# [SOLVED] Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in pla



## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

I want to remove the screw inserts from the holes in the motherboard that are used to hold the CPU cooler in place. Somehow someone got them in there, and I need them to come out so I can install a staked-in model that doesn't suck.

If this involves removing the motherboard I'll hate you. JK but it'll take me a while because there's A LOT of JUNK on it that I'll probably just end up not plugging back in. Mostly random lights that just yell 'look at me" (ever heard of a molex connector, HP?), and a few non-critical status lights that I have never looked at (Internet, wireless, and the rest I'm not too sure about).

Thank you for your assistance.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

What motherboard are we dealing with here?


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

After an hour of searching, pounding my head against the wall, cursing, and cutting myself on the open edges of the case (whoever designed this hunk of junk should be taken outside and publicly tortured), I found the product label on the side of the case that nobody looks at (good one, HP). I found the motherboard by using their horribly crippled PartSurfer JavaScript-based utility.

it is: Motherboard - Carmel, Intel H61, SandyBridge

If you can't tell, I'm really really sick of this project.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

Have you tried opening t'other side-panel showing the mobo-tray, to see if there's an access-hole there?

If there isn't a hole there, then removing the mobo is likely to be the only option, but it's not as bad as it first seems though - Just make a quick sketch showing where all the leads/wires/cables connect, then refer to that during re-assembly :wink:


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

Hi WereBo.

The other side won't open without a cutting torch, the genius who made it riveted the sucker right to the chassis.

I always take lots of pretty pictures when dealing with the motherboard, otherwise I'll forget something or put it back in the wrong place.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

What case is this? There is usually on decent cases a hole in the back plate for such a thing! See pic below!


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

cases with removable nacks are more common these days so you can do what you want to do but quite a lot of the time you have to remove the motherboard to remove the cooler.

if its a standard intel cooler though you should just be able to remove without any problem.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

Amd_Man: This is not a decent case.

greenbrucelee: it wasn't a stock intel cooler, I don't think a stock intel cooler would have failed quite so readily.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

All right, now I'm getting somewhere.

I removed the CPU bracket and found that some bright spark had GLUED the back plate on to the back of the motherboard. Ten minutes of alcohol and light prying got the plate off. I examined the plate carefully and found that the screws that hold the CPU bracket in place need the plate to bite into. After hours to trying to enlarge the holes for the cooler stakes, I cut off the four corners of the bracket and cleaned the edges with a small file set. The CPU cooler is attached to a front bracket that will distribute the weight.

If I've toasted the motherboard, I don't care anymore.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

some back plates are held in place with screws and a pvc like substance. The can be a PITA to remove but you shouldn''t have caused any damage to the mobo unless you knocked any of the capacitors.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

If I knocked them I'll re-solder them.

I'm gonna get a new not-finicky case on Saturday, I think I bent the top and side panels, and the cards don't fit in right.

Who uses Torx on a computer anyhow?

Pretty new computer nothing but trouble.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

Who use torx screws on a computer? A pre-built computer by a company that want's the user to have to bring it back to them to get work done on it.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

Yeah, not gonna go down that road again, no matter how "good" the deal may seem. I thought this was gonna be a solid machine, but oh no, things just have to keep breaking.

The case is held together with friction and a thumbscrew, it's the insides that are non-SAE Torx.

CD-DVD drive: shot, replaced with Blu-Ray combo drive
Fan on cheap graphics card: possibly shot, don't know yet
CPU cooler: fan suddenly started going lame, in the process of replacing the horrid little aluminum cooler with a more substantial copper-and-steel behemoth
Integrated wireless: toasted it installing the new blu-ray drive, replaced with a card
RAM: chips look scorched, need to replace with something more solid
Motherboard: fingers crossed

Now I'm just waiting on a carton of ceramic thermal paste and my new sound card. If I haven't toasted the motherboard and/or processor, I'll install the card.


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Removing the screw inserts from the holes used to hold the CPU cooler in place*

An update:

Some genius CUT the wire leading from the graphics card to it's BUILT-IN FAN so that they could slide it in under the (now-dead) cheap power supply's listed capacity (which was a bunch of organic fetiliser). New graphics card.

Motherboard is dead. Moved project to bigger not-so-blood-hungry case. Installed new motherboard, old processor, and all other newer components.

RAM: deader than a doornail. Replaced with decent.

CD-ROM: the bits that make it slide in and out fell apart when opening for what would be the last time. Replaced with a blu-ray r/w unit.

Put on few new fans so that it wouldn't feel so much like an oven. Got the airflow figured out so now it runs a lot cooler.

Sound card: more issues. Please see post in Sound Cards board if you want to know what that little drama's all about.

I'm marking this thread as solved, because the project in question has been abandoned after the not-entirely-unexpected death of just about the entire system. Thank you for your kind assistance, hopefully I won't have to bother you again.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

sorry to hear that, good luck in the future.


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