Idiot relative broke off HSF bolt in mobo

W

Weeth

Gawd
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
662
This guy is certifiably insane and he regularly pulls out his video, etc. cards while his AMD X4 is running. Now he's really taken the cake and broke the standard HSF mounting bolt so that it's stuck in the mounting hole of his mobo. Apparently there's a couple of millimeters sticking out one side, but on the other side it's broken off well inside the hole. He says he pulled out his mobo and tried drilling it out but stopped when sparks started flying (not electrical... from the collision of the bit and the chunk of bolt stuck in the hole). Should I just tell him to buy a new mobo as a stupidity penalty or is there any reasonable way to get that sucker out of there?
 
Wow.

Tell him to quit using computers.

How old is this person? In their teens right? And they think they know a lot about computers, I take it? wow, again
 
I'm not familiar with the mounting on those, but do they not use removable standoffs?
even with the bolt broken can you just not remove the whole standoff and replace it?

either way, im sure its going to take some patience and a steady hand...
 
Yeah, how old is this idiot?

Whether he's a 14 year old, or a 60 year old, tell him to STOP USING COMPUTERS....seriously.
 
Stop enabling the bad. Give him a reality check and don't help him. Lest you want to be his computer-man-slave for the rest of your life. :p
 
This moron... er... guy is in his early thirties and has a one year old baby, along with an even dumber... er... less sophisticated wife. If you ask him, he's a computer guru and he was too proud to ask for help as he knows it all already. I asked him if he could try to pry out the threaded sleeve (which apparently has split) and he says that there isn't enough sticking out on either side for him to get a grip on. Hmm... what's that I hear? New Mobo? Yeah... I think so... :(
 
He says he pulled out his mobo and tried drilling it out but stopped when sparks started flying
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hes-dead-jim.jpg
 
Friends let friends know when they are overbearing. I would ask the genius why he needs your help if he is such a master. More importantly tell the moron to stop fucking with his hardware in such a fashion he is mutilating his computer.

You don't have to go to school to know how to build a gaming rig. That doesn't mean any old bloke can pick up something like building a computer by watching fucking newegg tutorials. I'm closing in on about 5 years dealing with this shit but I am extremely modest about it and have always been a student of everything in life not always computers.

I like to tell these smartasses: "If you keep acting like you thinkyou know everything that there is to know you still have a lot to learn"
 
You guys are absolutely right. He's my brother in law and a total numbnuts so I'm trying to do my part to not just ignore my inlaws and help him out but most of my wife's side of the family is mostly as braindead as this loser. So he can go put in overtime in his minimum wage job and go buy another one... maybe this time he can try to see if the motherboard works better if it's curled over and stuffed in a PVC pipe! I wouldn't put it past him! :(
 
I think you should "help" him but tell him you need money for supplies, and overcharge a lot for them.
 
larrymoencurly said:
I think you should "help" him but tell him you need money for supplies, and overcharge a lot for them.
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Yeah, but then I'd be taking the food out of my own nephew's mouth. He's so dumb and so broke he'll probably buy a new mobo and then skip paying his rent this month.

OH NO!

Then they might get kicked out and want to move in with us!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I should GIVE him a mobo so that he doesn't even THINK about that! :(
 
Big question.
What will your wife say? Sometimes peace at home means sacrifices.
You will probably have to make an attempted fix.
Keep it straight, honest, "I can't fix everything you break, this one's too far gone."
You are not responsible when he breaks his toys.

eeewwwww, for above..
 
if there are a couple of millimeters sticking out then it may be possible to carefully cut a slot in it and then remove it with a screwdriver

you could also probably drill a hole in the bolt and use a screw removal tool.
 
munkle said:
Give him a p2 and tell him its the latest and greatest.
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He probably doesn't know the difference between his AMD X4 and an 386-SX.

wtourist said:
Big question.
What will your wife say? Sometimes peace at home means sacrifices.
You will probably have to make an attempted fix.
Keep it straight, honest, "I can't fix everything you break, this one's too far gone."
You are not responsible when he breaks his toys.

eeewwwww, for above..
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I haven't seen the mobo yet but the way its being described there is no way to rip that chunk of bolt out other than applying excessive force to the board. That's something I really don't want to do because if I break it then they (in their infinite stupidity) will think I'm responsible for replacing it.

plugwash said:
if there are a couple of millimeters sticking out then it may be possible to carefully cut a slot in it and then remove it with a screwdriver

you could also probably drill a hole in the bolt and use a screw removal tool.
Click to expand...

I really do think this one is too far gone, as I don't even think that there is enough metal sticking up out of the top of the board to cut a groove in and screwdriver it out. I understand that the top of the bolt is broken off almost to a point. As for drilling, when he tried it sparks from the friction between the bit and the metal were flying all over the board. I'm actually going to be amazed if it ever POSTs again.

exdriver said:
Can we get some pix of said mobo?
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I swear you're going to crack up when you hear this. We bought them a Canon PowerShot A560 when their kid was born to take photos and load them up on their Facebook page (we live 2 hours south of them). It wasn't even a month until Mr. Wizard decided that the camera wasn't taking pictures properly so he took it apart!!! I guess he was figuring he could oil the valve stem or replace the head gasket. :) Needless to say, he was never able to put it back together so it's now sitting in pieces in a box. However we're supposed to go up there next week so I'll see if I can take a pic and post it here so we can all have a good laugh.
 
