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Farking loctite!

V

vjcsmoke

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
4,511
So I'm trying to disassemble my GTX 480 video cards but there are a few stubborn screws left (2-3 on each card) that won't come loose. I noticed that there is some blue powder around the thread of the screws I've removed. Conclusion - evga/nvidia has applied blue loctite to the screw threads. Is there any way I can safely remove/dissolve the loctite? Cos I risk stripping the screwheads trying to loosen the remaining screws at this point.

I have a precision screwdriver from radioshack that has both phillips #0 and phillips #00 heads. If anyone has a solution to the problem, please let me know! If I can't remove these last screws, I can't install my new waterblocks. :(
 
Yup, someone on EVGA forums pointed this out a few weeks ago - loctite on the screws. The 480s are a bitch to get open, judging from a number of posts over there. Wish I remembered the advice on what to do about it.
 
you are lucky it's blue, cuz if it were green, well...

I've used a high wattage soldering iron (the pistol type) to remove the bolts and strip my GTX 480
Touch the tip of the soldering iron to the head of the screw and allow the heat to work into the area, then remove the screw while it's still hot.

Oh yes, you have to be careful and be quick, what I did was heat one screw, remove it, and allow the card to cool down before attempting to remove the other screw, well what can i say, i wasn't in a hurry :p
 
will acetone not work to remove it? i bet it will, and it's harmless to the card, not to mention it dries almost instantaneously
 
Yeah it is really easy, you go get your self a full size bit driver and a phillips #1 bit, the screws will come out like butter, no stripped threads, no stripped heads etc.
 
nobody_here said:
will acetone not work to remove it? i bet it will, and it's harmless to the card, not to mention it dries almost instantaneously
Click to expand...

Won't acetone hurt the pcb plastic? Because otherwise, I think it will be pretty easy to find acetone based nail polish remover.

I've also been considering odorless mineral spirits and liquid wrench penetrating oil as well but I'd have to goto the hardware store and I don't know how toxic those substances would be.

I'm thinking I just put it around the screwhead and wait for it to leak down into the threads or what?

leSLIe said:
you are lucky it's blue, cuz if it were green, well...

I've used a high wattage soldering iron (the pistol type) to remove the bolts and strip my GTX 480
Touch the tip of the soldering iron to the head of the screw and allow the heat to work into the area, then remove the screw while it's still hot.

Oh yes, you have to be careful and be quick, what I did was heat one screw, remove it, and allow the card to cool down before attempting to remove the other screw, well what can i say, i wasn't in a hurry :p
Click to expand...

I don't have a soldering iron. But if I had one I would try it. Hopefully I can get this done just with chemicals but i don't know what chemical would be safe with the pcb plastic.
 
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vjcsmoke said:
Won't acetone hurt the pcb plastic? Because otherwise, I think it will be pretty easy to find acetone based nail polish remover.

I've also been considering odorless mineral spirits and liquid wrench penetrating oil as well but I'd have to goto the hardware store and I don't know how toxic those substances would be.

I'm thinking I just put it around the screwhead and wait for it to leak down into the threads or what?



I don't have a soldering iron. But if I had one I would try it. Hopefully I can get this done just with chemicals but i don't know what chemical would be safe with the pcb plastic.
Click to expand...

im telling you from experience, from years of doing voltmods to video cards with electric trace pens, acetone does nothing to the pcb or components in the way we are describing its use, and yes, i am talking about standard get from your sisters bathroom fingernail polish remover
 
I tried the solder gun and the screws still aren't budging It seems to me like the gun isn't getting hot enough or something. This is what I used:

037103200600lg.jpg

http://www.lowes.com/pd_123251-273-...-_-Weller Electric 25-Watt Soldering Iron Kit

It's supposed to get up to 750F. But I dunno it doesn't seem to heat up the screws very much. I'm almost at my wits end here. I am hesitant to use the screw extractor because i'm afraid using it might damage stuff. What am I going to do here?

http://homerepair.about.com/od/interiorhomerepair/ss/screw_extractor.htm
 
Any way to get a picture posted up to see? Might be able to make some suggestions based on what we see...
 
Mickey21 said:
Any way to get a picture posted up to see? Might be able to make some suggestions based on what we see...
Click to expand...

You got it. Here's a look at the back of the GTX480 and the tools I've got assembled: soldering iron, modular driver with Phillips head driver bit, and the screw remover bit.
gtx480backside.jpg


Here's a closeup of some loctite covered screws I removed from the 480. The screw extractor appears to be too big for the screw so I'm wary of using it.
gtx480screws.jpg


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loctite-Glue-Remover-Gel-80000655/dp/B0001P0DKG
Click to expand...
That sounds excellent, will it be safe to use on my video card's PCB? Why is this sold only in the UK?? Grrr.
 
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So I did a lot of research on finding a solvent that would dissolve the loctite when I stumbled upon this solution. Parfix 1122 Debonder also more commonly known as Nitromethane!
nitromethane.jpg


As you may be aware, nitromethane is more commonly used in rocket fuel and drag car racing fuel because of its highly explosive nature. However apparently it is also an excellent chemical debonder of cyanoacrylates. Which are known by the more common names of krazy glue, super glue, or loctite.

So I ordered a 2 oz bottle of Nitro and it just arrived today!
nitromethanebottle.jpg

It's time to NUKE that loctite!! :D
Will post updates later. Hopefully with great results! (and no explosions *fingers crossed*)
 
I ran into the same problem with my 470 at the very last damn screw. At that time, it was pretty much the point of no return for me.

Being the impatient person that I am, I just broke out the drill and used the appropriate bit to take out that little bastard. I can't stress enough that you have to be really careful. One slip and your board will be ruined.

Good to know about the Nitromethane. The drill should really be a last resort. Depending on what the OP reports back, I'll probably order a can myself for the future.
 
Typically if you have the correct sized screw driver (meaning it fills the entire slot without wiggling but not oversized) then with enough downward pressure it should come out no problem. You'll hear a click when the glue breaks and then you're set. If you've already tried unscrewing it and you've destroyed the head you might be out of luck.
 
Impact driver works really well. Just don't know if I would use one on a video card. :D
 
Insert the obligatory, "just install the card, its Fermi, it will heat itself up and release the loctite" joke here :). Look at the up side, its not the permanent red type.
 
I'm dealing with the same issue and would like to know if you've figured it out
 
Kwisatz Haderach said:
Insert the obligatory, "just install the card, its Fermi, it will heat itself up and release the loctite" joke here :). Look at the up side, its not the permanent red type.
Click to expand...

Yea, I used to put blue-loctite on other small screw parts and never had issues unscrewing them ...

I did strip out a screw on my GTX280 (with no loctite) and had to take a dremel to it. Luckily It had a backplate which took most of the abuse.
 
Find a friend with an impact driver (not an impact wrench). They'll come right off.
 
Finally had to take my 480s to a pc repair service to get the screws removed. They were too stripped to unscrew. And solvent just couldn't get down into the threads because the screwhead was flush to the pcb. The screws had to be drilled out. Gotta give a shout out to my man Terry who works at Prizmatek. Without his work, I'd still be stuck with those damn screws. He does good, fast work. I would definitely recommend him.

PS Will put a pic up of the waterblocked cards after dinner. :)
 
Ok here are the pictures as promised:

This is what a disassembled GTX 480 looks like.
gtx480disassembled.jpg


This is a cleaned up Nvidia GF100 gpu core AKA Fermi.
gtx480gpucore.jpg


Both waterblocks mounted on the 480s and ready to go!
gtx480waterblocksmounted.jpg
 
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