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Bought refurbished iPhone 4s from AT&T on contract renewal. Recently phone had a fall where front and back glass were cracked. I have instructions on replacing these components but one of the pentelobe screws was stripped during the refurbish by AT&T. Any idea on removing a stripped pentelobe screw?
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Suggestion #1: try a plain Phillips screw-driver #00, or the pentalobe screw driver, but after placing a rubber band over the bad pentalobe screw, so that the screw driver grabs onto the screw through the rubber band.
Suggestion #2: remove the good pentalobe screw, than try to slide the cover slightly down. The head of the bad pentalobe screw should appear and you should be able to grab it with a pair of fine pliers.
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Rubber band did not work. However; looking at the screw head with a magnifying glass reveals a 5 sided pattern similar to the Pentagon. Do they make drivers of this shape? If so, what's the name of the driver? If that does not work, I'll try the super glue suggestion. I have a dremmel but the cutting disk would cut the frame so that's not an option.
It is called a Pentalobe screw driver, size #2.
Did you try to slide the cover down a couple of millimeters like suggested, after removing the good screw?
Yes. The cover did not budge with the good screw out. I took the phone by a watch repair shop as he had an assortment of drivers of the appropriate size to remove the stripped screw. I'll be ordering two phillips head screws to replace the 2 pentelobe screws.
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Hi...Synthetic Pork,
Check out this great resource iFixit has on removing stripped screws: How to Remove a Stripped Screw
For pentalobe specifically, try a t3 if they are just minimally stripped and your bit is just slipping. Good luck!
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I've drilled the head off them in the past, then once the cover is off you can remove the rest of the screw with small pliers.
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You can try putting an elastic band over the screw and trying to unscrew it with the screwdriver ontop of the band, i usually put glue on the edge of a screwdriver and hold glue it to the screw
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All of the tips did not work but I did find a jewler with watch repair services. The jeweler was able to find a screwdriver in his collection that enabled him to remvoe the stripped screw in 5 minutes. Best part, he refused to accept payment for the 5 minutes of work. With the stripped screw removed, I was able to replace the font and back panels on my iPhone 4S.
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Was going to say super glue something inside the screw. That can work, as theres not alot of pressue to crack it.
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