Help! I'm 'screwed'!!!

[Argo]

You might just have to desolder it from the topside.
Then again you could take it to a computer shop or electronics shop to see what they can do.

[Cyberus]

I was just starting to think that myself actually!

edit: It's all a bit of an annoyance though, I've been waiting to sort out the A4000 for a few months now, I'd ordered the 3.1 ROMS, which have now arrived, got a Cyberstorm MkII to put  in there which I haven't used yet, and thought I'd finally get it up and running this weekend....oh well
Thanks for the suggestions ppl

[Karlos]

I'd go with a combination of suggestions here.

1) Tape over the mobo around the affected area, cover a good section.

2) Use double sided tape - any filings that land on it will just stay put :-)

3) Cut a new head into the screw - less metal shavings than drilling it into oblivion.

4) Use a vacuum cleaner nozzle right where you are cutting

5) Give the whole thing a damn good clean afterwards

That should minimize risk of rogue filings shorting something later.

[Floid]

WD40 is actually, IMHO, the stuff to use.  Keep it off porous parts (ceramic capacitors) or anything you're worried about losing the printing on if you're paranoid.  The only downside (as far as I'm concerned) is that it's not that great of a lubricant or penetrant (actually being a Water Displacer), and of course you don't want to get it on moving parts or potentiometers or anything like that.

The worst part is that, given that it is volatile and will mostly just evaporate away in a month, the hardware will reek like WD-40 when warm until it's all gone.

(Yes, I know people differ with me on this, but I'd like to see an example of a PCB 'ruined' by WD-40 that wasn't doomed otherwise...  They put these things through soldering ovens, hose them down with all kinds of fluxes/flux-removers, install them under the hood of your car without a problem, and a few petroleum distillates are going to be worse than  battery leakage etching through the board? ... or the risk of trying to hold that drill or Dremel steady? ;-))

---

Another option is to use a nut-driver instead of a screwdriver, if these are 'computer screws' of the sort that accept one... and that hasn't been tried already.  It's amazing how much more leverage one of those things usually gives you, since you can press down a bit and loosen any 'freeze' to the threads without the risk of sending a sharp point or chisel skittering across the board.

Edit:  Ah, okay, they're probably not that style.  So one more thought -- get a few small Allen wrenches of a size that just fits the stripped-up hole(s) -- at least in the US, they can usually be had singly at a hardware store for less than $1 each, and some fast-set epoxy.  Very carefully apply a *small* blob of epoxy to either the allen wrench or the screw, match the two up, and hold it until it can stand on its own, then let it cure for as long as you can stand.  Now when you go to twist the Allen wrench, the worst that can happen is the epoxy will snap from the screw head and you'll be no worse than you started.  (This does assume the holes are stripped enough to cram in an allen wrench thick enough to not just bend.)

[huronking]

They do make penetrants precisely for that type of job.

I agree that the dremel will probably be the solution in the end.

Since A4000s are not terribly easy to replace, I would put off the job and shop around abit for some appropriate chemical spray for the job. CRC-226 is a little greasy, but GIBBS works well and dries clean enough to spray paint on.

On second thought, you could probably do without my advice
altogether, but I am bored and cant get back to sleep.  :-D  :-D  :-D

[adolescent]

Don't bother.  Just get some angle cutters and cut the thing off.  Then you can easily desolder the legs left there.  It's much easier then removing the entire motherboard, especially given your situation.

[vpcs]

I had the same problem with My A3000. I used a dremell with a cutting disk and scored a slot on each screw then extracted with a regular screw driver. Just go slow and carefull.It worked fine for me..

[DanDude]

Get a drill and a few brand new bits that are just the size of the next screwhole of the motherboard.  

Carefully drill the screw out.  Do not drill at high speed.  I know this is time-consuming but best if you avoid a catastrophe if you slip all of a sudden.

Vacuum all parts & dirt after done BEFORE lifting the motherboard away from the chassis.


Hmm...think I should get my pics done & uploaded after I posted my battery replacement tutorial...

[KptAmiga]

I'm with adolescent here: just get either an angle cutter or a side cutter and cut the solder points from the top side. I've personally used this method with all of my Amigas.