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When I first got my E-15 seven or eight years ago (I think), I stripped it down to the frame. In the process, I had to deal with many stripped screws, broken bolts, etc.. I used easy-outs, drilled some out, etc.. But, this time it's not quite so simple.
One of the flat-head screws on the bottom of the wide deck motor I'm trying to take apart (one of the screws covered in RTV goop) was not made very well - the groove doesn't go very deep, and it slopes upwards on one end, such that all the way over on that
side the groove is just barely below the surface. I'm wary of trying to force it too much, since it will almost certainly strip.
I've been putting some PB Blaster in there to try to loosen it up. I noticed that on opposite sides of the screw, there appear to be little holes that the PB Blaster is seeping into. Anyone know why those holes are there? Is the PB Blaster seeping inside
the motor? Or are those holes letting the Blaster seep down into the screw threads, to hopefully help loosen it up?
Because of this being on the bottom of the motor, I'm reluctant to try my normal methods of dealing with a stripped screw. I don't want end up having to drill it out, and get metal shavings inside the armature. And I'm reluctant to pound an easy out extractor into it, worried the pounding might not be too good for the motor.
I'm thinking of using an engraving bit on a Dremel tool to dig out the groove deeper, to let the screwdriver blade go in deeper. Any other ideas on getting a flathead screw out that has a very shallow groove (the one on the other side is much deeper)?
Thanks, Mike
Michael S. Briggs, PhD
UNH Physics Department
(603) 862-2828
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