At 11:12 AM 10/1/2001, Greenamyer, William L wrote:
>Got to digging into the AFM again.  Seems that the screws have been glued
>in.  Has anyone else who has messed with the circuit board had a similar
>problem and if so, how did you get the screws out without stripping them?
>Seems that the screws are not as strong a metal as the screwdriver and it
>just tears the screw heads up.  Big problem.

Try some heat -- soldering iron on the screw, with a big drop of solder for
contact area; or a pinpoint torch.  BIG CAVEAT:  The plate is ceramic, this
might crack it, especially using a torch.

Might grind off the heads -- once the plate is out of the way you can get
more physical with the remains of the screws.  A Dremel tool with a cutoff
wheel is excellent for this.

In general (a bit late at this point) making sure that the driver is the
correct size and in good shape, using *lots* of pressure into the screw,
and using a grit compound to keep the driver from slipping are all useful
techniques.

david

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"