Stripped screw on logic board

[ray8979]

I was trying to get to the heatsink of my 13" MacBook Pro (mid-2009) so I can change the thermal paste, and the last screw on the motherboard got stripped. It is the 3.9 mm phillips screw in the lower left hand corner, and I was using a #00 phillips screwdriver with it. Any ideas for removing it?

I already tried the rubber band and using a flathead.

 

[hotskews]

Don't drill it out! Shards of metal is the last thing you want on the circuitry. I might recommend getting a jb weld steelstik, knead the tiniest little ball of it, fill it into the stripped grove, flatten the top of it and indent a new track mark for a flat head screw driver, or weld the screwdriver to it . Let it dry and give it another go. JB weld is pretty permanent so be careful.

Just to be safe, clean the board off with some condensed air afterward to ensure no shards from the stripping remain on the board.

 

[ray8979]

I agree that I don't want to drill - that is the absolute last resort.

I was thinking about JB Weld, but was hesitant because it's pretty permanent and I haven't been able to find reports from people that used this technique. Have you had good results with it?

 

[dawson1112]

You can give the jb weld a shot but if the screw stripped because it was so tight that the screwdriver stripped it out it may not hold, its a good idea though.

If you do drill it out you should be ok as long as you make sure you blow the board off and the case out prior to reassembly with some compressed air.

Another alternative to the jb weld is to solder a small screwdriver right to the screw, Ive done it before , but I have a lot of soldering experience on these boards.

 

[pendlewitch]

Some kits here
Moody Tools 58-0670 6-Piece Slot/Phil/Screw Extractor Combo Reversible Driver Set: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[ray8979]

I definitely don't have soldering or drilling experience, so I am apprehensive about doing that myself. I will try the extractor kit, thanks! If that fails, then I'll try the jb weld idea.

Thanks for the help!

 

[ray8979]

Just wanted to do an update. I ordered an extractor kit but didn't end up using it, because a friend offered to help me and take the computer to a shop before the kit came in. There the guy considered using a dremmel, but thought the screw cap was too thin, so he soldered another screw on top of my screw instead - and got the stripped screw out that way.

 

[dawson1112]

Just wanted to do an update. I ordered an extractor kit but didn't end up using it, because a friend offered to help me and take the computer to a shop before the kit came in. There the guy considered using a dremmel, but thought the screw cap was too thin, so he soldered another screw on top of my screw instead - and got the stripped screw out that way.

Yep that's what I would have done also. Glad you got it out

 

[pigoo3]

Just wanted to do an update. I ordered an extractor kit but didn't end up using it, because a friend offered to help me and take the computer to a shop before the kit came in. There the guy considered using a dremmel, but thought the screw cap was too thin, so he soldered another screw on top of my screw instead - and got the stripped screw out that way.

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the guy at the computer shop really knows what he's doing...a very simple & effective solution!

Congrats,

- Nick