Who Screws the Screws?

[Looselectronics]

Has anyone come across a pedal with screws so tight it seems like they were glued in place?

I recently got a great audio interface made by Orange but it suddenly went bad. When I tried to open it up the screws absolutely would not budge. Any advice?

[Chuck H]

Has anyone come across a pedal with screws so tight it seems like they were glued in place?

I recently got a great audio interface made by Orange but it suddenly went bad. When I tried to open it up the screws absolutely would not budge. Any advice?

Heat them by sticking the tip of your soldering iron on the head. If they were CA'd in place that'll help crack them loose. Otherwise it will expand the metal and temporarily tighten them. But then they'll often break easier once they cool. And I'm bad about this because I don't replace my tools often enough, but a new phillips head screw driver will grab a lot more secure in the head than a rounded old one giving you more ability to force the matter without damage to the screw.

[Enzo]

So many tricks of the trade...

Sometimes tightening a screw ever so slightly will crack it free, then you can back it out.

SOmetimes Tapping the handle end of your driver as you apply some turn will start it loose.

Put your driver in the head, and hold a solder iron against it near the top to apply heat to the screw.

[The Dude]

I've run into this before- even worse when someone has stripped the heads out leaving you nothing to grab onto. I'll take a dremel tool and grind a slot in the screw head(s) and use a straight slot screwdriver to get them out. Then, just toss them and install new ones when you reassemble it.

[eschertron]

Chuck beat me to the 'size matters' point, but it bears repeating. It only took me 30 years to realize that a properly-sized screwdriver in a well-made (not junk) screw will fit with absolutely no gap; the firm contact allows much more torque to be applied without fear of stripping. Otherwise the screw gets turned into a tiny metal martini glass.

Once you've sized the screwdriver to the application and still no joy, the heat* treatment can work a treat!

edit: *or other

[Enzo]

Done that many times^^^

[Enzo]

esch makes a good point too.

Not all crosspoint drivers are phillips. Phillips do come in sizes, and folks way often use too small a size. But there are also posidrive, and Reed-Prince (Frearson). There is also a Japanese standard I forget the name of. It LOOKS like a phillips, but is not. It has a little dot next to the hole. We see it often in the machine screws in Japanese products.

[g1]

I have one of those impact drivers that you tap on with a hammer, but it's not great for smaller stuff.
I sometimes use a bit, held by mini-visegrip, and tap with a small hobby hammer as I apply turning pressure.

One thing I did come across, which I don't suspect for your Orange product, was fake screws molded into a plastic casing.

[eschertron]

esch makes a good point too.

Not all crosspoint drivers are phillips. Phillips do come in sizes, and folks way often use too small a size. But there are also posidrive, and Reed-Prince (Frearson). There is also a Japanese standard I forget the name of. It LOOKS like a phillips, but is not. It has a little dot next to the hole. We see it often in the machine screws in Japanese products.

I have a few phillips-head drivers that I ground the tip off of so that they would fit 'better' in a Reed-Prince screw. Saved my butt many times.

I have a hunch that many of the screws in the offshore equipment I ran into (mostly in the 80s, 90s) were fabricated by the same folks who made the imported sockets, etc., found in K-Mart and others. Close to being in tolerance, but not close enough to actually work as designed.

[Chuck H]

There is also a Japanese standard I forget the name of. It LOOKS like a phillips, but is not. It has a little dot next to the hole. We see it often in the machine screws in Japanese products.

I always wondered what the heck that was about. Fortunately the Japanese seem to use good quality metal for the screws so I haven't had a problem with yet

[Chuck H]

I have a few phillips-head drivers that I ground the tip off of so that they would fit 'better' in a Reed-Prince screw. Saved my butt many times.

I have a hunch that many of the screws in the offshore equipment I ran into (mostly in the 80s, 90s) were fabricated by the same folks who made the imported sockets, etc., found in K-Mart and others. Close to being in tolerance, but not close enough to actually work as designed.

Wow! This goes deep. I thought the stuff that didn't fit was just crappy stuff. Ya' know, because that happens. I didn't know there wasn't a standard for cross point screws because I've NEVER seen a reference to one other than the standard Phillips.?.

[Jazz P Bass]

Good reading: http://thevalleywoodworker.blogspot....-phillips.html

[Dave H]

I thought the stuff that didn't fit was just crappy stuff. Ya' know, because that happens. I didn't know there wasn't a standard for cross point screws because I've NEVER seen a reference to one other than the standard Phillips.?.

Orange cross head screws are probably Pozidriv therefore a Pozidriv bit should be used not a Phillips. A Phillips bit will fit in a Pozidriv screw but slips out before it's fully tight.

Phillips on the left, Posidriv on the right

[Enzo]

When I first noticed the dot on Japanese screws I thought it just meant metric, but I later learned their driver is shaped different.

Oh Chuck, there is a world of screw slots out there. Decades ago I learned the difference between Bristol and Spline, and took an interest in the subject. When I was in the coin-operated amusements world, I added security screws to my "hobby". We all should know clutch heads from old Ampeg.

Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

[Chuck H]

Well, yes. But I always thought the obviously odd shaped cross screws were just rare and odd. "You gotta buy a special tool for that". I don't do repairs so it never came up often enough to matter, much. Though there have been times when it did and I was at a loss I managed somehow. But to learn that probably 30% of the problematic "Phillips" screws I've encountered weren't even Phillips and that there was a proper fitting tool is absolutely news to me. I never thought the ratio could be that high.