Stripped screws holding Y rails
Hi everyone, I got a used V3.1 300 some time ago and while looking to fix the Y rails to get better bed meshes I stumbled upon like 4 stripped screws on one rails that won't budge: what would be the wisest option to take those out?
It seems like theyre extremely tight, and I've already tried:
- adding a rubber band to increase friction
- using biger allen keys (they're too big)
I read some stuff online but due to their position and the head being hidden by the Y rail most of them are useless, an help is appreciated!
11 Replies
Epoxy/job weld sacrificial Allen keys into the screw heads
welding is out of the question since I don’t have the equipment :’)
I just tried with superglue and with a 5min epoxy I had at home but I couldn’t get the key to stick decently inside, I didn’t use much since I’m afraid it can spill outside the socket and cause a mess since the printer is laying on its side right now
I wouldn’t like risking to damage the rail with epoxy or causing any worse damage
Sorry, that was supposed to read "JB Weld", a thick metalized epoxy
You also need to clean whatever you are using the epoxy on so it sticks properly
guess I’ll have to try then :’)
the other option would be to basically drill inside the screw and trying to force it out like that somehow, but I guess the risk of damage is way higher(?)
I'd be pretty nervous about that yeah
@blacksmithforlife 🇺🇸 thanks for the tip but it seems like they've been tightened so much that not even that method would do much, I almost broke an allen key on a non stripped one yesterday lol
I was looking in to left handed drill bits that seem to be used in case of stripped screws, hope I can solve it that way
I really wouldn't like to take that route, but my bed is sitting at a 0.4 height difference that I'd really like to fix (and it seems like a twisted frame issue as you can see). Point is: hammering down the A point quite fiercely barely nudges that high point on D, so I was thinking about adding 0.1mm shims on one of the rails as another user suggested, but I need to remove those screws first
I really don't think it's a bed, bed magnet or PEI sheet issue since every single picture I've seen similar to this is due to a twisted frame, could you just confirm that? @TheTik
I have a 300 and guess I was lucky and haven't had to deal with and am therefore pretty ignorant about twist, sorry
makes sense, no worries! the issue isn't fixed but it seems like a good bedplate washing with dish soap and a Z-offset calibration while heatsoaked (probably the most important part) mitigated the first layer issues a bit
still, I'd love to fix that twist at some point
I just bought some drill bits made just for extracting screws and hope they can turn out to be the right tool for the job