Phillips screw in back of Sun Ultra 30 computer, quite torn-up! :-)

Greetings!

I have a single screw, within a black "plastic" configuration, that
holds the metal left panel of my Sun Ultra 30 computer system.

The screw went in too tight. And, in trying to remove it, I have
really seriously "messed up" the phillips head of the screw. (Stripped
didn't sound quite right to me, because, at least so far as I know, the
threads along the length of the screw [within the system] are fine. It's
the phillips head that is "stripped".)

Last weekend, I put WD-40 on it. Tonight, I am not able to remove
it.

Two different screwdrivers just almost freely move in the (what was
a) phillips hole, and there is not enough of the metal left in the
phillips "hole shape" to grab the screw enough to turn it, and remove it.
(I've tried needle-nose pliers, too, so far, it's not budging!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I recently had it open to place a second SCSI hard drive in the Sun.
And, the hard drive is in, and it's working just fine. So, at the moment,
I don't *critically* need to go inside it. But, I know the day will come
when I will want to again. I'd like to get this screw removed, and then,
replace it with a new one, and be more careful, in the future, to not get
it in so tight.

Thank you very much for any suggestions!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Industries | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

In comp.sys.sun.hardware Barry L. Bond wrote:

Greetings!

I have a single screw, within a black "plastic" configuration, that
holds the metal left panel of my Sun Ultra 30 computer system.

The screw went in too tight. And, in trying to remove it, I have
really seriously "messed up" the phillips head of the screw. (Stripped
didn't sound quite right to me, because, at least so far as I know, the
threads along the length of the screw [within the system] are fine. It's
the phillips head that is "stripped".)

Last weekend, I put WD-40 on it. Tonight, I am not able to remove
it.

Two different screwdrivers just almost freely move in the (what was
a) phillips hole, and there is not enough of the metal left in the
phillips "hole shape" to grab the screw enough to turn it, and remove it.
(I've tried needle-nose pliers, too, so far, it's not budging!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I recently had it open to place a second SCSI hard drive in the Sun.
And, the hard drive is in, and it's working just fine. So, at the moment,
I don't *critically* need to go inside it. But, I know the day will come
when I will want to again. I'd like to get this screw removed, and then,
replace it with a new one, and be more careful, in the future, to not get
it in so tight.

Thank you very much for any suggestions!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Industries | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

Cut a slot in it.

If that doesn't work, grind off the head.

Oh, and buy some new screwdrivers.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Hi Jim!

Oh, and buy some new screwdrivers.

Ha ha! Boy are you correct!

I actually normally use a drill, as an electric screwdriver. And,
while I am definitely not a "super" DIY home-maintainer type, I have
screwed many screws in, with that screwdriver, and when it was time to
unscrew it, they all came loose without a problem!

But, I have used the "nub" (or whatever it's called, I don't know the
real terms for some of these things), in this screwdriver, for years, and
it was getting just a little bit "beat up" already. It DEFINITELY is,
now! :-)

I am using a different "nub" in that screwdriver, as well as a hand
phillips screwdriver, in good shape. (And, needle-nose pliers, etc.!)

Thank you for your kind assistance!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Corporation | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

Howdy!

If it's accessible, hacksaw a slot in it (be careful where the metal
filings go - you don't want them inside the system) and undo it with
a standard screwdriver.

It isn't. There is a black plastic "configuration" (I don't know
what it's called) around this screw, and it "sticks up" above the screw
head about half an inch. (You stick the screwdriver or needle-nose pliers
through a hole on the end of this thing that sticks up to get to the head
of the screw.)

If it's inaccessible, drill the head off with a drill bit slightly
larger than the shank of the screw. Remove the panel, then undo the
shank with a pair of pliers or similar.

Ah... that is likely what I'll try, next. Thank you for your
knowledge, in this area! I don't know whether I'll get to it, this
weekend, or not, but I'll let you know if I have any other problems!

Thank you again, kind Sir!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Corporation | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:27:56 GMT
(Barry L. Bond) wrote:

It isn't. There is a black plastic "configuration" (I don't know
what it's called) around this screw, and it "sticks up" above the
screw head about half an inch. (You stick the screwdriver or
needle-nose pliers through a hole on the end of this thing that
sticks up to get to the head of the screw.)

The contraption around the screw is meant to pass an anti-theft cable
through. Doing so renders the screw inaccessible so the computer can't
be removed and cannot be opened. Given that some Sun frame buffers
cost several thousand dollars, locking the machine made sense.

--
Stefaan A Eeckels
--
How's it supposed to get the respect of management if you've got just
one guy working on the project? It's much more impressive to have a
battery of programmers slaving away. -- Jeffrey Hobbs (comp.lang.tcl)

Greetings!

GREAT news! I went to Home Depot today, and I purchased a
penetrating catalyst, as a "last-ditch" effort to try to get the poor
screw out of the Sun before taking the drill to it!

I sprayed it on. About five minutes later, it came loose!

It's out! And, it turns out, I even had a screw that was the same
size, and it's back in, and all is well!

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions! This problem is fixed,
though!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Corporation | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

Hi Stefaan!

