stripped screw

[mrgreeneyes]

hey,

i have an external drive that i am trying to remove the hard drive on the internal board.
and all but the last screw is removed, i can't remove it because it is stripped.

is there any tricks to loosen the screw?
i read online that i could use a dremel to cut the screw, so i can use a flat head screw driver to remove the screw. other things i read was to buy a screw extractor. but all i can find are sets online and nothing locally in my city.

 

[Don't panic]

try with a rubber band first.
put a broad flat rubber band on top of the stripped part and use the original scredriver or a slightly bigger one.
basic, but works most of the times

 

[mrgreeneyes]

i have tried it, and it didn't work.
i also saw something online, stating to put crazy glue into the screw head and glue a old drill bit and wait until its dry and try turning the screw that way.

 

[997440]

If it's the head that's stripped, get a dental pick and work it a little at a time till the od of the head becomes 'grippable'.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Something as small as a screw for a HDD shouldn't be torqued or tightened a lot. Get a pair of pliers and just grip as hard as you can and turn. This should still work if its a rounded head - had this happened to me and this was the solution I used.

 

[senseless]

Vice grip jaws perpendicular to the head, grip tight and turn. Be careful making metal filings near a circuit board if you do any drilling or cutting.

Something as small as a screw for a HDD shouldn't be torqued or tightened a lot. Get a pair of pliers and just grip as hard as you can and turn. This should still work if its a rounded head - had this happened to me and this was the solution I used.

 

[MacNut]

Vice grips would work if you have some of the nail head above the surface. If the nail is flush you will have to either drill it out or try to grab it. Being a smaller screw won't give you much room to work with.

 

[mrgreeneyes]

Vice grip jaws perpendicular to the head, grip tight and turn. Be careful making metal filings near a circuit board if you do any drilling or cutting.

Vice grips would work if you have some of the nail head above the surface. If the nail is flush you will have to either drill it out or try to grab it. Being a smaller screw won't give you much room to work with.

i will try pliers and ill let you guys know if it worked.
thanks

 

[Huntn]

try with a rubber band first.
put a broad flat rubber band on top of the stripped part and use the original scredriver or a slightly bigger one.
basic, but works most of the times

i have tried it, and it didn't work.
i also saw something online, stating to put crazy glue into the screw head and glue a old drill bit and wait until its dry and try turning the screw that way.

Both of these sound interesting. I assume if it's stripped it came that way from the manufacturer?

 

[bunnspecial]

I'll avoid mentioning a torch, which is usually the first thing I grab for MOST automotive applications to get a screw loose.

With that said, if your ultimate goal is to simply get the drive out and don't care about the enclosure, I'd not mess around with other stuff and just grab the dremel to cut a slot in it. If you don't get anywhere with this, grind the entire head off with your dremel and use a pair of pliers to get the left over stub of a screw out.