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Optical Bay Stripped Screw!

S

singhjeet29

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 9, 2008
248
12
So I got my MBP in and wanted to replace the Optical Drive with an Optibay, but I've stripped this very hard to reach screw. It's REALLY stuck in there. I used the proper screwdriver and everything. Here's a picture of which screw I'm referring to (its not one directly connected to the optical drive, but one that needs to be unscrewed to access the 3rd screw in the optical drive):
05062010196.jpg

It's the screw in the centre of the image, within that hole in the black plastic. :eek:

Ughh so what exactly are my options? Is this warranty voiding :eek: :(
 
singhjeet29 said:
So I got my MBP in and wanted to replace the Optical Drive with an Optibay, but I've stripped this very hard to reach screw. It's REALLY stuck in there. I used the proper screwdriver and everything. Here's a picture of which screw I'm referring to (its not one directly connected to the optical drive, but one that needs to be unscrewed to access the 3rd screw in the optical drive):
05062010196.jpg

It's the screw in the centre of the image, within that hole in the black plastic. :eek:

Ughh so what exactly are my options? Is this warranty voiding :eek: :(
Click to expand...

dont think these are meant to be user replaceable, so probably, any evidence that you tampered with it is probably warrant voidable if you can find a way to get it out and replace it youd prob be okay
 
neondrgns said:
dont think these are meant to be user replaceable, so probably, any evidence that you tampered with it is probably warrant voidable if you can find a way to get it out and replace it youd prob be okay
Click to expand...

my older unibody screws got striped. im taking abou the screws that connect the mobo. i was freaking out cus it was a perfect circle instead of the +. eventually i took it out by applying a **** load of pressure at a 45 degree angle.
 
ljx718 said:
my older unibody screws got striped. im taking abou the screws that connect the mobo. i was freaking out cus it was a perfect circle instead of the +. eventually i took it out by applying a **** load of pressure at a 45 degree angle.
Click to expand...
I'd either leave it alone or try this.

I've drilled stripped screws out of various kit before now (from toilet seats to fencing foils), but doing that with a laptop would require a lot of nerve...
 
I've had screws that were stuck beyond removal inside of a few different MacBook's and MacBook Pro's on the logic board and it various others parts of the case. I had to drill them out. If you use the correct size bit and take your time it shouldn't be too difficult. The screws are made of a relatively soft metal so a drill bit will be easy to work with and won't take many rotations to get through the head.
 
you can try using a robertson (square) tip or torx (star) tip of the same size. see if you can get a grip. last resort is drill the screw out like others said.

i definitely would not punch a center line; the force of impact/shock will damage the laptop. whatever you do, make sure you open the laptop and not put a huge amount of force against your screen...
 
Drilling out #0 screws is not a job for an amateur, and definitely not a good 1st screw to try your skills on. You can easily drill too far or not at the right angle, stripping the threads on the macbook frame. Even if you get the head off, you will still have the shaft to back out, which is not easy when it doesn't have a head.

Save yourself a ton of grief and take it to an experienced machinist- he will use the right tools and have it out in 30 min or less and charge you a lot less than Apple will.
 
chopper dave said:
Drilling out #0 screws is not a job for an amateur, and definitely not a good 1st screw to try your skills on. You can easily drill too far or not at the right angle, stripping the threads on the macbook frame. Even if you get the head off, you will still have the shaft to back out, which is not easy when it doesn't have a head.

Save yourself a ton of grief and take it to an experienced machinist- he will use the right tools and have it out in 30 min or less and charge you a lot less than Apple will.
Click to expand...
Agreed. OP: Don't experiment with your $2000 machine unless you know what you're doing. Since you made this thread in the first place, I'll assume that you don't, and recommend following the advice of the person I quoted if less-intense extraction methods prove futile.
 
This exact thing happened to me the day I got mine. I even had it open with the unibody on a padded table and the screen pointing down so I could put plenty of pressure on it with a brand new 00 screwdriver - it still stripped.

Good news is it doesn't have to come out to get the optical drive out. Just remove the other screw and all the antenna wires running to the plastic bracket. Then gently pry up on the bracket from the inside of the optical slot (plastic spudger worked great for this) until the small tab snaps out of the little key-slot it sits in.

Note you want to pry JUST hard enough to get it to snap out, the bracket will bend up enough to allow you to just spin it until the 45 degree angle of the bracket clears the optical. Once you have the drive out just spin it back into position and snap it down.
 
rgarjr said:
yeah best bet is to use a drill on it. Get vacuum as well so that it sucks up the little bits while its drilling.
Click to expand...

DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS POST.

Even if you were going for broke, the last ditch effort is just to break the mount for the screw on the bracket. This would leave enough of the screw out to allow you to get it with small vise grips/pliers. At that point your just getting a little replacement bracket and a new screw. What this dude is suggesting is pretty bad advise on a #00 aluminum treaded mount. I've tapped big engine crossmember bolts and put in a heli-coil but that's on a totally different scale...
 
scaredpoet said:
I wonder if one of these will fit in there?

http://www.sears.com:80/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952157000P

Using this you don't drill ENTIRELY through the screw. You use a very slow speed on the drill, "clean" the top of the damaged screw, and then flip the bit over to the grabber end. Then reverse the drill slowly and the bit digs in and "pulls" the screw out.
Click to expand...

I don't know why people keep suggesting he try and get this screw out... mine was put in by Chinese He-Man and adamentium blue threadlock

The goal is to remove the optical drive, not the screw and that can be accomplished quite easily by just turning the bracket...
 

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Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate the advice, I was actually able to remove the screw by just going at it with a lot of force at an angle; (took me about 25 minutes, until the screw caught something) and it finally budged, got it out, got the Optical drive replaced with my SSD in an optibay and was able to put it back in.

