misthreaded motherboard screws

[wansurfer]

Some chuckle head (not me!) used screws with the wrong thread to fasten a motherboard to the brass standoffs that are fastened to a steel case. I suspect a powered screw driver was used, too. D: If I try to remove the screws from the motherboard they and the brass standoffs just spin together. Some times a brass standoff will unscrew a little bit but then its thread pops and stops unscrewing. Looks like either most of the threads on the standoffs are stripped or the matching threads on the case are stripped. I think if I tried to drill out the screws they would just spin with the drill bit like earlier when I tried to unscrew them with a screwdriver. No, this motherboard and case aren't worth the trouble but this is an opportunity for learning. Any suggestions for unmounting the motherboard from the case?

 

[Braxos]

Drill the back screws from the tower.
Remove the mb, then hold the one side unscrew the other.
Cases are cheaper then MB normaly

 

[Blain]

Remove the side panel that covers the bottom of the MB tray.
Hold the brass threads with needle nosed pliers while turning out the screw from the MB.

 

[wansurfer]

Drill the back screws from the tower. Remove the mb, then hold the one side unscrew the other. Cases are cheaper then MB normaly

I'll think this may work- drilling out the brass standoffs from the backside of the motherboard tray. Drilling may strip the threads in the holes of the motherboard tray for the standoffs but I may be able to find some little nuts and lock washers to secure new standoffs if I want to keep using the same case. I know doing that is not worth the money for the trouble but still I like thinking about it. :sneaky:

Remove the side panel that covers the bottom of the MB tray. Hold the brass threads with needle nosed pliers while turning out the screw from the MB.

I tried this already and my needle nose pliers have teeth. When I tried to remove the screw from the standoff the standoff just spun with the screw and I stripped the threads off the end of the brass standoff. The darn thing still wouldn't unscrew from the case. That's why I suspect a powered screwdriver was used to put the screws in the standoffs. Maybe I will try your suggestion again if I can find a better way to grip the threads of the standoffs.

 

[Braxos]

Try ice on a bag and put them over the screws for long time and they may get a little smaller, enought to screw them

Or was it fire on a bag?

 

[dma0991]

Wedge in a slim wrench underneath the motherboard to grip the hexagonal shaped brass standoffs. Might work for the sides but it will be tricky with ones in the middle. Doable with a needle nose pliers but less effective compared to a wrench.

 

[Braxos]

Try drilling the screws from the back with a very small drill. Drill should have half size of the screws, then with a small screwdriver bend the rest of the screw.

 

[Doougin]

ive had problems with this and usually if u just keep unscrewing them while pulling up on the edge of the motherboard the stand offs come up with the mother board then u just hold the standoffs with pliers or a wrench and unscrew them. if its cross threaded it may be a lil tough unscrewing them from the standoffs. tho if the standoffs are stripped and not the holes in the mb tray then new standoffs will screw right in. if its the motherboard tray holes stripped ull need nuts for the standoffs on the otherside of the mb tray.

 

[wansurfer]

Try ice on a bag and put them over the screws for long time and they may get a little smaller, enought to screw them. Or was it fire on a bag?

Cold shrinks.

Wedge in a slim wrench underneath the motherboard to grip the hexagonal shaped brass standoffs. Might work for the sides but it will be tricky with ones in the middle. Doable with a needle nose pliers but less effective compared to a wrench.

I tried that, too, with needle nose pliers. Even with teeth gripping the hexagons the pliers didn't stop the standoffs from spinning.

Try drilling the screws from the back with a very small drill. Drill should have half size of the screws, then with a small screwdriver bend the rest of the screw.

I did this but I didn't have a drill that was as small as you recommended. Keeping the drill bit centered on the back of the standoff was a challenge. I successfully drilled out all of the standoffs but damaged the threads in two of the holes of the motherboard tray enough that the replacement standoffs are loose and I need a couple small nuts to secure them to the tray. After I separated the motherboard from the tray I used vice grips and a screw driver to unscrew the screws from the brass standoffs.

ive had problems with this and usually if u just keep unscrewing them while pulling up on the edge of the motherboard the stand offs come up with the mother board then u just hold the standoffs with pliers or a wrench and unscrew them. if its cross threaded it may be a lil tough unscrewing them from the standoffs. tho if the standoffs are stripped and not the holes in the mb tray then new standoffs will screw right in. if its the motherboard tray holes stripped ull need nuts for the standoffs on the otherside of the mb tray.

Before drilling I tired this, too- some prying while trying to unscrew the standoffs with the motherboard still attached. This worked on two standoffs but the others didn't keep unscrewing. Plus I was worried I might flex the motherboard too much.


