Bottom Door Screws Stripped (M11x R1) HELP!

I received my 500gb hard drive in the mail a month ago or so. Cloning the older hard drive didn't go as planned. I ended up taking the back door off several times to exchange hard drives that day. Finally, the last time I was screwing the back door closed I noticed the screws were starting to get stripped. Some of them I can't even turn anymore. The screw driver won't get any grip. Not all are like this, just a few. I called customer support an hour ago and he's sending me a replacement back door with screws. He also said if that doesn't work I should send it to them to get the screws and or chassis replaced (he said for free, but I'm not sure). It would take a little longer since the M11x is known to have a hinge problem (I have no such issue right now) and it would need to be looked at. I guess my question is how do I know if the screws are stripped or if the hole the screws go into is stripped? The back door was pretty snug after I discovered the screws were stripped, but tonight I noticed it's starting to get loose on one side. That's what prompted me to call customer service. Anybody have any helpful advice? Any would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Likely your case has issues. If no warranty on that then you might have to get creative. Good news? There isnt a lot of tension so it should be doable.

Obviously if under warranty its better to let them sort it. I do not think a replacement panel will fix your issue based on the description.

 

Go onto ebay, bottom covers are about 15$ brand new.

 

I am under warranty. The rep ordered the back door last night and a technician will call me Friday-ish to make an appointment. If that doesn't work I will send it in I guess. I'll have do a little work to get the back door open (If the technician can't) so I can take my hard drive out. I've always heard you should take whatever you bought out of he computer before you send it to repair. I'm sure there's some homemade things I can do to fix it. Not sure what though.

I'm under warranty and I'm getting one for free. I just hope it's fixes everything.

 

I dont see the connection to your problem and a replacement panel but hope it works out.

 

replacement panel wont help. that was a waste, if i understand right its your case thats stripped, right? if so your gonna need to make a mixture of water and sugar, blend it together, and put it on the screw and screw it in. the sugar water acts as a locktight and gives better grip. either that or find something else that does the same thing.

 

So are the heads of the screws stripped?

Or do they just keep spinning when you try to tighten / loosen them?

 

I used a screw driver and a rubber band for a stripped screw. Place the rubber band on the tip of the screw driver and it adds friction. WOrks for me.

Source.

 

The screw heads are stripped. I was just wondering if the chassis happens to be stripped too because some of the screws aren't flush with the back door. I talked to my dad and he said the back door is probably loose because the screw heads are stripped and since the screw heads are stripped I can't tighten the back door all the way. He said the chassis is probably made of aluminum and the sockets are pretty hard to strip with tiny screws. He's not an expert on computers at all (far from it), but he's worked on aircraft for over twenty years, so I trust him. I think a new back door with screws will fix my issue. I just don't want the looseness to get worse. I go to college and the laptop will travel often. I can't have the back door coming open in the middle of class. So the whole point of the thread was just looking for people's advice on whether they thought the looseness was because of the screw heads being stripped or because the chassis sockets were stripped. Maybe I just suck at describing situations.

 

Ahhhh well then I can see now that new screws are maybe all you need. Yeah description was ok but the self doubt was misleading. My guess is that you have a screw driver or bit that isn't quite the right size and/or misthreaded a few making them hard to turn.

Inspect threads on screws and case carefully for damage and shavings. Screws should be easy to turn until almost fully seated

 

I work as an aircraft mechanic and when we have trouble with screws we use automotive valve grinding compound. You can get it at any auto store and it comes in a small can. It contains graphite that gets into the worn areas and gives you some grip.

 

Silver screws on bottom panel is garbage compared to good ol black ones.

Strips too easily even you have a good grip with a screw driver.

A field tech visit made it my screws being close to stripped, so I called Dell and asked them to send extra screws. They did end up sending me the whole panel, but I didn't compain about it. All I had to do was get the screws off the new panel, and replace it on the original panel.

 

Hopefully the back door fixes everything. I'm not sure if I should try to get the screws out myself or let the tech guy do it. I don't want him giving up or breaking something then I would have to send it off to Alienware.

 

Let the tech take them out. He has the correct sized screw drivers for this.

Most of the stripped screw problems people are having is due to a improper screwdriver size being used to remove the screws.

I have removed my bottom plate about 80 times ( I clean the insides every week, and various mods/hdd changes) All of my screws are still in perfect shape.

 

I'm not gonna see you on Discovery any time soon am I? Worn parts and aircraft mechanicals don't really go together

 

I've stripped the threads (not the head) of one screw and Dell's depot service has stripped another. They've sent me one with my bottom cover screws replaced with longer, non-captive screws (they will fall out when you flip it over instead of remaining attached to the panel).

That's not the kind of "fix" you're hoping for.

If you, too, are talking about stripped threads and not a stripped head, you can dab a little rubber cement on the threads of the stripped one and it will not rattle around anymore.

 

No, just for taking out old worn screws. Luckily my airline has lots of new screws in bins for us.

 

That sounds like an extremely crappy situation. Did they not offer to replace the chassis or brackets where you stripped the threads?

 

Oddly, the one I stripped appeared to be fixed somehow and they stripped a different one. There were some other minor unresolved issues and so they actually replaced my r1 with an r3. Ultimately, they made everything more than right.

 

Why can't that happen to me? That's awesome man! I just got a call confirming my appointment today. Hopefully this guy (or girl) can fix my problem.

 

The Dell tech came, saw, and conquered. Problem fixed and case closed! He did push real hard on a screw on the front side and the laptop flipped a bit. It made a loud boom. I started it up and it said I needed to repair Windows. I'm guessing he tripped the free fall protection. I started Windows normally and it's working fine. Thanks everybody for helping me out! And I just my new Logitech G700 in the mail today. On top of the world! Haha.

 

Sorry to bring back an old thread but i just had a quick question to the OP.

Im just wondering if you had the regular warranty with your laptop or did you get the premier support warranty? Im going through the same problem but the tech i spoke to was an a** and did not want to help me out at all.