Please Help Remove stuck motherboard screw

[opeeum69]

One of the screws on my motherboard is stuck with the motherboard support pin; the two are like glued to each other. Using the screw driver doesn't help because the screw is always spinning with the support pin. Please feel free to suggest any ways to get the screw out. (This is for a case with no removable motherboard tray so I can't unscrew the mobo support pin from the back; I have no drill, so I can't drill it through either) Thank you's.

P.S. Fingers crossed on not having to go to a technician: last trip cost me 20 bucks to take out a screw with completely wiped flat grooves, and that case had a removable mobo tray too, sigh...

 

[MrStryker]

Usually I take the board out, leaving the stuck motherboard standoffs on it. Then I take needlenose pliers and unscrew it myself. I hope you know what I meant!

 

[Jest3r]

It sounds to me like you are going to have to borrow a drill, or take it to a technician. Certain bits are used by technicians to get these screws out, and usually doesn't take much time.

 

[Blazer7]

In the past I've experienced this problem twice. I was lucky both times and got away with it using pliers and a screwdriver. A drill will also do the trick but it's more dangerous and you should use it only as a last resort.

After this I've started using thumbscrews.

 

[Big Lar]

OK, Try this carefully if you have not allready. Remove All other screws holding the board down, start slowly turning the offending screw out while Pulling up on the mobo with,"A Very Slight Amount Of Pressure" as in Very Slight. Too much pressure and the board cracks/breaks and it just cost you a ton of $$. Do this at your OWN Risk tho. I cannot be held responsible for anything that happens

Good Luck!

Larry

edit; If it does not start unscrewing right away, try something else.

 

[opeeum69]

k thanks MrStryker, Jest3r, Blazer7, and Big Lar, will try do it myself with Big Lar's method first; hopefully it'll come off =)

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had a motherboard that I "glued" into the ATX case, by using the wrong-threaded screws to attach it to the standoffs. So my attempts to unscrew the screws just lead to the screws spinning in place. I left the mobo in that case and just bought another case. Sad, I know.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I had a motherboard that I "glued" into the ATX case, by using the wrong-threaded screws to attach it to the standoffs. So my attempts to unscrew the screws just lead to the screws spinning in place. I left the mobo in that case and just bought another case. Sad, I know.

I've noticed that different cases, with different standoffs, have different thread specs. It pays to know the difference between 6-32 and other screw-threads. [Gee, Larry -- you're about the last person I'd think would screw the pooch on this one!]

For the OP, it may already have been said-- if you can get the board out of the mobo-pan with the standoff still attached, and IF the phillips-head slots aren't damaged, some good pliers and a very good phillips screwdriver, together with a steady hand might do the trick. But if the thread specs on the screw and the standoff were different to begin with as with Larry's nightmare . . . . Good Luck!

On the stripped screw-hole in a perfectly good removeable motherboard tray -- you can get by with only 8 screws securing the mobo. Or -- if you can't find a standoff with a wider thread-spec and a drill-bit-and-tap kit ($5 -- Sears) that matches it, you can tap a new threaded hole. Barring that, you can always try fitting a nut to the standoff threads from under the mobo-pan. [But I hate that -- I hate it. And often, there aren't enough threads left of the standoff to grab the nut. If you go that route, dab the nut with some Pit-Stop or GOOP adhesive to keep it from coming loose. Last thing you want floating around inside your computer case is a loose nut. Plenty of us loose nuts already here in the forums . . . . ]

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Loose nut here,
I hope you are able to remove the screw but, I just have to comment that it sounds like some of you are using air tools to build your boxes! I've been building for a lot of years and have never cross threaded a screw. I always check that all the screws match first and match the thread of the standoff. It sounds like you need to slow down.

 

[Big Lar]

" I just have to comment that it sounds like some of you are using air tools to build your boxes!"

LOL!!

Larry

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Loose nut here,
I hope you are able to remove the screw but, I just have to comment that it sounds like some of you are using air tools to build your boxes! I've been building for a lot of years and have never cross threaded a screw. I always check that all the screws match first and match the thread of the standoff. It sounds like you need to slow down.

Yeah, I made an assumption that all of the mobo standoffs used the narrow-thread screws, and that wasn't correct. I now double-check which screws fit into the standoffs, before building. It seems that some cases can come with either.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Plenty of us loose nuts already here in the forums . . . .

 

[gpse]

Originally posted by: MrStryker
Usually I take the board out, leaving the stuck motherboard standoffs on it. Then I take needlenose pliers and unscrew it myself. I hope you know what I meant!

bingo thats exactly what I did to get a stuck standoff off when I was in that situation.

 

[QuixoticOne]

Apply some gentle to moderate upward / outward "pulling" to the screw head while you unscrew it.
Often your fingers can work. Otherwise a pair of carefully used needle nose pliers or a small vise-grips locked onto the screw head will work well (don't slip!).

Sometimes you can just screw it back down a turn or so while pushing the screw sideways to sort of shift which thread the bolt is mated to and thus cure the unscrewing problem.

It is a decent idea to test install and remove the screws into the corresponding stand-offs before you install the motherboard. Even when you're using the "correct" screw/stand-off combination, a percentage of them will be malformed and just not thread in or out smoothly. Sometimes a screw that works in one stand-off won't work well in another due to slight mechanical variances.