Where can I find some little nuts and maybe some lock washers for securing a couple standoffs? Seems like in the past brick and mortar hardware stores may have had something like this but I've asked for some small nuts at a couple places recently and there weren't any as small as what I need. I may be able to find a place online that sells what I want but when trying odd things like this it helps if I can easily return the product if that's needed. Maybe I will have to buy something from www.boltdepot.com

 

[aigomorla]

remove the board with the standoff entirely. (use torque and the standoff should unscrew off the case if the screw is overthreaded..)

then take a needlenose... remove the standoff while using a driver on the screw head...

You need to remove the board with the standoff still attached, unless ur lucky and its an outer standoff.

Once u pull that standoff off... its going to be hell trying to get it off without a needle nose.

I tried that, too, with needle nose pliers. Even with teeth gripping the hexagons the pliers didn't stop the standoffs from spinning.

did u remove the entire board first?

Option 2... goto a hardware store with your stand off.
Get a hex nut driver to match standoff diameter.

use 2 drivers... ^ on the standoff.. a regular one on the screw.. and pull it off.

 

[Rvenger]

A pair of needle nose pliers and what aigomorla has above. Clamp down on the brass stand off and unscrew.

 

[ehume]

A small open end wrench can immobilize the standoff while you unscrew the mb screws around the periphery. I have some 30-35 year old ignition wrenches I use for small things, but small wrenches are out there. A standoff is, about 5mm, right?

If the screws won't come out, you can turn the wrench to unscrew each standoff from the motherboard.

That center screw will be . . . interesting, though, if you do not have a cpu window so your wrench will reach the center standoff. You can always tape a wrench to the end of a screwdriver (or even a stick) to immobilize the center standoff if you do not have a cpu window to work with.

 

[wansurfer]

I did unscrew everything. Though, still sharing your ideas for fixing this in case anybody else is looking for more ideas is ok, of course. Below is a quote of when I stated I fixed it in case anybody missed it.

Keeping the drill bit centered on the back of the standoff was a challenge. I successfully drilled out all of the standoffs but damaged the threads in two of the holes of the motherboard tray enough that the replacement standoffs are loose and I need a couple small nuts to secure them to the tray. After I separated the motherboard from the tray I used vice grips and a screw driver to unscrew the screws from the brass standoffs.

That worked for me but I didn't have a wide variety of tools to work with. The other suggestions may work very well for somebody else.

I mentioned I damaged the threads in two of the holes in the motherboard tray. Two brass standoffs are a bit loose in the tray. I was looking for some small nuts and maybe lock washers to put on the brass standoffs to help secure them to the tray but these standoffs have fine threads. Looks like a 4-40 sized nut should fit but the thread on the standoff is more like a 42 or 45, maybe. Somebody at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Radio Shack helped me look for a nut that would fit but we couldn't find one.

This is an old motherboard and case so chances are low that the case will be needed for any other motherboard. Maybe I should just use epoxy and glue the two brass standoffs to the tray. Or, if I could find an old broken optical disc drive that has matching threads I could cut out the threaded holes from the metal shell and make the cut out parts in to something like a nut. Recently I just tossed out an optical disc drive that had a burned out circuit board but I didn't think of this earlier and now I can't get the drive back.

 

[Braxos]

There are screwdrives that look like ice pick u can use it to mark the drilling hole. And the other is what is worth more to destroy. Normaly lots of cases are worth 30-60 but MB are priced twice as the case plus you can use/sell the MB with cpu ram psu all combinations so destroying the case is the cheapest way. Except when is a premium case or MB is defective allready.
But nice work

 

[aigomorla]

Dremel the top screw off..

that would be the final and most dangerous solution.

The ring feet holding the board will break off if ur able to dremel most of center portion.

 

[mindless1]

Where can I find some little nuts and maybe some lock washers for securing a couple standoffs? Seems like in the past brick and mortar hardware stores may have had something like this but I've asked for some small nuts at a couple places recently and there weren't any as small as what I need. I may be able to find a place online that sells what I want but when trying odd things like this it helps if I can easily return the product if that's needed. Maybe I will have to buy something from www.boltdepot.com

Standoffs are usually 6-32 thread or less often, 4-40 thread. These are very common nuts you can usually find in small $1 to $2 packets at any larger hardware store. Sometimes they come with the matching bolts or screws, don't rule those packets out.

I suspect boltdepot would charge more for shipping alone than the entire order + shipping would cost if you bought them off eBay.