The contraption around the screw is meant to pass an anti-theft cable
through. Doing so renders the screw inaccessible so the computer can't
be removed and cannot be opened. Given that some Sun frame buffers
cost several thousand dollars, locking the machine made sense.

Ah! I wondered what the "contraption" was for! It looked like it
had a purpose beyond just as a "placeholder" for the screw! That makes
sense, I guess!

Thank you!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Corporation | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)

Congratulations on your screw removal. It's after the fact now, so for
the future benefit of everyone who has been following this thread:
another way to remove tight or boogered Philips Head / Posi-Driv
fasteners is with a hand-impact driver:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog


This tool takes a standard 3/8 drive screwdriver bit. When it is setup
in removal mode, striking the end of the tool drives the screwdriver bit
into the fastener head while at the same time imparting a
counter-clockwise torque (or clockwise if that's what you want). So long
as whatever the screw is fastening isn't too fragile, this tool will
work where almost nothing else will. Sometimes it doesn't take all that
much of a whack to make it work.

This tool is invaluable if you happen to own cars or electronic devices
made in Japan from the 60s to the 90s. Many of their Philips head
screws seemed to be made out of really soft steel, and the heads would
get scrambled rather quickly.

For the paranoid, you can also use this tool to get things extra tight.
Too tight, in fact.

Barry L. Bond wrote:
Greetings!

I have a single screw, within a black "plastic" configuration, that
holds the metal left panel of my Sun Ultra 30 computer system.

The screw went in too tight. And, in trying to remove it, I have
really seriously "messed up" the phillips head of the screw. (Stripped
didn't sound quite right to me, because, at least so far as I know, the
threads along the length of the screw [within the system] are fine. It's
the phillips head that is "stripped".)

Last weekend, I put WD-40 on it. Tonight, I am not able to remove
it.

Two different screwdrivers just almost freely move in the (what was
a) phillips hole, and there is not enough of the metal left in the
phillips "hole shape" to grab the screw enough to turn it, and remove it.
(I've tried needle-nose pliers, too, so far, it's not budging!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I recently had it open to place a second SCSI hard drive in the Sun.
And, the hard drive is in, and it's working just fine. So, at the moment,
I don't *critically* need to go inside it. But, I know the day will come
when I will want to again. I'd like to get this screw removed, and then,
replace it with a new one, and be more careful, in the future, to not get
it in so tight.

Thank you very much for any suggestions!

Barry

Congratulations on your screw removal. It's after the fact now, so for
the future benefit of everyone who has been following this thread:
another way to remove tight or boogered Philips Head / Posi-Driv
fasteners is with a hand-impact driver:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog


This tool takes a standard 3/8 drive screwdriver bit. When it is setup
in removal mode, striking the end of the tool drives the screwdriver bit
into the fastener head while at the same time imparting a
counter-clockwise torque (or clockwise if that's what you want). So long
as whatever the screw is fastening isn't too fragile, this tool will
work where almost nothing else will. Sometimes it doesn't take all that
much of a whack to make it work.

This tool is invaluable if you happen to own cars or electronic devices
made in Japan from the 60s to the 90s. Many of their Philips head
screws seemed to be made out of really soft steel, and the heads would
get scrambled rather quickly.

For the paranoid, you can also use this tool to get things extra tight.
Too tight, in fact.

Barry L. Bond wrote:
Greetings!

I have a single screw, within a black "plastic" configuration, that
holds the metal left panel of my Sun Ultra 30 computer system.

The screw went in too tight. And, in trying to remove it, I have
really seriously "messed up" the phillips head of the screw. (Stripped
didn't sound quite right to me, because, at least so far as I know, the
threads along the length of the screw [within the system] are fine. It's
the phillips head that is "stripped".)

Last weekend, I put WD-40 on it. Tonight, I am not able to remove
it.

Two different screwdrivers just almost freely move in the (what was
a) phillips hole, and there is not enough of the metal left in the
phillips "hole shape" to grab the screw enough to turn it, and remove it.
(I've tried needle-nose pliers, too, so far, it's not budging!)

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I recently had it open to place a second SCSI hard drive in the Sun.
And, the hard drive is in, and it's working just fine. So, at the moment,
I don't *critically* need to go inside it. But, I know the day will come
when I will want to again. I'd like to get this screw removed, and then,
replace it with a new one, and be more careful, in the future, to not get
it in so tight.

Thank you very much for any suggestions!

Barry

Hi, Maxodyne!

This tool takes a standard 3/8 drive screwdriver bit. When it is setup
in removal mode, striking the end of the tool drives the screwdriver bit
into the fastener head while at the same time imparting a
counter-clockwise torque (or clockwise if that's what you want). So long
as whatever the screw is fastening isn't too fragile, this tool will
work where almost nothing else will. Sometimes it doesn't take all that
much of a whack to make it work.

Wow! Striking the tool, with the bit inserted into the head, neat
idea! I appreciate your indicating such success with this tool! As soon
as I can spare a little beyond $50, I'll likely look into getting it!

Thank you!

Barry
--
Barry L. Bond | http://home.cfl.rr.com/os9barry/
Software Engineer, ITT Corporation | (My personal home web page, last
bbondATcfl.rr.com | updated February 17, 2005)