[HELP] Stripped head of tiny screw on laptop motherboard

[rcarlos243]

I need to replace the DC jack board in my Asus G751, but the screw holding it got stripped.

 

 

One dime for size reference

 

I tried drilling the stripped screw head with the included drill bit on Dremel 6/50 , but the head of the drill bit got dull.

 

 

Can someone recommend a drill bit that is compatible with my Dremel and can drill out the screw head without getting the drill head dull.

[Guest]

Considering you already got metal everywhere, you might want to put on an (flat) grinding disk, like on an angle grinder. Try to add a slot in the screw, so you might be able to use a flat screwdriver.

[Guest]

Oh, and I think you used an mill drill bit. (used translator to get the word "mill", I mean a drill bit to make lines on a surface, not holes...)

[AkiraDaarkst]

36 minutes ago, rcarlos243 said:

 

First of all you probably do NOT want to use a dremel drill.  The dremel tool cannot turn reverse.  It turns in a clockwise direction, the same direction you'd turn a screwdriver to tighten a screw.  You need to be able to grip the stripped screw head and turn it counter clockwise to remove it.  Drill bits are not usually designed to grip anything on a reverse turn.

 

Do a Google search for stripped screw remover/extractor tools.  There are several types, the one that might  be best suited for you is something like the precision screw remover set from iFixit.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Precision-Screw-Extractor-Set/IF145-118

 

 

 

[rcarlos243]

10 hours ago, Dutch-stoner said:

Considering you already got metal everywhere, you might want to put on an (flat) grinding disk, like on an angle grinder. Try to add a slot in the screw, so you might be able to use a flat screwdriver.

 

The screw itself is way too small (look at the image with one dime as size reference).

 

10 hours ago, Dutch-stoner said:

Oh, and I think you used an mill drill bit. (used translator to get the word "mill", I mean a drill bit to make lines on a surface, not holes...)

So what type of drill bit do you recommend to use?

 

Can you send me a link to the one you think will best do the job?

 

10 hours ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

First of all you probably do NOT want to use a dremel drill.  The dremel tool cannot turn reverse.  It turns in a clockwise direction, the same direction you'd turn a screwdriver to tighten a screw.  You need to be able to grip the stripped screw head and turn it counter clockwise to remove it.  Drill bits are not usually designed to grip anything on a reverse turn.

 

Do a Google search for stripped screw remover/extractor tools.  There are several types, the one that might  be best suited for you is something like the precision screw remover set from iFixit.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Precision-Screw-Extractor-Set/IF145-118

 

 

 

 

I have that precision screw extractor set and it is an absolute piece of garbage. The precision screw extractor head is made of soft metal which gets stripped quite easily.

 

I also have the right screwdriver set (Wiha Tools) but the screw on the laptop is stuck shut and it is impossible to remove it because the screw head is made of soft metal.

 

Screw extracting pliers is also not possible to use because the screw head is not big enough.

[Guest]

I have no example images, but I would just buy a small enough drill bit for iron. If the drill is small enough, it will fit inside your dremmel.

 

I just got another ideal also... You could try to heat up the screw. For example, with a soldering iron. The screw will heat up. The PCB (board) won't get fried that quickly. However, the plastic in which the screw is sitting, might get soft/melt. If this is the case with your plastic casing, you should be able to just pull it out. (pliers, or just use a knive to get under it)

[rcarlos243]

2 minutes ago, Dutch-stoner said:

I have no example images, but I would just buy a small enough drill bit for iron. If the drill is small enough, it will fit inside your dremmel.

 

I just got another ideal also... You could try to heat up the screw. For example, with a soldering iron. The screw will heat up. The PCB (board) won't get fried that quickly. However, the plastic in which the screw is sitting, might get soft/melt. If this is the case with your plastic casing, you should be able to just pull it out. (pliers, or just use a knive to get under it)

 

I don't have a device that can heat it up and I prefer not to go to that route.

[Guest]

Get one of these:

 

Be very gentle, but place it on the board, with the screw head in between. Then squize a bit. The screw heads look very damaged and thin. They should fold up, or at least get dented. When this happens, you can squeeze harder. When you've created a big notch (try to stay at one spot!) you might be able to turn the screw around. I have done this in the past. It's no fun, and fiddly... But it can work.

[DunePilot]

You can often take a flathead or chisel at an angle and offset and get it to turn enough to grab it with a needle nose.

Or you could try to cut a slot into it for a flathead.