You're kidding, right? You've managed to broke all four screws on the back end of the drive? How???

Spiffles wrote on 2022-10-06, 12:55:

Hey, so I was mounting the 5.25'' floppy drive I had just picked up into a case, and it just so happened that screws on both sides of the back pair of mounting holes broke on me, as in got totally beheaded. I tried removing what was left using pliers, and even a drill-driver, but to no avail. What would you suggest? I was thinking of soldering a good screw to the stump and trying to just screw it out afterwards, but will a solder endure the torque?

Upload some photos, what methods are suitable depends on how much is left of the screws and so on 😀

kixs wrote on 2022-10-06, 13:08:

You're kidding, right? You've managed to broke all four screws on the back end of the drive? How???

No, just two. The front two ones went in fine (as in: left and right), but the two on the back broke off.

kaputnik wrote on 2022-10-06, 13:14:

Upload some photos, what methods are suitable depends on how much is left of the screws and so on 😀

Not much to say, really - about 1-2mm of the screw sticks out. On the opposite end, it broke right at the surface, with nothing much sticking out.

Spiffles wrote on 2022-10-06, 14:05:

https://i.postimg.cc/nrqF1tJQ/screw.jpg […]
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kaputnik wrote on 2022-10-06, 13:14:

Upload some photos, what methods are suitable depends on how much is left of the screws and so on 😀

Not much to say, really - about 1-2mm of the screw sticks out. On the opposite end, it broke right at the surface, with nothing much sticking out.

Urgh, that's basically as bad as it gets, broken more or less flush with the surface in a recess. No easy task even for someone with years of workshop experience 🙁 Assuming there's no way to get to the screws from the other side?

I'd mark the center of the broken screws with a center punch as guide, and drill them out with a 2.5mm bit (assuming they're 6-32 or M3 screws), preferably in a drill press if you have one available. If you can file the fracture surface flat first, it's easier to find the center. Drill on low rpm using a sharp bit and light pressure. Don't hurry, patience is key. Looks like the drive chassis is made from cast aluminum or zinc, both of which are much softer than the screw. You don't want the drill bit to slip, if it does it's basically game over.

Removal of the remains of the screw and cleaning up the internal thread can be done with a corresponding tap.

If you can remove the drive from the case, it might also be possible to simply hammer a sharp small slotted screw driver deep enough into the screws to get a grip, and remove them. No telling how the sensitive mechanics in the drive will react to the shocks though, and there's also a possibility that the cast metal cracks.

Best bet is access from the other side if there is enough screw poking out to hold onto. If there isn't, file down the top and use another hole or maybe try to drill it out...

Perhaps a small drill will help.
Best is to have a drill that works in reverse direction - try a left hand drills with 1 mm for metal (so called screw extractors).

I have a pretty nice drill that can spin very slowly if need be. I think I'll try soldering a fully funcitonal screw to either end and screwing out the combined thread and see if that gets me anywhere.

One of the screws does poke out a bit over the drive's surface, but I haven't been able to get a strong enough grip on it that wouldn't slip because of the torque needed to screw it out 🙁

If it broke from torque like being cross threaded you are screwed, and need to drill it out and put a helicoil in there.

But if it was over tightened and snapped, you can use the head that broke off as a bit for removing it (since it is the exact shape of the break)

Past that, use a dremmel to cut a slot and use a flat head.

Welding a small nut to it is also possible, decent chance you can get the nut to weld without bonding to the aluminum. One quick tack.

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-10-06, 18:39:

If it broke from torque like being cross threaded you are screwed, and need to drill it out and put a helicoil in there. […]
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If it broke from torque like being cross threaded you are screwed, and need to drill it out and put a helicoil in there.

But if it was over tightened and snapped, you can use the head that broke off as a bit for removing it (since it is the exact shape of the break)

Past that, use a dremmel to cut a slot and use a flat head.

Welding a small nut to it is also possible, decent chance you can get the nut to weld without bonding to the aluminum. One quick tack.

Both times the screw heads snapped off from over-tightening, but the screws were never even close to being fully in. In fact there shouldn't be that much screw inside the apertures on either side. There is a way to access the holes from the inside, but I know better than to try and drive a screw from the other side - it won't push out the broken one, that's not how it works, is it? haha

Spiffles wrote on 2022-10-06, 19:43:

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-10-06, 18:39:

If it broke from torque like being cross threaded you are screwed, and need to drill it out and put a helicoil in there. […]
Show full quote

If it broke from torque like being cross threaded you are screwed, and need to drill it out and put a helicoil in there.

But if it was over tightened and snapped, you can use the head that broke off as a bit for removing it (since it is the exact shape of the break)

Past that, use a dremmel to cut a slot and use a flat head.

Welding a small nut to it is also possible, decent chance you can get the nut to weld without bonding to the aluminum. One quick tack.

Both times the screw heads snapped off from over-tightening, but the screws were never even close to being fully in. In fact there shouldn't be that much screw inside the apertures on either side. There is a way to access the holes from the inside, but I know better than to try and drive a screw from the other side - it won't push out the broken one, that's not how it works, is it? haha

I would try to use a pick and see if you can just back it out, its amazing how many times that has worked for me if the heads snapped off from over-tightening.

If there is plenty of room inside the chassis its also easiest to just drive the screw out the backside.

Spiffles wrote on 2022-10-06, 18:11:

I have a pretty nice drill that can spin very slowly if need be. I think I'll try soldering a fully funcitonal screw to either end and screwing out the combined thread and see if that gets me anywhere.

One of the screws does poke out a bit over the drive's surface, but I haven't been able to get a strong enough grip on it that wouldn't slip because of the torque needed to screw it out 🙁

Try soldering on an M3 or M4 nut instead if you insist on trying that method. Just put the nut on top, and fill the hole with solder. It'll be hard to heat it all enough to avoid cold joints though. Acid based liquid flux might make it a bit easier.

Locking pliers might work on the protruding screw. Worth a try, and a couple of those should be in every toolbox anyways, they're incredibly useful 😀

you can try easy outs. few of my computers some drives are held in with like 1-2 screws not 4 and they are finger tight basically and have never fallen out.

its not like theres grimlins inside trying to tear hardware apart while its lifting off to the moon, its just sitting there doing nothing and its undisturbed.

Try to get less crappy screws next time.

Last time something like that happened to me was when I got new feet for a sofa bed and the bundled wood screws turned out to be utter shite. I don't know what sub-human excuse for primordial soup signed off on that bundle, but clearly he or she should have abstained. Nuff said.

Crappy screws suck.

Warlord wrote on 2022-10-07, 02:47:

you can try easy outs. few of my computers some drives are held in with like 1-2 screws not 4 and they are finger tight basically and have never fallen out.

its not like theres grimlins inside trying to tear hardware apart while its lifting off to the moon, its just sitting there doing nothing and its undisturbed.

That's what I'm forced to do. The drive will be stable enough held just by two screws, provided it's not suspended in the air, but resting on something instead. I plan to make sure that's the case. The drive has probably found its final resting place there, so it's not like this is super urgent, but I'm pretty sure it'll be eating away at me until I take care of it haha

Aight folks you won't believe what I actually did.

Drilled all the way throughthe stuck screws, managed to get it done mostly in the same places too. Then I tapped the newly drilled holes by forcing good-quality screws into them. Actually fricking worked! Now I've got two perfectly good screw holes, waiting to mount this baby for when the front panel whitens.

Lucky

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-10-13, 23:01:

Lucky

Yeah, I guess it would never have worked with a newer drive, since those ol' 5.25'' drives seem like they're made of a soft metal, so it's easy to tap in them.