XPS M1330 screw problems

I've done it.

I wanted to change my hard drive back to my original one and it turns out that when I first changed it in May I have screwed the low quality screws too tight. When I tried to unscrew them again, 2 of them (the ones that are towards the middle of the laptop) failed to unscrew and I pretty much turned them unusable with my repeated tries.

I'm not going to rant about the fact that Dell could actually use STEEL screws to prevent this type of thing, I'm just going to ask you Dell XPS M1330 owners if there's any other way around getting the hard drive out.

If I'll unscrew all other screws, can I take my XPS apart? Is there anything I should be particularly careful with (other than unscrewing the low quality screws that is)? Or do you have any tips on how I could unscrew the faulty screws?

Thanks in advance

 

Nope.. You have no way around taking those screws off for opening up the laptop... One way is to use some kind of hard setting glue, to stick a screwdriver to the head of the worn out screws, and then unscrew them..

Or you can try to cut a new groove with a sharp,hard tipped object.

 

I'm afraid one of the screws is way past the state where the glue option could help. I'll try it on the other one though, thanks for the tip.

 

I understand that some (many?) computer repair shops have a drill. It might be used to cut through the screw? There was another guy who stripped his screw. He used a drill to actually cut a new grove in the screw which he could then use.

 

you could try a small easy-out.. they are made to remove screws though im not sure they come that small. or yes use a small drill bit to drill through the head so the plastic can be lifted over the remaining part then you should be able to grab whats left with a small set of vise grips to remove the rest

 

It's kind of a nuisance that all the screws on the 1530 are like that, even with proper type of screwdriver, and being unaggresive with them they still shear away. I ruined about four of them opening the back of mine.

I don't know how well the glue would work - superglue + paint + aluminium (possibly) mightn't stick, if all else fails you could try a little bit of epoxy resin, it'd bond quite readily and you could cut a groove into it quite easily with a hobby knife.

 

Thanks for the tips guys, I will try the glue option first. I'm afraid easy outs don't come in that tiny size.

If that fails I might try to cut the edges of the screw to turn it into something like this:
` _
( _ )

so I can actually use some grips to turn it. I don't know how I would be able to do that though.

 

i would drill it myself.. i would not want to chance getting glue all over the screw hole..

 

Have you tried using some needle nose pliers? I have had screws stip on me before and have had luck gripping the head with some needle nose pliers.

 

I would be REALLY careful drilling. If you get metal chips into the case and don't get them all out, you could short something and blow electrical components.

 

I went through this last week, so I understand your frustration very well. Those screws are VERY easy to strip if they are tightened little more than necessary.

What I did was to make new grooves on the stripped screw head using a small drill. It took some time, but I was able to make a + shape groove on there and used a BIG flat head screw driver to take it out.

Of course, this requires a drill with very small heads. The one I used was almost like an amateur dentist drill

Good luck!!!

 

Since the screw is there tightly, the small metal shavings cant go through there. Of course, if you are using a canister, dust-off to remove the metal chips, I'd recommend covering up all the openings at the bottom of the computer while you are drilling. Again, I was lucky to have a vacuum line at work, so instead of spraying metal chips around, I was able to just collect them around the screw.

As mentioned, please make sure to cover the bottom of the computer only exposing the screws if you are going to drill new grooves on the screw heads.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll go tomorrow to look for some tiny drills.

 

I'll take a picture of the screw and post it here tonight to give you an idea regarding what I did to remove it.

 

go slow with a small bit. tape over the vents on the bottom with some blue painter's tape, and use a shop vac afterwards to remove anything in the holes before opening.. you will be fine..get a big enough bit to drill through the head once you go through (slowly) the head will pop off the screw and usually will stay on the end of the drill bit. then you can lift off the panel and remove whats left with vise grips or similar..

 

a dremel would work great also

 

Here it is... Sort of a "before" and "after" shot

 

Thank you all for your help. I managed to get them out.

I used a drill and a dremel.

The first one took me a while because I didn't know how sturdy it would be and I didn't want it to break so I drilled really slowly. Eventually it got out really easily.

