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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: mougrim on Sat, 20 December 2014, 15:54:08

Title: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: mougrim on Sat, 20 December 2014, 15:54:08
OK, so I decided to led-mod my Poker II, butn there is a slight problem - leftmost screw isn't unscrewing, and I think I ruined it by my screwdriver (now screwdriver just turning inside slot, which is almost round). Sigh. Do I have any chance to unscrew it by myself?
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: Geroximo on Sat, 20 December 2014, 16:12:15
Lay a rubber band over the screw and try again. Maybe that helps.
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 20 December 2014, 23:26:56
Try a flat head..

if the top is exposed, you might be able to glue something to it and turn it

if the top is still in the hole, either drill it.. or VERY carefully try the glue..
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: mougrim on Sun, 21 December 2014, 00:59:04
Try a flat head..

if the top is exposed, you might be able to glue something to it and turn it

if the top is still in the hole, either drill it.. or VERY carefully try the glue..

Well... I'll think about flathead... If not, maybe I'll try glue - or solder. If I manage to land a drop of solder on the head and insert a screwdriver before it's solid.. maybe, just maybe, it might work.
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 21 December 2014, 08:08:25
Try a flat head..

if the top is exposed, you might be able to glue something to it and turn it

if the top is still in the hole, either drill it.. or VERY carefully try the glue..

Well... I'll think about flathead... If not, maybe I'll try glue - or solder. If I manage to land a drop of solder on the head and insert a screwdriver before it's solid.. maybe, just maybe, it might work.

solder, you might melt the surrounding plastic.. so becareful with that
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: strict on Sun, 21 December 2014, 09:06:53
You could also try something like easy out screw extractors (http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-screw-extractor-set-40349.html) which are basically just reverse cut drill bits. They dig into the stripped screw and pull it out the more they dig in.
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: mougrim on Sun, 21 December 2014, 09:32:35
Thanks for the tips - in the end flathead + some force done the trick :)
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: heedpantsnow on Sun, 21 December 2014, 12:03:26
Sometimes dealing with a PCB + plate is like that old game "Operation" lol.
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: mougrim on Sun, 21 December 2014, 15:20:57
Sometimes dealing with a PCB + plate is like that old game "Operation" lol.

Exactly :) In my opinion PCB + plate clearly superior to plate - mounted, but dat screws...
Title: Re: Poker II and tiny screws
Post by: Hogesyx on Tue, 23 December 2014, 02:51:24
You could also try something like easy out screw extractors (http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-screw-extractor-set-40349.html) which are basically just reverse cut drill bits. They dig into the stripped screw and pull it out the more they dig in.

If you no longer care about reusing the screw, extractor works great, or just use a generic drill bit to break the screw head then use a plier to remove the rest of the screw from the thread hole.

For a non destructive method, I had use epoxy before. Basically I epoxy my screwdriver to the screw and unscrew it the next day, when I need to fix the item back, I screw it back with the screwdriver and break the epoxy.