Do you use a magnetic screwdriver?

Do you use a magnetic screwdriver?

  • Yes

    Votes: 68 74.7%

  • No

    Votes: 23 25.3%
  • Total voters
    91
Yes, taking the screws out of my CNPS7000 would be super irritating without it.
 
mine is magnetic but it wasn't always that way. i'm not sure why it is now...

anyway, i've found it useful--nothing more annoying than dropping a screw in the case and having to turn the damn thing upside down to get it out. magnetism makes things much easier in such cases.
 
i use a magnetic screwdriver because it would be impossible to take out and put in various screws from my case without one
 
sometimes.

i never stick it inside a laptop. i use this little yellow extending thing with a little clamp on it to get shit out of there... and most of the time i use it regardless, as i like my other screwdrivers more (better made) than my magnetic one
 
Half the fun is in positioning the screws to their location without dropping them somewhere in the case which requires turning the entire system upside-down to retrieve the loose screw :p

I would use one if I had one, though.
 
I use a magnetic screwdriver. Been doing it for like 10 years without any problems. And if it is not magnetic, I use the builtin speaker to magnize the time of that screwdriver...
 
Installing screws in certain places in my rig, has to be the most frustrating thing ever.
Yes I use one, if I didn;t the rig might have already ended up out the window.
 
Well i use one too, but it wasnt always that way. I dont know what is up with this screw driver. Ive beaten it against the side of the case, thrown it across the room (because hitting the thing is supposed to disrupt the magnetic field or something...i know my highschool physics teacher told me that) But the thing will not stop holding on to the screws. I dont know whats goin on with that thing, but if you dont think itll be aproblem ill just count my blessings.
 
yes, all the time, even when i am installing/swapping hard drives. modern drives are pretty well shielded against external emf, and i have never had a problem.


screwdrivers have very weak magnest in them, and i dont think they have enough magnetic force to cause any problems unless you are running it back and forth across your drive for half an hour or somethign dumb like that.

there are only 3 major components that can really be damaged by magnets, floppy disks (honestly, who still uses these worthless pieces of garbage?), crt monitors and hard drives; and i dont think the magnet in a screwdriver is going to do anything at all.
 
Reikoshea said:
Well i use one too, but it wasnt always that way. I dont know what is up with this screw driver. Ive beaten it against the side of the case, thrown it across the room (because hitting the thing is supposed to disrupt the magnetic field or something...i know my highschool physics teacher told me that) But the thing will not stop holding on to the screws. I dont know whats goin on with that thing, but if you dont think itll be aproblem ill just count my blessings.
Click to expand...
You were trying to get rid of the it's um.... magnetization. Thats weird. Like the others said it cant do any harm really. The weird part is just that you went through that trouble... no other screwdrivers lying around? :p
 
compslckr said:
there are only 3 major components that can really be damaged by magnets, floppy disks (honestly, who still uses these worthless pieces of garbage?), crt monitors and hard drives; and i dont think the magnet in a screwdriver is going to do anything at all.
Click to expand...
what about ram? ive heard that can cause problems...
 
lithium726 said:
what about ram? ive heard that can cause problems...
Click to expand...

RAM doesn't store permanent data tho .... if you computer was on I could see this being a problem ... but I thought RAM was purged on boot anyway?
 
bonkrowave said:
RAM doesn't store permanent data tho .... if you computer was on I could see this being a problem ... but I thought RAM was purged on boot anyway?
Click to expand...
im not really talking about any data it holds.. rather its ability to hold data without screwing it up

more like killing the stick than losing any data. data is purged when you shut down, as RAM needs a constant voltage to store anything.
 
lithium726 said:
what about ram? ive heard that can cause problems...
Click to expand...
i think the main problem with ram is esd (electro-static discharge), not magnetism. i thought that magnets only effected mechanical storage devices.

i am going to try a quick experiment. be back in a few minutes...
 
no, I don't use a magnetic, I just don't like taking chances with anything. I fi drop a screw in a tight place, I ussually have screw tweezers for that.
 
alright i have completed my testing, and my theory stands strong

here is what went down...

i took a 128mb stick of kingston (life time warantee :) ) pc2100 ddr ram and ran a magnet from inside a hard drive (those small really strong one) over the stick of ram about 45 times on both sides in various directions. i then put the ram in my spare computer and it booted up to windows xp fine, and it seems to be stable after lanuching a bunch of programs etc.

i did the same experiment with one of those free usb flash drives that was in the hot deals forum a few days ago, and i got similar results, my data was still there and readable, and the usb drive is still accepting data and does not seem to be dropping any.

