help! powerbook RAM lid screws stuck

Are you turning them the right way?

I've heard of some PBs having the screws *glued* into place. I have no idea how to loosen them, though. Good luck.

ChrisBrightwell said:

I've heard of some PBs having the screws *glued* into place. I have no idea how to loosen them, though. Good luck.

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There's no question about it, all of them (including the new MBPs) use some sort of thread locking glue, which is quite common in applications like this--its on there to make sure the screws don't jiggle loose during regular use, since it is a notebook. And this can definitely happen--I've seen the screen screws on a 12" PB work their way out and fall off--not good.

Anyway, I've upgraded those, and those screws are indeed REALLY tight, but if you put enough pressure into it it should come off.

My tip would be to make sure you're using a screwdriver that is a good, tight fit in the screw--if it's too small, you could very easily strip the screw. And if memory serves, those screws are very shallow but actually have pretty fat slots (probably for exactly this reason), and the average jewler's screwdriver is too sharp for them--it ends up not going all the way in and making a loose fit with the slots. You need sort of a smallish, blunt one to get a solid fit in the slots.

Anyway, once you've got a screwdriver that's a good fit, just twist really hard--that broke the extra-tight one loose for me (why is it that one always seems tighter than the others?).