Can't remove wireless card

Merlin5 · 1 Mar 2016 at 00:16

Hi chaps. I very kindly got sent a better wi-fi card a while back by a member from here, and have just gotten around to taking my laptop apart to remove mine and install the new one. I popped the aerial connectors off easily, but there's a screw which won't budge at all, it's really really tight! Also the phillips head on the screw is knackered and it didn't take much effort to get it like that. I'm able to get my smallest flat head screwdriver in which is about 2mm wide, and it seems to grip but can't turn it. I read that Dell use loctite on their screws, don't know if that's true. Any suggestions? I've got a cordless drill but don't know if I can buy any screwdriver bits small enough.

bremen1874 · 1 Mar 2016 at 00:55

Two popular methods are:

Superglue the screwdriver tip to the screw.
Insert an elastic band between the screwdriver tip and the screw head.

The most important thing it to have the corrrect screwdriver size and tip type (Phillips/Pozidriv). Get it wrong and you can butcher the screwhead.

CaNsA · 1 Mar 2016 at 00:58

Seeing as the crossheads have been chewing it up, I'd be using a small flat head driver in there with a decent amount of pressure.

Then I'd replace the screw.

Werewolf · 1 Mar 2016 at 02:26

Silly question, I can't tell from the picture but is it a round headed screw or a mini version of the nut heads you get on computer cases etc?

If it's a hex/nut head you can probably use a socket to get it off.

CaNsA · 1 Mar 2016 at 03:01

Werewolf said:
Silly question, I can't tell from the picture but is it a round headed screw or a mini version of the nut heads you get on computer cases etc?

If it's a hex/nut head you can probably use a socket to get it off.

2nd pic clearly shows is a round headed screw.

bledd · 1 Mar 2016 at 07:46

Use a small hacksaw to make a groove in it (tape a tissue or something down to catch all of the metal filings!)

then find a flat head bit that fits and use an electric screwdriver in hammer mode on strength 1. the hammering should knock the loctite loose.

In future, buy a screwdriver that is the correct type.

There are 3 main types of screwdriver head.. flat, philips and pozidrive. If you use the wrong type, you damage the screwdriver and the screw.

Werewolf · 1 Mar 2016 at 10:07

bledd. said:
In future, buy a screwdriver that is the correct type.

There are 3 main types of screwdriver head.. flat, philips and pozidrive. If you use the wrong type, you damage the screwdriver and the screw.

Very true, I've ended up buying several sets of good screwdriver bits of various sizes as sometimes I found that a cheap bit of the wrong type feels like it's fitting when it doesn't (not properly), and cheap bits of the right type tend to break/tear up when the screw is tight or locked.

bledd · 1 Mar 2016 at 13:05

For reference, the sizes on a laptop are likely to vary from PH 00, 0, 1

Can't really go wrong with these three sets.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-Compu...=1456837493&sr=8-3&keywords=lindy+screwdriver

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-Compu...147_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WRRA8TB22R3910ZC073

Merlin5 · 1 Mar 2016 at 16:14

Thanks for the tips guys. Bledd, I'll try my hacksaw. Do you have any link to screwdriver bits to fit into my new cordless hammer drill?

ANDARIAL · 1 Mar 2016 at 16:24

Buy yourself a screw extractor from a diy shop
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toolzone-Pi...6849549&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=screw+extracter

bledd · 1 Mar 2016 at 17:43

Or this is there's space http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00...+extractor&dpPl=1&dpID=31JeK758vLL&ref=plSrch

Merlin5 · 1 Mar 2016 at 20:16

ANDARIAL said:
Buy yourself a screw extractor from a diy shop
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toolzone-Pi...6849549&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=screw+extracter

Would this work better? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Screw-...481159?hash=item28043828c7:g:5TAAAOSw-vlVkSAm

I watched a video of someone using one of these where one end drills the screw head bigger and the other end screws into it and extracts it. The only thing is if the smallest one will fit because this screw is very small.

ANDARIAL · 1 Mar 2016 at 20:39

Havn`t used one of those but i have successfully used a screw extractor to do exactly what you want( had a borked head on a wlan card screw)
Type i used was sort of like a sharp 2 bladed screwdriver bit that bit into the mangled head in reverse (my explanation sucks)
EDIT
This is the kit I used
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4PCS-Scre...007388?hash=item41a2f78f9c:g:vR4AAOSwwPhWlGCY

Merlin5 · 1 Mar 2016 at 21:00

ANDARIAL said:
Havn`t used one of those but i have successfully used a screw extractor to do exactly what you want( had a borked head on a wlan card screw)
Type i used was sort of like a sharp 2 bladed screwdriver bit that bit into the mangled head in reverse (my explanation sucks)
EDIT
This is the kit I used
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4PCS-Scre...007388?hash=item41a2f78f9c:g:vR4AAOSwwPhWlGCY

So that screw on your wlan card would be as small as mine, right?

ANDARIAL · 1 Mar 2016 at 21:02

Merlin5 said:
So that screw on your wlan card would be as small as mine, right?

Yes it was a small standard size laptop screw,i chewed the head cos it was so tight

Put the smallest bit from that kit into a handle/holder and the screw came out sweet as a nut

Merlin5 · 2 Apr 2016 at 01:59

Update guys. With pics!

I didn't buy a screw extractor in the end. I decided to try and drill it out with my cordless. My old HSS drill bits didn't make much of a dent though except make a crater shape in the screw head. So I bought some cobalt drill bits in 2 and 2.5mm. The 2.5mm cut easily through and removed the offending screwhead.

That left a screw thread stump I couldn't grip. I decided to use the smaller 2mm bit and put the drill in reverse. This somehow unthreaded the stump sufficiently for me to get my finger around and finish unthreading it.

I was then able to finally install the new dual band N 7260 wi-fi card that Moogleys very kindly donated to me in November, and screw it down with one of the other screws from my laptop. If it's not screwed down, it springs up at you. Such an easy job, yet so hard because of that screw.

Downloaded the correct Windows 7 Intel wireless driver for it and got connected on the 5Ghz band. Basically, with my old Centrino N 1030 card I was only getting 40 to 60MB/s wireless on my laptop, but now getting my max speed, the same I get if it was tethered to ethernet. Well pleased!

bremen1874 · 2 Apr 2016 at 02:13

Nice that you've got it working.

From the state of the screw head in the final image you still don't appear to own a screwdriver of the correct size.

Merlin5 · 2 Apr 2016 at 02:52

bremen1874 said:
Nice that you've got it working.

From the state of the screw head in the final image you still don't appear to own a screwdriver of the correct size.

Hmm, I didn't notice that the head was looking rough. I've just got one of those small jeweller type sets with 3 flat heads and 3 phillips. I think I used the larger sized phillips which is what is ruining the heads.

Scougar · 3 Apr 2016 at 00:34

I would have tried a small pair of mole grips first, or make a smaller socket fit on top of the screw.

Anyway... glad you got it sorted.