Stripped a pentalobe screw on an iPhone 7 and fixed it with a rubber band

I was at my bench last Tuesday trying to open an iPhone 7 for a battery swap. The pentalobe screw was so tight that I stripped the head completely with my driver. I sat there for a minute thinking I was screwed. Then I remembered a trick I saw online where you lay a rubber band over the stripped screw head. I cut a piece from a thick blue rubber band I had sitting in a drawer, pressed my driver into it hard, and turned slow. It caught and came out without any drama. Saved me from having to drill it out or replace the whole bottom assembly. Has anyone else had luck with that trick or is there a better method for stripped pentalobe screws?

3 comments

3 Comments

thea_bell22d ago

Done it myself more than a few times. The trick is using a thick rubber band, not a thin one that just shreds. I cut a piece from a blue one about an inch wide, placed it flat over the screw head, and pressed down hard with the bit. The rubber fills the stripped parts and gives you just enough bite to turn it slow. If the screw is really gummed up with old glue or dirt, I wipe it clean first with alcohol on a qtip. And if the rubber band trick fails, I go straight to a sharp pick or a tiny flathead that I tap into the edge of the screw to get it rotating. But honestly, the rubber band has saved me more times than I can count on those tiny pentalobes.

cora81322d ago

Wait, wouldn't jamming a rubber band in there just compress the rubber and let the bit slip even more, making the stripped screw worse? I feel like grabbing it with a pair of fine tipped pliers once it's slightly out is a more reliable method than hoping a band gives you that extra grip.

vera2922d ago

Cora, have you actually tried the rubber band method on a really stubborn stripped screw, or is this just from watching other people struggle with it?