Re: Hard to Remove PM 2.0 x 3.0 Battery Hold Down Screws

Boris <[email protected]> wrote:

> Laptop is my daughter's HP Spectre 13-ac000 x360 Convertible PC, 
> purchased in March, 2017.  Some years ago (sorry, I don't know when) the 
> laptop was giving "extreme low battery" warnings, and eventually wouldn't 
> hold a charge, but it would boot up when using the charger.  Finally, the 
> laptop wouldn't boot up even with the charger.  My daughter then put the 
> thing in her closet and bought a new laptop. Yikes.
> 
> She brought this up to me today, and I said let me see it.
> 
> I plugged it in, and the orange charging light went on.  An hour later, 
> the charging light turned white.  Ok, guess it's charged, but it still 
> wouldn't boot.  Nothing, not even a hint that anything's going on inside.
> 
> Per troubleshooting advice, I pulled the charger, and held the on/off 
> button for 30 seconds.  Plugged the charger back in, but still wouldn't 
> boot up.  Troubleshooting suggested that the battery may be the cause and 
> to remove battery and try again with just charger and battery removed.
> 
> So I got the manual:
> 
> http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05357578.pdf
> 
> I got the back panel off (had to use a hairdryer to get the adhesive 
> attached plastic caps off under the rubber feet, where the last two panel 
> hold down screws were), but I can't get the PM 2.0 x 3.0 screws removed 
> to get the battery out.  They are in there very, very tight.  I have 
> tried very, very hard, with lots of pressure.  I just can't budge the 
> screws here.
> 
> https://postimg.cc/bZ70k20R
> 
> I've always used jeweler's screwdrivers to do this type of work.  Would a 
> computer technician screwdriver set make a difference?  Are the  points 
> shorter to get tightly into the short depth of these small screw heads?
> 
> TIA

The heads look thick enough that maybe you could get the tip of the jaws
of a vise grip pliers (jaw locking pliers using a thumb screw, squeeze
to lock, and use a lever to unlock).  You'll want a small one.  Once the
vise grip is attached to a screw head, don't turn by hand.  Instead
press down on the pliers to keep from popping off, and use a crescent
wrench to twist the pliers.  

If you get the ratching screwdriver set that has replaceable bits, a
good set will have different styles of Phillips heads.  You want a sharp
ended bit, not one that is ground flat to fill the empty low space
inside a larger screw.  The important part is the tangs of the tip
engage the sides of the slots in the screw as much as possible for the
depth of the slot.  Too small a tip won't well engage the sides of the
slot.  You want well defined and sharp edges on the bits flanges.  An
old screwdriver has probably been rounded off.

Besides using the right-sized bit, some have ridges aka ribs on the
flanges to better grip the screw when under pressure during twisting.

https://cdn.mscdirect.com/global/images/ProductImages/7515227-21.jpg
https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2007/11/06/whats-the-difference-phillips-head-screwdriver-bits