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Does striping a screw void warranty?

Malithion

Malithion

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2009
108
25
Florida
Hello! This is my first post here so excuse me :)

I have a refurbished macBook Pro and everything was working fine (it's about 9 months old). So everything was fine till suddenly the right fan started making these horrible noises. Kinda like a motor boat along with with ticking clanking sounds. It comes and goes: also Istat shows that the max RPM is 3000 or so.

Thinking something was stuck in the fan I figured i'd take the back cover off to take a look, and now I have stripped one of the outer screws holding the back cover. Now i'm worried my warranty is void, even though the fan issue was not my fault but the stripped screw is. :(

I plan on going to the apple store soon to see what they say but I was curious as to what you guys think first. Will the apple store fix the screw and then replace that fan?
 
try removing that screw. and then tell them it got loose and fell out.

Alternatively.
Do it the honest way, say that you were curious what was wrong so you attempted to open it and literally "screwed up"
 
See if you can't remove it and replace it. Don't take advice that directs you to lie.
 
Well:

A) Play dumb. Don't lie about it but don't mention it. Maybe they'll just replace it for you.

B) Get a bit to take out the striped screw and get a replacement set from ifixit (25 or so dollars).

C) Do nothing.
 
It doesn't void the warranty to take the back cover off right? I mean there's even instructions showing how, so they can't be all that mad for a stripped screw. I might just tell the truth and be like "hey it was making noise and I wanted to see why and then I screwed up my screw".... Probably will be charged no?

I'm a student and cant afford it, I even bought the right screwdrivers too darn it!
 
its most likely officially void of warranty. (companies will void you of doing the smallest). But friendly people at the mac store probably won't mind.
 
appledyl said:
its most likely officially void of warranty. (companies will void you of doing the smallest). But friendly people at the mac store probably won't mind.
Click to expand...

I thought taking the back off didn't void anything due to that how you replace RAM? So I could say thats what I was doing but that doesn't solve the fan problem. Which should be covered.
 
youre best bet is just to take it in and see what happens.
theres not much that can specifically be said or done until you see it for yourself.

if its just the screw they can and probably will just put a new on in and tell you tobe careful nextime..if its the actual the slot where the screw goes in then oyu may have some bumps but also that slot shouldnt be stripped period.


i think youd have good luck in getting it patched up and back to where you need to be.
 
I would say the stripped screw head would be a very tempting ground for Apple to argue for human errors and void the warranty.

But they should make the effort and keep up their 'highest customer satisfaction rate'.
Good luck to the OP and all the best with the repairation

Please keep us posted:)
 
tsubikiddo said:
I would say the stripped screw head would be a very tempting ground for Apple to argue for human errors and void the warranty.

But they should make the effort and keep up their 'highest customer satisfaction rate'.
Good luck to the OP and all the best with the repairation

Please keep us posted:)
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll see what happens and report back on what they say, I have a bad feeling though.
 
I went in and told them that the fan was making noise and not spinning to full RPM: I also told them that I attempted to open the case to use canned air to see if there were fuzzies making it act that way.

In short they said the stripped screw wasn't a problem and the fan will be replaced. Sadly they didn't have any fans in stock so now I must wait. Oh well all went well.

So if you strip you bottom case screw/s don't worry too bad they're nice people with great customer support! :D
 
Malithion said:
I went in and told them that the fan was making noise and not spinning to full RPM: I also told them that I attempted to open the case to use canned air to see if there were fuzzies making it act that way.

In short they said the stripped screw wasn't a problem and the fan will be replaced. Sadly they didn't have any fans in stock so now I must wait. Oh well all went well.

So if you strip you bottom case screw/s don't worry too bad they're nice people with great customer support! :D
Click to expand...

oh, great to hear that!:apple:
Thanks you Malithion,
this is a valuable piece of information for all of us

Thanks for coming back and update us,
Cheers!;)
 
tsubikiddo said:
oh, great to hear that!:apple:
Thanks you Malithion,
this is a valuable piece of information for all of us

Thanks for coming back and update us,
Cheers!;)
Click to expand...

If anyone is still listening in, I have another update on the fan issue. Apparently they replaced it with a brand new fan, and it still made noise and didn't spool to full RPM. So now it's in their shop as they order yet another (brand new) fan and a logic board.

I don't get it this has turned into something way more complex than what I thought. So I dunno, anyone have a similar story?
 
Repeat Q

I installed a ssd by removing the oem hdd
and it was very difficult to take out the screws.
I didn't strip them (if that means ruining them). They
just show obvious white or metallic scratches on the face
of the black screws.

Is that in any danger of affecting a warranty?

Also, what size, company name, etc are the screws
in a 2009 17" unibody macbook pro hard drive?

Thanks
 
Don't bring it up to them unless they ask.
And of course, go over your warranty and see what kind of things would void the warranty.

If they ask you anything, just say that you didn't even know it was there.
Or if I were you, I would get a new screw before I took it to the apple store.
 
I was honest with the apple genius guy and just flat out told them I destroyed a screw, and asked if that would be a warranty issue. He said it wouldn't be a problem. As for the hdd it's meant to be easy to replaced or upgraded so I wouldn't worry. But I dunno some apple employees aren't as friendly as some.:)
 
I don't see any reason to even mention it!

Judging from my experience with the 3 local Apple stores, they'll strip the screws for you the first time you have it serviced anyway. ;)
 
I'm no longer worried about my screw now. I brought in my mac for a noisy fan and now they're replacing the logic board. That makes no sense to me! Any one know anything similar to this?
 
HellDiverUK said:
What do you think the fan is connected to? What controls the speed of the fan? Let me give you a clue, it's one of the two items they're replacing. ;)
Click to expand...

I understand that :cool: but they replaced the fan and will re-replace it again, and if that doesn't work an new logic board. it confuses me because the fan noise sounded as if it was grinding on the inside. As if the tolerances of the case were constricting it. (if that makes sense?)

I have a feeling a new logic board will not remedy the issue, just like the new fan did. what would be my options then? Will they just keep ordering parts and keep me out of a computer? It's been about a week now :(

I love their customer support, they're great but I'm getting tired of making appointments waiting and getting false solutions. Sorry if I sound whiny I miss my mac :rolleyes:
 
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