Mac G5 screws are stripped

[NoMoreWhispers]

Hey there,

I browsed through the forums to look for threads with the same problem but couldn't quite find any.

I have a mac G5 and I need to replace the internal harddrive because it's completely fried and beyond repair. 1 of the 3 screws at the bottom(the one on the right) is stripped.
This leaves me with 2 options:

1. use a screw extractor, but risk making it worse since I've never handeled tools before (though I have a friend who would probably be able to do it)

2. Take it to the mac store to have the screws replaced, but of course who knows how long it will take for them to order them


I should probably take it to the mac store to get the screws replaced right? They may try to trick me into paying more for saying my mac has other problems, but I'll just tell them no.
Ever had to replace the screws on your mac? How much did it cost? I called to ask a mac person but they had no idea, they just said I should be able to replace the screws if I take it to the mac store.

Thanks in advanced guys

 

[ChrisA]

I have a mac G5 and I need to replace the internal harddrive because it's completely fried and beyond repair. 1 of the 3 screws at the bottom(the one on the right) is stripped....

The drive is dead right? Then you don't have to worry about damaging it. You could just drill out the scre heads. Us a drill that is the size the the screw head or slightly larger and very quickly the head will come off the screw. Shoud take about 15 seconds.

Screw extractors are what you'd use if you care about the part you are removing the screw from, but you don't care about the dead drive.

Take the drive out of the computer so you don't get metal in the machine.

 

[NoMoreWhispers]

Yeah, it's dead (when you start up my mac it stays on the white screen with the apple logo for a minute, then shuts off) but if you boot up through an external drive with leopard on it, it's fine.

The hardware dude at Home Depot didn't think it was a good idea to use a screw extractor on a computer, but I think it's fine if the person extracting the screw knows how to do it.

And making an appointment online for the "genius bar" is a pain in the ass since they seem to only let you make an appointment for the next 2 days (or maybe the whole next month is completely booked, who knows).

Thanks : )

 

[sickmacdoc]

Just one question- are we talking about an iMac G5 or a Power Mac G5? If it is an iMac as I assume, then I really think it would be a better idea to take it in to see what they could do with them, as it would be better for them to be responsible for the tiny metal chips that will result from normal methods of screw extraction if no other methods will work.

OK I lied- one more question comes to mind- when you say stripped, do you actually mean that they turn in the hole without tightening or loosening (the usual definition of stripped) or do you mean that the heads are screwed up from trying to remove them with the wrong tool? If the heads are screwed up there is an alternate (non-drilling) way to try to get them out that involves epoxying a small machine screw to the head to aid getting it out, but I really can't recommend that here unless you have had experience elsewhere since you can wind up making it worse!

 

[NoMoreWhispers]

It's just a plain ol' run of the mill Mac G5 : )

The one screw won't turn at all-the head is more or less smoothed down even though it doesn't look like it is. It's probably from me being a bit harsh with it using an acer screwdriver to open my mac so many times in the past for whatever problem or thing I had to add to it.

I really should bring it to the mac store, but I just don't want to deal with having to drag my mac all the way to the store on the subways and paying the overpriced amount to get the screws replaced.

Seriously, no one here has dealt with this problem before and needed to have a screw replaced?

 

[sickmacdoc]

It's just a plain ol' run of the mill Mac G5 : )

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Ok well the reason I asked to make sure is that there is no "run of the mill Mac G5"- but in re-reading your problem description it is now clear that it is an iMac G5 (see below).

Apparently not many people have damaged their screws enough to require replacement (fortunately for them, no so fortunately for you)- but I can see where the careful use of a small extractor could take care of business pretty easily having taken more of that model apart than I care to think about! I originally thought you were talking about the screws that secure the drive in place internally so that is why I advised letting Apple do it.

 

[NoMoreWhispers]

Yeah, it's totally the iMac G5 (sorry for any confusion I may have caused). And yeah, it's one of the screws at the bottom that holds the backside of the iMac in place.
I must have stripped it down when I used the bigger sized end of the screw and not the smaller end I normally use.
My friend is going to come over and use the screw extractor I bought some time next weekend. I'm guessing after that the screws will always need to be tightened and loosened using that screw extractor though.

Thank you!

 

[sickmacdoc]

No biggie on the Mac ID! Just wanted to mention that the screw will need to be replaced after it is extracted. Due the detructive method used by extractors in the first place, the screw will not be able to be tightened afterwards, so you will need to take the remainders of the screw to a good hardware store to fine a suitable replacement (probably metric threads BTW).

Good luck getting everything fixed up.

 

[NoMoreWhispers]

Ughh I hope my iMac doesn't get any more messed up from the extractor but I think my friend knows how to do it and if it doesn't work I'll bring it to a mac store.

Thank you : )