Hardware Stripped Screw, Left Joycon Rail - Anything I can do.

[VOFluff]

My launchday Switch has been making a grinding noise from the fan recently, so I decided to replace it following the iFixit guide.

I have all the correct screw bits, and all other screws came out fine, but the middle (third) screw on my left joycon rail is now super stripped. Its pretty much round at this point after trying the elastic band trick and all the other bits that even remotely fit it to try and get it out.

Is there anything else I can do at this point? If this was a screw in a wall or something I would just try and create a new point to unscrew from with a dremel or something and try with a flathead screwdriver, but I am not keen on taking power tools to my switch without much experience.

I see that screw exctractors are a thing, but most of them seem to require a drill - Something I dont own... Am I out of luck here?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[godreborn]

you might try torx. it's more star shaped though. if there's any flat side, try a flathead. I was going to suggest a drill 'til you said you didn't own one, cuz the best way be to drill through the middle of the screw. did you use the wrong gauge or something?

 

[VOFluff]

you might try torx. it's more star shaped though. if there's any flat side, try a flathead. I was going to suggest a drill 'til you said you didn't own one, cuz the best way be to drill through the middle of the screw. did you use the wrong gauge or something?

I did try most of my torx bits, but its literally almost a circle now

I think I might have to bust my dremel out and cut a line into it to use a flathead unless someone has a magical trick I can try. I need to give superglue a shot too

Used the correct bit - Right side came out fine, left just seems to be stuck for some reason.

 

[godreborn]

I don't know what else to suggest. you may have no choice but to use something like a drill. can you use an allen wrench?

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they make square and round ends like this: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Hex-Allen-Wrench-Ball/dp/B0776C2D6H

it might or might not work, but that's the thing I thought of when you said circle.

 

[VOFluff]

I don't know what else to suggest. you may have no choice but to use something like a drill. can you use an allen wrench?

I also tried the smallest allen key I have too and that just spins

I dont know if I should try just placing a flathead into the stripped area and lightly hammering it to see if I can get it to bite into the metal of the screw, but hammering into the joycon rail seems like a dumber idea than using the dremel. I own one, but I have never used it before

 

[godreborn]

dunno. you might have no choice but to destroy the screw by drilling through the middle of it. they make putty for some stripped scew issues, but I think that's just for the threads of the screw and you still need a drill I believe.

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I just had another thought about using pliers with maybe an allen wrench. there have been a few times where a screw was so tight that I used pliers to get a better grip.

 

[jkyoho]

3/16 drill bit and make it just deep enough to get rid of the head, then use vise grip to remove the reset