Can't remove motherboard

[bishop101]

Hi, I bought a new case and wanted to gut out my stock HP m8400f case. But when I tried to remove the Motherboard I couldn't because 1 screw at the top right hand corner was sort of welded to the cage. It looked like one of those really tiny screws but using a small screwdriver I couldn't remove it. Any ideas? Please help.

 

[Tews]

WD40 works miracles ....

 

[stormy13]

Almost sounds like it could be a rivet. Any chance of getting a picture of it?

 

[bishop101]

Can't that damage the mother board? I also look on the back all the other screws once removed left clean screw holes this one particular screw had a back plate filling the void, leading me to believe it's welded or something. thanks.

 

[bishop101]

I will post pic a few moments

 

[Tews]

that is a rivet.. you will need to drill that out if you want to remove the mobo...

 

[bishop101]

ImageShack Album - 3 images

The first two pictures show the rivet front and back, the last picture just shows what little space I have to maneuver to fit in a drill. How would I got about drilling? This is my first build and I was not anticipating this.

 

[Dwarf]

Doesn't look like a rivet to me. Rivets are used in the construction of many cases, but never in the mounting of a motherboard. The stresses incurred with inserting and fastening a rivet are far more than a motherboard can withstand. It looks more like a self-locking motherboard mounting post. With a pair of pliers, carefully squeeze the top of the post together. Be extremely careful here. Your motherboard should then lift out of the case.

 

[stormy13]

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "no user serviceable parts".

Not a whole lot of room to work with, but I would start with a pair of pliers and see about squeezing those 4 nibs (or whatever you want to call them) together and see if it will come off that way.

If that doesn't work or you don't have pliers small enough to get to it, looks like it may be time to break out the drill. Not sure if going from the back would work just from the size of it. If you do have to go at it from the front I would make good and sure that any and all components are removed from the board, and then tape down newspaper or something to cover all the everything but where you are going to drill; won't do any good to manage to free the motherboard and have it end up dead due to a small metal filing getting stuck someplace it shouldn't have.

 

[Barman58]

Looking at the pictures I would personally work from the reverse side of the rivet (the flat head Pic 2), as there appears to be more room for access and you would not be working against the actual circuit board.

Rather that drill the rivet out, which is an option but would ideally require a drill rig to align with the centre of the rivet, but would grind the rivet head off using something suitable (I have a Mini-Dremel that can fit various cutting disks and grindstones but any suitable tool with speed control would do)

 

[bishop101]

I did the bit with the pliers and was able to free the motherboard. Thanks to all.

 

[Dwarf]

You're welcome. I hope you were careful when doing so.