Woah, I just took a drill to my MacBook

[XP Defector]

Some of you may remember me having difficulties removing one of the screws that keeps that metal thing between the battery and the ram in place. Well, it threaded the first screwdrivers I used, so I ordered carbon tipped professional ones. They came today, and still no joy - the screw was stuck fast. So I decideded enough was enough and went and got my hand drill. I drilled it into a fine dust and now it bothers me no more; installation of the RAM went fine (so far so good anyway).

I swear though, it was a horrible feeling drilling the insides of this delicate little thing. I'll post a picture up later on.

This is a picture of what it is supposed to look like.

Note the scew has gone.

Ouch!

So far so good...

 

[mrthieme]

I know what you mean.

 

[cliffrouse11bas]

Yes, Please post pictures.

 

[bwanac]

is that a hand drill?

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

is that a hand drill?

You are an absolute genius.

 

[ITASOR]

is that a hand drill?

I was going to ask the same thing. That must have taken forever and must have been very hard to do.

 

[dr_lha]

I had to do the same thing on my 12" PB when the HD died. I learned a valuable lesson that day, and that is to get a decent screwdriver when dissabling a beloved computer, rather than a one from a $1.99 set from Walmart that causes the heads to get mashed.

 

[Fearless Leader]

you are a brave <looks at hand drill> possibly crazy person.

 

[mac-convert]

It might be a bit late here, but I have reamed out cross-point screws in the past, but a few times I was able to use a flat tip driver that spanned the grooves that were left, and was able to remove it that way.

Sounds like this one was a real bear, though. Nice job! The next upgrade won't be as hard, eh?

 

[XP Defector]

Hopefully not no!

PS

It only took around three minutes of careful drilling for the screw to disappear. Although an extremely anxious procedure, it was overall not that bad.

 

[neyoung]

must have taken a steady hand and nerves of steel.

 

[Cult Follower]

There's no way I would have done that, I would have been too scared.

 

[Willis]

If you cant do it... find someone else so they can mash their screwdrivers

ie... Apple Store lol

 

[AlBDamned]

That's quality work mate. I had the same issue with a hard drive retaining bracket screw, but managed to get the drive out without removing it. Would like to at some stage though - especially now that I can see even a hand drill can do it.

 

[XP Defector]

Cheers. Drilling screws out is the last resort, but sometimes it is necessary. My dad said I should have sprayed some WD40 onto the screw, but I didn't want that stuff getting into any of the electrics.

The whole thing made me wonder how MacBooks are actually produced in terms of assembly. Are they put together by machines? If so, I suppose that would explain the chance of screws being screwed in far too tightly. Like I said, the other two screws came out with no problems at all.

 

[lavrishevo]

Cheers. Drilling screws out is the last resort, but sometimes it is necessary. My dad said I should have sprayed some WD40 onto the screw, but I didn't want that stuff getting into any of the electrics.

The whole thing made me wonder how MacBooks are actually produced in terms of assembly. Are they put together by machines? If so, I suppose that would explain the chance of screws being screwed in far too tightly. Like I said, the other two screws came out with no problems at all.

You are not the only one. I had to fight to get my screws out as well. I was able to get them out without having to drill it but it took way to much force, kind of scary during the process. With experience rebuilding engines I know how important it is to torque down parts to the correct amount of ft. pounds but for those screws it was ridicules.

 

[Scorpius]

Ouch - I'd have been scared to death pointing that drill at the notebook. One small slip and...

Well, I hate even thinking about it.