to get the first two or three turns to go in manually before hitting the power. Hopefully, you hand will be able to feel if the screw is engaging the threads. I always start macine screws manually before using power, even on larger screws and nuts than what you will be using.

 

If that isn't an option for you, you might be able to make sure the threads engage proprtly by first running the driver very slowly backwards until you feel the screw thread drop into the thread of the screw. It's a very subtle sensation on small screws so you may or may not actually feel it. I always do that, even when I'm driving screws manually, on small screws to help make sure I'm not going to cross thread the screw.

 

I suggest practicing driviving screws into something you wouldn't mind "screwing up" (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). Developing a feel for how a small screw should go in can take a while even for people with average motor skills.

 

Good luck. With my advancing age, I find myself depending more and more on powered devices for tasks so I have a bit more than a vague idea of the problems you are having to deal with.

[Anomnomnomaly]

On 8/24/2019 at 6:08 PM, JoshB2084 said:

For general example:

(sorry for big picture)

 

I have a cerebral palsy. I have a difficult to hold and turning screwdriver, and my right hand will be numb if I hold screwdriver for 2 minutes. I wonder hand power tool useful for computers building.

 

I've got a little one of these, it's bright orange with black accents... cost me about £10. It's fine for most jobs but access can be a little tricky in some corners of a PC case. So I stick to some magnetic tipped screw drivers I have there. But fan/rad installation is a doddle with one of these

[solarflare]

not needed. 

I would prefer long screwdrivers. 

 

if your working on printers absolutely not , no one needs to deal with your stripped out screw holes 

[Scatology]

You need it if you are a freaking weak mollusc or if you want to strip screws but other than that, screwdrivers are better.