this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2024
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Right to Repair

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Whether it be electronics, automobiles or medical equipment, the manufacturers should not be able to horde “oem” parts, render your stuff useless if you repair it with aftermarket parts, or hide schematics of their products.

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I stripped this screw in my laptop and as such can't open the back cover to replace parts.

Things I've tried: -Different size/type screwdrivers -Rubber band -Hammer -Hot glue gun

Edit: got it unsuck. Thanks everyone for the advice

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 34 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is the way.

I received some bad screws in a high-end monitor mount for medical diagnostic monitors. The tech who was mounting the monitor didn't realize, and tried to use gorilla strength to drive the screw in. He broke the head of the screw off.

The monitor in question was a brand new, $13,000 monitor. We needed it, and we couldn't wait to ship it back to the manufacturer to get the screw removed.

I got the smallest set of screw extractors I could buy, wrapped the monitor in plastic with a hole over the screw. I put a piece of tape over the hole so that everything was sealed with only the screw exposed.

I went very slow and very gentle, vacuuming up any bits of metal shavings before fully removing the screw, but it went fine.

It was quite a butt-puckering operation, but I survived it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Did the monitor also survive it?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A cheaper method is to super glue something you can turn to it.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's very hard to make sure the super glue doesn't bond the stripped screw to the case though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

True. But a teeny tiny drop on the tip of an old screwdriver will usually do the trick.