My next victim was a 3com 10/100 NIC, i ran the magnet all over the surface of the card, front and back making sure to cover every component at least a few times, when i put this back in the computer and booted up to windows xp it still worked fine and i was able to surf the net and transfer files to my other computer.

out of boredom in took the magnet to an old 2gb hard drive that had windows 95 installed on it, upon reinstalling the drive it still showed up on the post screen, but after that nothing happened, i am assuming it wiped the drive completly/almost completly, i will do some further testing later with the drive to see how much data can be restored using the software that came with my msi 6600gt (i know is wierd that a video card came with hard drive restoring software, but it did. at first i was kind of nervious, like "wow, am i going to need to use this after i install some shady drivers or something. haha".


cliff notes
---------------------

magnet did NOT effect pc2100 DDR ram
magnet did NOT effect USB flash drive
magnet did NOT effect 10/100 NIC
magnet DID effect 2gb hard drive
 
Real world testing for the win =)

On a side not .. on an older motherboard I noticed a donut shaped thing standing on end wrapped with copper wire. Now if AC current is passing through that ... would it not produce a magnetic field. Im not sure if the copper wire is insultaed or not, I know this will effect it.
 
I have never had a problem with a magnetic tip. That being said, I don't use one that will pick up a screw from 3' away. :D

 
bonkrowave said:
Real world testing for the win =)

On a side not .. on an older motherboard I noticed a donut shaped thing standing on end wrapped with copper wire. Now if AC current is passing through that ... would it not produce a magnetic field. Im not sure if the copper wire is insultaed or not, I know this will effect it.
Click to expand...
if it creates any, it would be very small.

i know what you are talking about, those things are on modern motherboard too andi cant for the life of me remember what they are (maybe alternators...) but they are not coiled nearly enough to create a magnetic feild anywhere near to taht of even a weak magnet. they also tend to make nosies sometimes :p
 
it is, but i dunno if a magnet could screw up the addresses.

and no i didnt have any...ive only got the one phillips head. The other is a drill and id rather not use that while working on my computer.
 
bonkrowave said:
Real world testing for the win =)

donut shaped thing standing on end wrapped with copper wire
Click to expand...

I know one thing about those dont go near when powers on

I was takin apart playstation an left power on (doh)

Boy did that thing get smashed
 
Reikoshea said:
it is, but i dunno if a magnet could screw up the addresses.

and no i didnt have any...ive only got the one phillips head. The other is a drill and id rather not use that while working on my computer.
Click to expand...

Why not drill some speed holes into your processor? ;)
 
I use magnetic screwdivers and don't use antistatic wrist bands. THose are the biggest wast of money and the STUPIDEST invention ever. I bet you if you rub you feet on the floor, draw up a bunch of static electricity and touch the memory, it won;t do shit ;)
 
Bugalaman said:
I use magnetic screwdivers and don't use antistatic wrist bands. THose are the biggest wast of money and the STUPIDEST invention ever. I bet you if you rub you feet on the floor, draw up a bunch of static electricity and touch the memory, it won;t do shit ;)
Click to expand...

hmmmm, sounds like another real world test might be in order...
 
there is alot of hardware laying around my dorm, i want to try this real world test on a stick of pc100 ram or something i don't care about too much. maybe this weekend when i go home i will see how much of an esd jolt the stick of ram can take.


my sister has a trampoline, and i remember getting some wicked static shocks from that thing, i will run around on it with my socks on then zap the ram then test it, maybe i can get a video of it
 
compslckr said:
there is alot of hardware laying around my dorm, i want to try this real world test on a stick of pc100 ram or something i don't care about too much. maybe this weekend when i go home i will see how much of an esd jolt the stick of ram can take.


my sister has a trampoline, and i remember getting some wicked static shocks from that thing, i will run around on it with my socks on then zap the ram then test it, maybe i can get a video of it
Click to expand...

I think I would be willing to pay for that video, dont worry about the "real world testing", the humour value alone would be worth it. =)
 
compslckr said:
they are called inductors, i remember doing a lab with them in applied electronics back in highschool (seems much longer ago than last year heh)
Click to expand...

Right, they're inductors.

On your motherboard, they're part of the programmable switching supplies that generates the lower voltages for the processor, memory, and so on. (Your processor runs on 1.6v, but there's no 1.6v rail on your power supply. So where's that software-selectable, regulated voltage come from?)
 
yep... and it even is a ratcheting screwdriver...

Yeah, I know I'm :cool:
 
compslckr said:
hmmmm, sounds like another real world test might be in order...
Click to expand...
I have walked around with RAM+paper in my pocket all day (whoops!). RAM was good when tested, kinda shocked me...

edit: OK, I missed the bus, what's the joke with drilling holes in procs?

 
Phoenix86 said:
I have walked around with RAM+paper in my pocket all day (whoops!). RAM was good when tested, kinda shocked me...

edit: OK, I missed the bus, what's the joke with drilling holes in procs?

Click to expand...

Its from a Simpsons episode. The mob is after Homer and when he goes to a used car lot, they shoot at him and hit the car hes looking at. The dealer then tells him they are speed holes, and they make the car go faster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top