Removing 6800GT cooler... stripped screw

Gregory_WE · Feb 28, 2006

In the near future I'm going to be buying an NV Silencer 5 and so I'll have to completely take off the stock cooler. Just a few days ago I was going to take off the fan portion to clean out all the dust that had accumulated but found out that one of the screws was stripped so I couldn't completely take it off. I tried with all my screwdrivers to get it but it was stripped and probably fastened too tight so I couldn't get it off. It was probably stripped by the person I bought it from over a year ago because I doubt it'd come like that from the factory.

Anyways, I'm worried that I won't be able to remove the cooler now because I can't get that screw out. I know that it doesn't screw into the actual board, but I'm not sure if I can get the rest of the cooler off without taking the fan off first.

Here's a picture showing the steps to remove the cooler: http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/arctic_cooler_nv5_silencer/images/steps_large.jpg

If you look at step #1, the screw that's stripped is the one in the top right. Some of the other small ones around there I don't think I could get off either though.

So, what do you think?

http://3dgpu.com/images/reviews/pny6800gt/frontfull.jpg

That would be a picture for the actual card I have, the top right screw on the front (above the "O" in Verto) is stripped.

dbett · Feb 28, 2006

The make screw extractors. They are basically combination drill bits and screwdrivers. The drill part 'bites' into the screw as you turn it.

Check out this page for some of the various options. You will obviously want to get a pretty small one.

chevro1et · Feb 28, 2006

Does the stripped screw just spin in the hole or does it come out part way then spin?? If it comes out a bit, just yank it out with some pliers/ tweezers/ etc or something... you weren't planning on salvaging the stock cooler, were you? If it just spins in the hole, try prying it up with a razorblade/ tweezers so you can grab it and yank it out. I know that this does not sound like the most elegant solution, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do...

EDIT: May want to try to remove all non-stripped screws first, and see if the stripped ones simply pull out.

Cheers.

Kenshiro · Feb 28, 2006

man.... that screw is stripped really bad. Yes, I have to agree. You have to drill it out. Otherwise, you are pretty much screwed... lol.. get it... screwed.... heh hehh... kidding...

ziggo0 · Feb 28, 2006

It should spin. If you don't care for the stock cooler you can just use a pair of plyers and
'pop' it off, I had the same problem with the stock cooler on my 7800GTX

exceed · Feb 28, 2006

dremel it with a cutting saw then screw it out

Kenshiro · Feb 28, 2006

exceed said:
dremel it with a cutting saw then screw it out

...... and be really really careful doing it.

Nebulous · Feb 28, 2006

See if you can grab the screwhead with a pair of needlenose vise-grips. Werks for me all the time

Kenshiro · Feb 28, 2006

Nebulous said:
See if you can grab the screwhead with a pair of needlenose vise-grips. Werks for me all the time

... and do it very very carefully......

Gregory_WE · Feb 28, 2006

Ok, I was thinking that I might be able to get at it with some pliers.

But, you do definitely need that unscrewed in order to take off the cooler? I haven't looked to closely but I couldn't tell for sure if you could detach the rest of it and have that section come with it.

chevro1et · Feb 28, 2006

Judging by the pic you posted (the steps to removing the cooloer) I think that you do have to take that section off first to get at the screws that feed into the 'X' bracket on the back of the card... just from what I can see in the pic anyways. Closely inspect your card and you will be able to draw your own conclusions though...

Cheers.

Gregory_WE · Feb 28, 2006

Yeah that's what it looks like, the 4 screws in step 6 would be hard to access.

adamwinn · Mar 1, 2006

Screwdriver + superglue ^_^

Gregory_WE · Mar 3, 2006

I had some time today so I got to work on it with some pliers and got it out without a problem. It turns out that it doesn't look like the screws on the front need to be taken out, you can just remove all the ones in the back. The fan is only attached to the part of the cooler that covers the memory, which is taken off before you take the heatsink off the GPU. So, I think that if you remove that then the fan will come with it and you will be left with just the heatsink on the GPU. I don't have a new cooloer though yet so I didn't remove anything beyond the fan.

Kenshiro · Mar 3, 2006

Gregory_WE said:
I had some time today so I got to work on it with some pliers and got it out without a problem. It turns out that it doesn't look like the screws on the front need to be taken out, you can just remove all the ones in the back. The fan is only attached to the part of the cooler that covers the memory, which is taken off before you take the heatsink off the GPU. So, I think that if you remove that then the fan will come with it and you will be left with just the heatsink on the GPU. I don't have a new cooloer though yet so I didn't remove anything beyond the fan.

Excellent. Glad to hear you dont have a problem. Now all you need is an NV5 and you are good to go.

chevro1et · Mar 3, 2006

Good deal. Looking forward to seeing results with your NV5.

Cheers.

Gregory_WE · Mar 6, 2006

The NV5 is ordered but not sure when it'll get here (I checked USPS tracking from SVC and it says it was missent??? oh well).

One thing I'm worried about is that I wasn't able to get the fan connector from the cooler to unplug from the board. I tried just pulling it of course, and then I had to go for the pliers but I couldn't get it off even when pulling pretty hard. Is it normal for it to be so difficult to get out, or is there something wrong with mine? I don't want to pull too hard and damage something, and it's getting to the point where you feel like you're doing that.

chevro1et · Mar 6, 2006

Is there some sort of clip/ locking mechanism on the fan connector (sorry, dont have that card, so I am just speculating)?

Cheers.

Gregory_WE · Mar 6, 2006

Well it's kind of hard to explain but it appeared as if there was one of those ones where there are 2 narrow pieces that fit into a slot and then as it goes through the narrow part of the slot there's a wider area at the bottom so it sort of locks into place, but I couldn't find a way to push the pieces in to "unlock" it.

Gregory_WE · Mar 7, 2006

Anyone else have trouble taking the fan connector off?

Removing 6800GT cooler... stripped screw

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