On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:40:15 GMT, kony wrote:

SInce the heads on these screws are probably protruding
above the casing, a high-tolernace pair of needle-nose
pliers might be used to turn them.

A small pair of vice grips can also be used.

Other alternatives
include using a high acid silver solder plus a clean torx
bit, soldering the torx bit into the screw head (Or at least
making an impression of the screw head even if they dont'
mechanically join.

I would be afraid of burning something.

He might try JB Weld overnight epoxy. That stuf is strong enough to
repair an engine block

I have to wonder what gain there is in getting these screws
out though, if the drive is scrap anyway and they can't RMA
it, then maybe using a drill press to drill the head off is
enough.

They aren't going to RMA a drive that has obviously been tampered
with.

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:03:00 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 18:40:15 GMT, kony wrote:

SInce the heads on these screws are probably protruding
above the casing, a high-tolernace pair of needle-nose
pliers might be used to turn them.

A small pair of vice grips can also be used.

Perhaps, but all the vice grips I've seen had so much play
in them it might be hard to grip the screws- drive screws
usually dont' stick up much.



Other alternatives
include using a high acid silver solder plus a clean torx
bit, soldering the torx bit into the screw head (Or at least
making an impression of the screw head even if they dont'
mechanically join.

I would be afraid of burning something.

Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.



He might try JB Weld overnight epoxy. That stuf is strong enough to
repair an engine block

Yes that might work, providing at least one of the surfaces
is roughened up some with some sandpaper. Even JDWeld
doesn't do too well in high-torque situations on smooth
surfaces.



I have to wonder what gain there is in getting these screws
out though, if the drive is scrap anyway and they can't RMA
it, then maybe using a drill press to drill the head off is
enough.

They aren't going to RMA a drive that has obviously been tampered
with.


.... but it has already, the screw head is already stripped.

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:43:23 GMT, kony wrote:

I would be afraid of burning something.

Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.

You still have to heat the screw at least to the melting point of the
silver solder for it to stick.

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 07:07:23 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:43:23 GMT, kony wrote:

I would be afraid of burning something.

Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.

You still have to heat the screw at least to the melting point of the
silver solder for it to stick.


Yes, but if the case is metal that shouldn't matter.
Heating and contraction (after cooling) might even help to
free it if it's stuck in a dissimilar metal case. It may
not be necessary to heat the screw though, I wasn't only
considering trying to solder the bit to the screw, but also
that if the bit with molten solder is inserted in the screw
head, the solder will still cool to the shape of the screw
head even if it doesn't adhere to it... and it was one of
the reasons I suggested silver solder (or something else
other than tin/lead) as it is tougher than std tin/lead.

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 11:34:22 GMT, kony wrote:

Yes, but if the case is metal that shouldn't matter.
Heating and contraction (after cooling) might even help to
free it if it's stuck in a dissimilar metal case. It may
not be necessary to heat the screw though,

That's how I usually free up screws - heat the thing the screw is in.

if the bit with molten solder is inserted in the screw
head, the solder will still cool to the shape of the screw
head even if it doesn't adhere to it... and it was one of
the reasons I suggested silver solder (or something else
other than tin/lead) as it is tougher than std tin/lead.

I have never tried that. It may just work. If so, then you do not need
to heat the screw - just melt a drop of silver solder above the screw
and let it fall into the head of the screw.

kony wrote:

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 07:07:23 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:43:23 GMT, kony wrote:

I would be afraid of burning something.

Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.

You still have to heat the screw at least to the melting point of the
silver solder for it to stick.


Yes, but if the case is metal that shouldn't matter.

snip

Am I missing something?

While the case might be metal, there's a good chance that some of
the internal components aren't... Heat those up and your drive is
dead in the water!

Notan

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:20:07 -0600, Notan
wrote:


Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.

You still have to heat the screw at least to the melting point of the
silver solder for it to stick.


Yes, but if the case is metal that shouldn't matter.

snip

Am I missing something?

Yes, you're missing that heat density high enough to melt
solder on a bit will not heat up and entire drive enough to
damage it. Ever noticed that things can be soldered and the
rest of the board isn't trash afterwards? Same situation,
except that it's an order of magnitude harder to heat up a
giant hunk of metal enough to do damage.


While the case might be metal, there's a good chance that some of
the internal components aren't... Heat those up and your drive is
dead in the water!

If someone has never soldered anything large in their entire
life, this certainly isn't the best project to start out
with... but generally speaking, it's rather trivial to heat
up a piece and not have it heat up a giant block of metal
connected by a mere millimeter or two of loose contact, very
much at all in the time it takes to melt a little solder.

kony wrote:

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:20:07 -0600, Notan
wrote:

Naw, the entire drive shell is a pretty massive 'sink... all
you have to do is get the bit above the melting point of the
solder and that can even be done before it's inserted into
the screwhead.

You still have to heat the screw at least to the melting point of the
silver solder for it to stick.


Yes, but if the case is metal that shouldn't matter.

snip

Am I missing something?

Yes, you're missing that heat density high enough to melt
solder on a bit will not heat up and entire drive enough to
damage it. Ever noticed that things can be soldered and the
rest of the board isn't trash afterwards? Same situation,
except that it's an order of magnitude harder to heat up a
giant hunk of metal enough to do damage.


While the case might be metal, there's a good chance that some of
the internal components aren't... Heat those up and your drive is
dead in the water!

If someone has never soldered anything large in their entire
life, this certainly isn't the best project to start out
with... but generally speaking, it's rather trivial to heat
up a piece and not have it heat up a giant block of metal
connected by a mere millimeter or two of loose contact, very
much at all in the time it takes to melt a little solder.

I used to design, and build, printed circuit boards, so I'm more
than casually familiar with soldering techniques! g

What I'm not familiar with is the design of *this* particular hard
drive enclosure. Are sheet metal or machine screws used? Are they
driven into plastic or some type of threaded metal?

See where I'm going?

Notan