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[Madcow]

Well, a couple days ago, I was very excited to start up my Mothra since I haven't played with it for a while.  I bought the movie Mothra Vs. Godzilla too (for a dollar :D) so I thought it would be fun! Well, it plays normally for a little bit and then suddenly the dead battery symbol shows up.  Blah, so I went and got batteries and my screwdriver.  The first screw was hard to get out, and I was worried that i might have stripped it.  So, I went to the second screw, and pushed extra hard to get it out.  Well, it didn't make a difference HOW hard i pushed.  The second screw stripped, leaving a hole in the center of it, and I cannot get it out for the life of me.  I'm very frustrated because I have only played with this tamagotchi once, and it wasn't cheap either.  So, I'm hoping one of you can tell me a good method of removing the stripped screw.

I've already posted this on the VPETSML group, and Melissa and them told me that I could drill the screw until the head is gone and then somehow remove it etc..but I don't really want to do anything that drastic/risky if there is another alternative.  So can anyone help me out and tell me if there is any other way to do it besides drilling?  Any help would be appreciated.

[alicetwasbrillig]

Okay, so this happened with my Morino tama and the only way that I could possibly get some new batteries into the darn thing was to pry the back off with the stripped screw still in there... The back battery case is now held together by tape 

The same thing happened to my Angelgotchi actually... but I haven't tried anything yet

[Kokuma]

I've already posted this on the VPETSML group, and Melissa and them told me that I could drill the screw until the head is gone and then somehow remove it etc..but I don't really want to do anything that drastic/risky if there is another alternative.  So can anyone help me out and tell me if there is any other way to do it besides drilling?  Any help would be appreciated.

The only thing that comes to my mind about stripped screws is that drilling until the head of the screw is removed, but I'm not sure will it work with these Tama screws which are part of the battery cover,so they don't drop off and get lost when battery is being replaced.

I've done that drilling couple of times, but not for screws small as Tamagotchi ones.

I don't have 90's Tama so I don't know what kind of screw they have in their rear panel. Is it smaller than in Connections/Connexions? Can you separate it from the panel when you replace batteries or is it part of the battery cover like in Connections?

[Madcow]

It's not part of the back of it.  It can be removed when I take off the back, and I can seperate the screw from it.  The screws are like probably four times smaller than connection screws.  So, (no pun intended) I guess i'm basically screwed.

[Kokuma]

It's not part of the back of it.  It can be removed when I take off the back, and I can seperate the screw from it.  The screws are like probably four times smaller than connection screws.  So, (no pun intended) I guess i'm basically screwed.

Sounds kinda nightmare.

If you choose to drill, use smallest drill you can find and drill veeeeery slowly, micro-inch per micro-inch deeper until all the metal of the screw head has disappeared. Then it should be possible to remove the rear panel.

[Mimitchi]

Sorry to hear about this, those small screws are annoying. Here's some information I found online:

wikihow

Source: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990927j.cfm

 There are two methods of screw extraction when the screw heads are hopelessly damaged. The first is to just use an electric drill to remove the head of the screw. Drill directly through the center of the head with a drill bit maybe a third the size of the head, about 1/8" deep. Use progressively larger bits until the head of the screw comes off. Then, remove the maintenance panel. There should be more than enough screw shank (the "body" of the screw) remaining to grip with a pair of pliers... preferable self locking pliers such as Vicegrips. Hold tight and carefully turn the screw out.

If course, if the panel you are removing is very thin, there might not be enough screw shank to grip... so you can use a screw extractor instead. A screw extractor looks something like a blunt-ended screw with very broad threads. These hardened cutting threads are in the opposite direction of a standard right-hand threaded screw. When you turn the extractor, it tightens into the hole giving it a firm grip. To get a correctly sized screw extractor, take one of the screws you successfully removed to the hardware store. The salesman should be able to give you the correct size extractor and the right size drill bit for this job! The hole size is important... it should be no more than about 75% of the diameter of the screw shank. If you attempt to use too large an extractor by drilling too large a hole you may overly weaken the screw shank and the head might just break off! Back to step one!

To remove the screw, drill into the damaged screw head about 1/8-1/4 inch deep. Push the extractor into the hole and rotate it counterclockwise with pliers or a Visegrips to remove the screw.

There is another possible way to get the screw out that is a little less laborious but has a lower success rate, especially if the screw is really jammed into place. Instead of trying to remove the screw with a Phillips screwdriver, try using a squaredrive bit instead. Squaredrive bits are designed to be used with a special type of screw that is used in both construction and cabinetmaking. The head of the screw has a deep square moulded into it. This design gives tremendous gripping power to the bit and is more difficult to strip.

Anyway, sometimes it is possible to tap a squaredrive bit into a damaged Phillips screwhead and get enough grip to extract it! If you don't have a screwdriver with replaceable tips (everyone should have one), you can get one at the hardware store... plus an assortment of square drive bits to go with it!

I know you don't seem thrilled about those idea's. Here is another idea I found.

Source: http://www.devhardware.com/forums/gaming-consoles-77/stripped-screw-when-disassembling-ps2t-22692.html

If it's a small screw, then take a paper clip or other amll piece of metal and bend it to a right angle. Then, if you're gonna throw the screw away, CAREFULLY superglue or jb weld the metal to the pit in the top of the screw. That might let you put enough force on it to unscrew it. Don't use too much glue or you may end up gluing the case to the rest of the ps2.

I'd use something stronger then a paperclip btw

You'll wanna only do that last one if you feel really confident that you can do it without getting any glue on the tama or anything else! I say take high caution on that last one. Or try some of the others first. But it is an alternative if you wanna try. Please don't hold me responsible though if stuff goes wrong 


Best of luck in whatever happens.

[Madcow]

Thanks Kat, that last idea I didn't think of..But Like you said, it would take alot of precision not to get any other glue on the tamagotchi itself..:\ Blargy, well i'll talk it over with my dad about the drill thing..Some guy is putting in floors in our house and he's a handyman so I wouldn't doubt it if he had a large variety of drill bits..but I don't know if he has any that small. Gah, well thanks!

I'll post my results.

[turtleman534]

eh that sucks. i stripped the screws on my ocean and my mesu osu when i had them. what i ended up doing was having to run a knife in the back and ruining the back cover to get the batteries back in. not one of my best plans but i got the batteries in

[Mimitchi]

Hmm you know I just had a random thought. Radioshack has always been very good with things like this so i've heard, perhaps there's a chance you could take it to them (i'd call first). They'd be more than happy to help out knowing you'd just buy a screw from them to replace the old one

Just a thought.

Best of luck!

[Lord Monkey]

There's a slightly different method you might want to try, it'll cost you an alan wrench, but those are dirt cheap at any hardware store.

1) Take the alan wrench and put a dab of super glue on the tip (a very small dab)
2) Push the dab of glue down onto the screw, making sure there isn't enough glue to seep around the edge
3) hold for about 30 seconds so that the glue sets
4) Then turn away, worst case scenario is that you have to try again with more glue, or you pop the head off the screw