Getting the second one out was just as fun because the dremel broke halfway. So I switched to the drill, which unfortunately scratched the XPS a little bit, and... broke a few seconds later. Luckily I could still use a pretty big broken piece to finish the work and took the remaining screw out.

I've replaced all the screws with steel ones.

My guess is Dell uses these soft metal (maybe aluminium?) screws to know whether you've messed around with the laptop if you send it back under warranty. So if you do mess around with it DON'T SCREW THEM BACK TOO TIGHT!

I've learned my lesson the hard way.

P.S. I wanted to post a photo of my broken screws but apparently "You are only allowed to post URLs to other sites after you have made 15 posts or more."

 

Agreed, I stripped one of the screws for my heatsink on my 1530 >.<
So i just got the whole system replaced. Since the tech i talked to said they wouldnt replace the screws.

 

Wow, that is incredibly dangerous to be drilling/cutting while inside the base of the laptop....The swarf will go everywhere no matter how fast/slow you drill/cut. All it takes is one small piece lying on the legs of an IC to short out something...I really hope that you shook the hell out of your laptop and used a strong vacuum before turning it on again...WOW.

They are most likely using aluminum screws as they are lighter than steel, and this is a laptop after all so weight is important. Also, the screws are not over torqued, they most likely have a locking mechanism. Whether it is a locking helicoil in the hole or the original operators were using a loctite adhesive I don't know but I am sure there is something in there. The last thing Dell wants is for the internal hardware to come loose over time from vibrations...

P.s. if you can strip a screw head as badly as the one in the picture, aluminum screws or not, you should not being using tools...

Pps. Automotive as well as Aerospace both use aluminum hardware, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, I would be careful where you put steel screws as aluminum touching steel is not a good combo unless one of them has been coated...

 

Whether or not they are using some sort of locking mechanism on the screws are debatable, but shouldn't that be the case for ALL the screws. In my case, 3 out of 4 screws holding the hard drive came out very easily, while one of them was tightened VERY VERY strongly. Even though I pressed really hard and used a quality screwdriver to get it out, all it took was one turn inside the screw... The screw in that picture didn't become like that from the screwdriver, it was the small drill that made it unrecognizable. Making new grooves with a drill in a tiny space does that to a screw

By the way, it is very easy to be c.ocky and say "ohhhh, if you strip screws like that you shouldn't be using tools". May be next time in the OR if I see one of the senior surgeons doing one little misaligned cut, I should say "if you are able to cut like that I dont think you should operate any more". I am sure he'll take that lightly

As for shorting out the computer with metal chips... if you are careful enough, nothing will happen. In my case, I sealed all the openings and used a strong vacuum with a tiny tip to get around the screw. It's been working fine for the last 2 weeks...

Thanks for your helpful insights though

 

The truth is that it was you guys that told me to cover all openings, so I used tape. I would not have thought of that and it might have resulted in disaster.

When I was finished I just used some more tape with the sticky part down to clean the metal dust.

It appears to be fine, hopefully it stays this way.

 

I haven't stripped any of the screws (yet, knock on wood), but I've come pretty close. The weight issue is well, a non-issue. The difference in weight between aluminum and steel for that small amount of material would be negligible.

 

Well I can finally post a picture so you all can see what became of my screws after drilling.



If you know how small these screws really are you'll realize how brutal this has been. But it solved my problem.

 

good job, I would have recommended drilling the screws with the laptop in the normal upright position, maybe with the part you need to drill hanging over the edge of a table then run a vacuum right beside it while you drilled. I would have been a little harder to drill that way but you would have had gravity and the vacuum on your side working to pull any shavings down and away from the laptop.

 

Brutal or not, all you needed was a new groove to take those suckers out. You already mentioned that you covered all the openings to block any chips to enter into the computer. Good job!

I hope I wont have to deal with this again. I am sure you feel the same way

 

Screws and M1330.. no way! Today a Dell technician came, and he tried everything, but wasn't able to get one of the bad heat sink screws out, in order to replace the motherboard.. so now I'm waiting for the DHL box to ship the laptop back for repair/exchange.. LOL

 

Take a look at:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952157000P

it's made to take out stripped screws.

My 1530 had some VERY tight screws especcially to install the WLAN connector. The one that holds the card down looks like it had some locktite on it.