With that much of the middle of the screw stripped out, there’s not a lot of the head left… may be able to slot it and remove it. Other than that, drilling it out is probably the way to go. Probably cut the leads and remove the entire assembly, drill it out with a drill press. I’ve had good luck with a larger bolt glued to a rod with JB Weld, don’t know if it’d hold something that small though, might be worth a try. Glue a screwdriver bit into the head of the screw, wait for it to set up, then give a good steady pressure while pressing down on it. Just might work…
Mapp gas in a blowtorch … Get it white hot… Should come out easily (everything else melted away)
But seriously, a bit of heat on the screw (big hot soldering iron etc. ) might just help. Or take a disposable screwdriver, get it red hot, press it hard into the head until it is no longer glowing, then try your best.
After reading the JB weld stories (Dale did it 
) I ordered some from Amazon one time
I grabbed an old hand held plunging blender that did not work anymore because the metal rod driving the blade was stripped from the plastic part that engaged with the part that was rotated by the motor.
I mixed a little JB weld, dabbed some on the rod, placed the plunging knife part back and removed to see if it made contact, yes it did.
I had some mixed stuff left and used it on the inside of the plunging knife part so it would not come apart, you know, before use that check to see if all is clean.
After 24 hours of setting, the darned thing worked
And it kept working, doing the thing my wife broke it with (changing half a kilo of dades and half a kilo of raisins into a mushy heavy drab she uses in her cooking. Every time she makes it the blender has so much trouble getting though, lot of strange noises from the thing, low revs, it really is killing for these kitchen tools, the hand held blender was a good one, the one before it died soon after starting to make it, so we bought a more heavy duty, now using a very good blender, just to say the JB weld really did good!)
I tossed it out, because of course no way to clean inside the plunger part, but it proved the strength of JB weld and was a successful experiment.
I would try Dales idea based on this
Definitely the first thing to try. We don’t have JB Weld in the UK AFAIK, the strongest thing I know is slow-cure Araldite epoxy (not the 5 minute stuff, the 24 hour to final cure variant)
I missed this but why is the reflector being removed?
Also please dont go anywhere near the reflector with penetrating oil lest some get on the reflector surface itself.
I have a situation very close to SledgeStone's, but not completely stripped, but simply don't have the strength to budge it with a big P2 screwdriver that seems to grab well. Between pressing down hard and turning, I can't budge it. I'll try again tonight.
6 of 9 lights have combo head screws, 3 have phillips only - definite different screw in finish and head size. Of course the one stuck is phillips only... I did have another phillips only that was partially stripped, but eventually got out with just a screwdriver.
I am replacing them all with M4x8mm phillips panheads from BoltDepot - sure look like better quality and fit the screwdrivers better.
You can get JBWeld in the UK, I used it a lot.
These types of bits are good for removing chewed philips screws
They are not that delicate. Just a gentle wash with dilute dish wash detergent gets most grease off (finger tips, straight after a long bath or a session of washing dishes are very soft for delicate rubbing), then for perfection ROR with a microfibre lens cloth brings them up luvverly.
Edit: I have a little ultrasonic cleaner which is even better.
Edit again: final rinse with distilled or DI water important, it should just run off. If there are still drops left, it’s not clean enough.
Well I learned a new thing. Thanks.
The last attempt I tried was to drill a hole in the head of the screw and hammer a torx bit down. But I’m still thinking it might be glued or something. I’ve already destroyed two high end bits on it. I feel that I get a good grip on it, but the bits break before the screw loosens…
I might do one final attempt and this time using superglue before hammering the bit down and then use my impact driver.
Well for starters I wanted to center the LEDs. But ever since the Q8 was announced, I’ve had a plan to swap them out for 4000k 219Cs.
If there is glue in there, then seriously, a bit of heat might just help. Your call as to how to get it there, but if you haven’t yet stripped the torx slots you hammered in (the bits failed first ?) I’d try to get some heat in, maybe several times, then try again with everything toasty hot. You could even put the whole head in a fan oven and soak it at maybe 100C (everything should survive, much above that, not sure, but I would even go for 125C) to give you a head start, then do your best to get the screw even hotter. Wear gloves
Thanks for the tip, but won’t that make the anodizing shift color?
No the torx bit is fine, but the torx slots is stripped. I need to make the hole a bit bigger and use a larger bit.
I wouldn’t use an oven, the Q8 produces enough heat on its own to get the head so hot we need software to protect the electronics. A couple of tests in turbo to check the timed step-down and the head should be well hot enough to soften the glue.
But wouldn’t the heat also weaken the superglue that I’d put in the hole to hold the torx?
there are really awesome glue solution
I doubt the anodising would be affected at these rather low temperatures, but have no knowledge of what it is. Certainly military grade HA3 would not be…
I would use an oven, for precise consistency.
Personally I would take it to 150C, hoping it is all lead free solder (perilously close to liquidus of tin-lead) but not much above rated temperatures of LEDs. Even if I melted some solder I could fix it up. As soon as I had the screw loose I would cool it down ASAP with a fan.
My worry would be the MCPCB, not knowing what temperature the pre-preg laminates, if used, were rated for. Not familiar with the construction. If polyimide based, no worries.
Yes, superglue is not much good at best of times, nevermind under heat. If you used instead JB Weld (I think it is rated to rather high temperatures) you might do better. Since the screw is even more wrecked, I think you are on your last chance. Perhaps ignore my advice.
Or just ask for a new head. Maybe do that anyway.
When my son died back in ’05 I got a granite slab to make a bench at the cemetery. One end of this slab wasn’t cut like I liked so I got tools to cut and polish the granite to my desire. Afterwards, there was this piece of 2” thick x 1 1/2” wide granite I’d cut off. So, playing with the polishing discs on a Makita grinder, I glued a 1” square bolt head to the end of the granite with a fast setting JB Weld (Water Weld, Stick) Literally within about 15 minutes I mounted the bolt in my drill press and set the granite spinning, used the Makita grinder to cut it into a round column and then polished it… all the work pressing sideways on the spinning piece only held to the bolt with JB Weld. When I got it round and polished, I put a cut off wheel on the grinder and cut the bolt off at the glue joint.
The stuff is super strong! I have this highly polished piece of granite to remember how well it works.
The piece of Texas Pink Granite…
The end that was glued, I’d cut an X into the granite with a diamond blade before glueing to give the JB Weld a purchase point. Used the diamond bit to take the rectangular piece to round, then used polishing wheels on the grinder …
It has been said that I am stubborn. :sunglasses: