This is has come up a number of times in my work, where I had to remove a piece of equipment from a rack at a customer site, data center what have you.
Usually it’ll be some rackmount equipment like a network switch and the screws holding the device in have their heads destroyed so you can’t remove them or during the process of removing the screws, whether with manual screwdriver or power driver/drill, it gets stripped.
previously for this, but finally broke the bit last year (inside the screw head!!) and at that site I had to use my dremel to cut the head of the screw off. Luckily this office was closed down and it was just the last few items so I didn’t have to worry about the sparks and metal bits causing a problem with running equipment.
So this came up again at a site, the previous techs had install the wallmount rack and installed several 2U trays for equipment. I needed to move one only to find out screw heads were stripped. I eventually with lots of hard effort got them all removed, but it was total pain doing it all manually.
I did run over to home depot and they had a Ryobi kit
I have been known to use a drill, and drill the head of the screw off,
remove said item, and most of the time, the remaining portion of the screw
comes out easily.
First I try using large Visegrips on the screw head to try to twist out the screw. You success with this does depend on the screw head shape and unfortunately most are shallow pan heads so not always easy to get a grip. It can make a mess of the rack ear but that may not be an issue…
If that doesn’t work then I drill the screw head head off (so use a drill slightly bigger than the diameter of the screw) and that lets you get the equipment removed…
Then I’ll try some of the following options
Try to remove the remaining screw stud from behind using pliers. This is not always feasible as it depends on the access you have. Normally the screw is loose enough at this point for removal.
Abandon the hole an move equipment up/down a U space. This isn’t always an option or desirable though.
Use a small drill to drill a hole into the remaining screw stud and use an extractor to remove the stud. The problem I have found is that the small extractors often break if the screw stud is tightly held in.
Use a small drill to remove most of the remaining screw and then use a tap to remove the screw remains in the thread.This drill needs to be small enough to remove the screw but not the threads on the rack…
I’m not sure about a kit for this purpose but all you really need is a drill kit, tap set and perhaps some extractors and you should be able to get all at KMS.
Generally in production environments I want to avoid small bits of metal so
drilling the head off (or using the dremel) is not a good option so being
able to remove the stripped screw properly is my preference, hence need for a
good toolset.
When a screw is stripped, seldomly there is a properly. There is what ever it takes to get it to work. Even a screw extractor requires some drilling.
The issue as was stated about with small easy outs, is that they snap easily. And once that hardened metal is in there, drilling that bit out can be next to impossible.
A small shop va or dust buster could be used to contain swarf when you are drilling out screws.
The site I was at last week had the rack mounted about 9ft above the ground
so getting a vaccuum up there while also trying to drill out the screws would
have been far from safe…
Ladders only there, if they had (and there was room for) a scissor lift, that
would have been a different matter.
I’ve always used one of two things before having to commit major property damage to release the screw.
if its only moderately stripped then a hand/manual impact driver (and a hammer) has served me well over the years, I don’t seen to use it often but it has gotten some messed up bolts loose. I inherited one years ago and the brand markings had worn off so I can’t recommend a brand. Kind of loud because you hit it with a hammer but no material removal required.
if you have to go to a drilling (the head has strait up unless or broken off but you need to remove the rest of the screw) the only set of screw extractors that I’ve seen work consistently are made by Rigid and I’ve only seen them sold at ackland grangers. Model 10 Screw Extractor Set | RIDGID Tools.
my use is limited but I’ve seen it get out a bolt where the head snapped off because someone over tightened the thing.
Heat / Freeze cycles sometimes help. One of those tiny torches with the heat directly applied to the fastener head, followed by “canned freezer” has worked for me in the past. Then there’s alumina grit based compound like EZGrip…
I use a large-ist magnet wrapped in a sheet of paper to catch the burrs from drilling, which you always have to do, drilling that is, when using a screw removal tool. Just stick the magnet right beside where you are drilling. Once done drilling, grab the wrapped magnet, walk over a dust bin, deftly slide the magnet out of the paper, and voila! Burrs are secured.
Good luck finding a good screw extractor in these days and age… Maybe Lee Valleys Tools?
These are combination of things I use and found actually working
Use Center punch to mark a center of screw if Head is Already broken or if head is a slot as oppose to fillips.
Left-hand drill bit, yes they are exist - internet is your friend. Right hand is ok too.
Use EZ out/Easy Out screw extractor of appropriate size.
Alternative is to place a nut on top of broken screw and use welder to weld it to the screw top by welding in center of nut. After nut is firmly welded to a screw/bolt heat the part with torch and start rocking the bolt by turning the nut you just welded on.
If you need to remove screw from something expensive like a motorcycle engine block - KNOW WHEN TO STOP/NOT TO START your own effort and go to thread repair shop. This way it will be cheaper because the charge double for bodged repair attempt, haha. They use special electrical erosion system that burns almost all screw with electrode under stream of water mixed with some crap.