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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Everblue on January 06, 2009, 07:04:14 PM

Title: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Everblue on January 06, 2009, 07:04:14 PM
Tomorrow I will be getting an amiga 500 for free which needs floppy drive replacement. I have been told that it has torx screws so its a good idea to buy an approppriate screwdriver.

Anyone knows which bit size I will need?

Cheers


E'Blue
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Speelgoedmannetje on January 06, 2009, 07:25:14 PM
Just a normal sized cross-head screwdriver one use with any default PC casing
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Everblue on January 06, 2009, 07:37:36 PM
Thats not torx.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: HyAmi on January 06, 2009, 07:57:26 PM
Quote

Everblue wrote:
Thats not torx.


That, my friend, is a correct observation. You won't need torx unless you receive an A500 that had the normal screws replaced with torx screws.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Flashlab on January 06, 2009, 08:00:54 PM
Quote

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
Just a normal sized cross-head screwdriver one use with any default PC casing


I believe the English name is philips head. And yes that's what you should need if the screws are original. My 500 had philips head screws.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Naton on January 06, 2009, 08:32:11 PM
get a multi-headed screwdriver with all the torx sizes, so you don't have to hunt down the exact one (although I think A500's have T10 torx screws). Just type torx screwdriver into ebay, you can find sets for around 10 bucks.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: amigan24 on January 06, 2009, 08:50:05 PM
I have 4 a500 machines and they all have torx screws. As far as the size I'm not sure (at work).

Boss is coming..

 :cry:
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Everblue on January 06, 2009, 09:06:38 PM
According to this article, torx number 10 is needed:

http://www.matarese.com/matarese-files/10229/directions-convert-your-amiga-cartridge/index.html
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Jope on January 06, 2009, 09:46:58 PM
Quote

Flashlab wrote:And yes that's what you should need if the screws are original. My 500 had philips head screws.


And my first A500 had torx screws from day one. Not as common as phillips screwed ones, but I've seen plenty with torxes in my time.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: rkauer on January 06, 2009, 10:47:03 PM
 All A500 I saw, had and have use the torx head screws.

 Type 2.5, if I recall correctly (metric system).
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: tone007 on January 07, 2009, 01:15:57 AM
Commodore used whatever screws they got cheapest that week.

I've got a mix of torx and phillips in my various 500s.  Even a couple of flatheads inside the case of one.

All the floppies seem to use phillips though.

No excuse not to have a whole set of torx screwdrivers these days, anyway.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: chiark on January 07, 2009, 09:34:37 AM
I think the UK almost always used torx screws for 500s...  My very first 500 (1.2/red power led) had them, 1.3 500s had them, the 500 plus had them.  I used to work at a couple of shops as a saturday job and occasionally repair 500s, and I seem to recall it was always torx on the 500s...  Could be wrong tho :-D

As above, get a set as they're dirt cheap from places like Maplins (not sure which country you're in, but there'll be some cheapo tool place near you ;-) )
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: yssing on January 07, 2009, 10:16:32 AM
well actually, you don't need s screwdriver. Almost anything can be opend with a big hammer.. Later it can be put together with lots of glue.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: DrDekker on January 07, 2009, 12:48:42 PM
If you haven't got a torx to hand, a small flat bladed screwdriver usually does the job.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Everblue on January 07, 2009, 03:06:25 PM
Ok I got 2 x A500s today.

On one of them, ALL SCREWS were torx.

On the other, screws on the outside were normal, inside, torx.

I used torx #10 to unscrew.
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: TjLaZer on January 07, 2009, 03:51:43 PM
It's funny.  I still have my original Craftsman Torx T10 that I bought back in like 1990 to be able to open up my A500 to do the 1MB Chip hack!
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: AmigaHeretic on January 07, 2009, 07:09:20 PM
If you get an A500 with Torx screws it will be a Torx T-10.

Or if you happen to have one of those small Swiss Army knifes, then the end of the nail file works perfect to open up an A500.  It will fit right into the T-10 screw head.

(http://media.rei.com/media/s/1451028.jpg)


edit:

Posted to late, see you already got it.  Swiss army knife use to be great for opening an A500 in an emergency though!!

Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Zac67 on January 07, 2009, 09:42:49 PM
Very strange - I repaired a couple of (dozens) of A500s back in the early 90s. None of them had torx screws - it seems C= Germany didn't use them, but many 500s came from elsewhere.  :-?
Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: AmigaHeretic on January 07, 2009, 10:35:32 PM
Quote

Zac67 wrote:
Very strange - I repaired a couple of (dozens) of A500s back in the early 90s. None of them had torx screws - it seems C= Germany didn't use them, but many 500s came from elsewhere.  :-?


Only ones I ever played with were here in the U.S. and if I had to try to remember where they were made I would have to say the Philipines, but not sure.

I think the A1200s here had normal screws which was pretty exciting at the time.

I sure my A1000 had normal screws, A1200, A2000 of course.  So remembering back I think it was just the A500s here.

I learned the Swiss Army knife trick from another Amiga user back in the day.  I thought all Amiga users had to use the Swiss Army knife trick!

Even to this day when I see those little knives I always think, Torx T10!!

Title: Re: Opening an Amiga 500 - which Torx?
Post by: Naton on January 07, 2009, 11:22:54 PM
@AmigaHeretic

That's funny, when I first opened my A500 I used a nail file because it's the only thing I could find. It wasn't from a Swiss army knife but none the less :-)