I would tell you to have him join H so he could see what an idiot he is but then I figured why torture the rest of us....... so forget I mentioned it.
 
@wlvrne, if he ever heard of [H] I can assure you he'd come in here telling us all that we don't know crap and that he can OC a 2600K to 500 GHz by ripping off the IHS and putting an ice cube on it. Yeah, he's better off in his own little crazy world.

@exdriver, the Canon worked (in the past tense) perfectly. Maybe he was trying to find out where to load the 35 mm film. :)
 
Tell him, "no prob." A bit of epoxy can fix anything. The more, the better. Oh, if he doesn't have epoxy, caulk will get 'er done, too. Or tape. Scotch, not masking. Don't let him make THAT mistake!
 
He might be able to drill it out but may need to start with a smaller bit. And remember he is most likely trying to drill out a stainless bolt, which will be hard as hell to do. May break a few bits in the process and if he slips and hits the board it will be toast if its not already.
 
Am3 mounting? So there are still 3 other good bolts? Bolt them down, and tell him he cant use any other hsf.
 
woodscomp said:
He might be able to drill it out but may need to start with a smaller bit. And remember he is most likely trying to drill out a stainless bolt, which will be hard as hell to do. May break a few bits in the process and if he slips and hits the board it will be toast if its not already.
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Bad idea.
 
The top of the bolt is apparently so sheared off that it projects out of the mobo plane by no more than a couple of mms and it's pointy so that he's tried vise grips with no luck. I'll go over there this weekend and report first hand and definitely take pics so we can all laugh and point and confirm the fact he's a moron. :)
 
Don't AM3 boards have removable back plates that the heatsink bracket bolts to? Take out the other three screws, take the back plate off, and order a new one from .. wherever. Actually, taking the back plate off might give another 5mm of grip, if it's barely stickin above the board itself.
 
ryan_975 said:
Don't AM3 boards have removable back plates that the heatsink bracket bolts to? Take out the other three screws, take the back plate off, and order a new one from .. wherever. Actually, taking the back plate off might give another 5mm of grip, if it's barely stickin above the board itself.
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This is an AM3+ board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131735

If you look at the photos of that board, not only does it have a backing plate, but it has a big plastic ring doohickey on the CPU side that can be unbolted. I have an AM3 board at home with the same setup, which is specified by AMD as part of the AM3 form factor (it has to be standardized so that their stock heatsink setup will work on any AM3 board).

The holes in the board itself are not threaded, so unless the OP's buddy somehow jammed a much larger bolt in there, it should be a matter of removing the other three bolts holding the backing plate in and then removing the damaged bolt from the backing plate, or simply replacing the stock HSF setup with an aftermarket one, which usually comes with any necessary reinforcing plate.
 
Having not dealt with one of these boards in the past and viewing the pictures of that board I have to agree with the previous posts suggesting removing the other three screws and getting a different cooling solution. As it seems there would be no other "bolts" to go through the board with the exception of the backing plate and you did say that the broken one was underneath the backing plate. That said how did he come about breaking the bolt? Torqued that thing down playing with it he certainly may have flexed his board enough to make breaks in conductor paths rendering his board useless.
 
RazorWind said:
This is an AM3+ board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131735

If you look at the photos of that board, not only does it have a backing plate, but it has a big plastic ring doohickey on the CPU side that can be unbolted. I have an AM3 board at home with the same setup, which is specified by AMD as part of the AM3 form factor (it has to be standardized so that their stock heatsink setup will work on any AM3 board).

The holes in the board itself are not threaded, so unless the OP's buddy somehow jammed a much larger bolt in there, it should be a matter of removing the other three bolts holding the backing plate in and then removing the damaged bolt from the backing plate, or simply replacing the stock HSF setup with an aftermarket one, which usually comes with any necessary reinforcing plate.
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I was trying to allow for the possibility of a board I've not dealt with nor heard of that had the mounts embedded in the motherboard (as unlikely and impractical as that arrangement would be). That said, AMD has actually used the same setup for heatsink mounting since socket 940 (except for using two bolts into the backplate instead of four back then).
 
That guy deserves to be sent right to the geek squad for repairs. Seems like the best match for him.
 
If the part that is threaded is ok, then how about 2 vice grips. 1 on either side and twist opposite
 
CruisD64 said:
If the part that is threaded is ok, then how about 2 vice grips. 1 on either side and twist opposite
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As explained earlier there is not enough of a nub to grip with pliers, the only options in these situations is an easy out. Which is actually super easy to do if you are competent...which the OP's relative is not.
 
Hmm, a strong magnet held over the recalcitrant bolt and rotated slowly should get it the bolt to rotate right out. Tell him to google "homemade electro magnets" and build the most powerful one he can.
 
c3k said:
Hmm, a strong magnet held over the recalcitrant bolt and rotated slowly should get it the bolt to rotate right out. Tell him to google "homemade electro magnets" and build the most powerful one he can.
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You aren't going to tell him to heat the bolt and beat it with a hammer and punch?:confused:
 
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