@Fry-man22, I wish I had read your post before I was able to open it. But I appreciate all the device and know what to do if I have to do this on future uMBPs. Thanks a lot.
 
singhjeet29 said:
Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate the advice, I was actually able to remove the screw by just going at it with a lot of force at an angle; (took me about 25 minutes, until the screw caught something) and it finally budged, got it out, got the Optical drive replaced with my SSD in an optibay and was able to put it back in.

@Fry-man22, I wish I had read your post before I was able to open it. But I appreciate all the device and know what to do if I have to do this on future uMBPs. Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

did you replace the screw with a new one?
 
Fry-man22 said:
I don't know why people keep suggesting he try and get this screw out... mine was put in by Chinese He-Man and adamentium blue threadlock

The goal is to remove the optical drive, not the screw and that can be accomplished quite easily by just turning the bracket...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I also stripped this screw trying to take the SuperDrive out, and was actually able to get the stripped screw out by moving that bracket back and forth.

First of all, take off the connectors for the wifi and bluetooth antennae. Then, as Fry-man22 said, pry the bracket up, and move it clockwise, until it's out of the SuperDrive's way. At this point, I removed the SuperDrive and placed it aside.

Next, I put pressure on the top of the screw with my screwdriver and at the same time, moved the bracket back towards its original position, counterclockwise. Then, I moved the bracket back to the right again, this time without pressing with the screwdriver. I then repeated this over and over again, left (while pressing on the top of the screw with the screwdriver) and then right (not pressing), until the stripped screw came out of the socket.

I then installed the newmodeus drive caddy that I'm using in my i7 MBP (much cheaper than the optibay) and put everything back the way it was. I also got a new screw to put in place of the stripped one.

I hope this helps someone in the same position.
 
First of all, I'd like to apologize for reviving a zombie thread. :)

I also stripped a screw while removing the optidrive. That chinese he-man probably worked on my macbook pro as well. Luckily I was able to replace the optidrive with the HDD kit by following Fry-man's advice. I was also able to remove the screw by doing csnplt's method. I now would like to replace the screw, but I dont know the correct size. I tried the Genius bar and they told me there's nothing they can do. So does anyone know where I can buy that one screw? Thanks to this wonderful thread!!!!!!! :)

The screw I need replaced is by hole #3.
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225341&d=1273250036
 
I have a background in engineering and one tip that sometimes works on a stripped screw is to use a hacksaw across the head to create a slot for a straight screw driver. If you must drill cover in masking tap first to stop the drill sliding of the polished screw head. Finally any pc component place should supply the screws you need (CPC or Maplin here in the UK).
 
Apple fanboy said:
I have a background in engineering and one tip that sometimes works on a stripped screw is to use a hacksaw across the head to create a slot for a straight screw driver. If you must drill cover in masking tap first to stop the drill sliding of the polished screw head. Finally any pc component place should supply the screws you need (CPC or Maplin here in the UK).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Apple Fanboy, but I have already gotten the screw out. I just need a replacement screw now. I'll keep your tip in mind in case I ever strip another one. Thanks
 
so i guess i'm screwed...lol...and will not be putting in my HD caddy anytime soon...

all the screws come out except for one...the one closet to the hard drive...the one in the left bottom corner when the macbook pro is open and the HDD/battery are closet to you...it is totally stripped at this point to where it's basically just a circle...

stupid chinese He-Man....lol
 
xamievilx said:
so i guess i'm screwed...lol...and will not be putting in my HD caddy anytime soon...

all the screws come out except for one...the one closet to the hard drive...the one in the left bottom corner when the macbook pro is open and the HDD/battery are closet to you...it is totally stripped at this point to where it's basically just a circle...

stupid chinese He-Man....lol
Click to expand...

I stripped the screw of the left top of the super drive.. can't get it out. :(
 
attachment_zps395b3a8f.jpg



Hi guys, Im new here and didn't feel like making a new thread here, but had the same problem as op, but I removed the screws and now I am looking for replacement screws 1 and 2 in the picture. Is there anywhere I can get them from?

Do I even need them if I am putting in my hard drive in there?

All help is appreciated. Thank you.
 
freduke said:
Image


Hi guys, Im new here and didn't feel like making a new thread here, but had the same problem as op, but I removed the screws and now I am looking for replacement screws 1 and 2 in the picture. Is there anywhere I can get them from?

Do I even need them if I am putting in my hard drive in there?

All help is appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hello.

I have stripped both the screws 1 and 2 labeled in the this imagine too. I realize that I don't have to get the one deep down in the plastic out now, but how do I get the other stripped screw out. I tried going up a size and made the stripping worse, lots of force and going at an angle too all made it worse. also tried a balloon. lastly did you find how to replace these screws with new ones that are stronger?
I am despirate here.
 
I was fighting with the very same screw on this damn bracket (closest to the corner of the laptop) and read all the comments here and in other threads.

Nothing worked and I ended up getting the screw out by slicing a new groove in it with a dremel cutting disk. Worked like a charm, the screw came right out with a larger flathead screwdriver. Then by popping out that end and swinging the braket out and around I was able to get the drive out fine (actually loosening the other more recessed bracket screw in the process). Whew!
 
Fry-man22 said:
I don't know why people keep suggesting he try and get this screw out... mine was put in by Chinese He-Man and adamentium blue threadlock

The goal is to remove the optical drive, not the screw and that can be accomplished quite easily by just turning the bracket...
Click to expand...

That's how I did it, that screw wasn't designed to come out once set in place.
I haven't heard of a single one that replaced the optical drive that hasn't had issues with that screw.
 
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