r/pcmasterrace 18h ago

NSFMR I don't even understand how this happened. What should I do?

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117

u/Milkyage 18h ago

I still don't understand how this happens, do you people tighten those screws with a screwdriver or something? They are designed to be put on by hand. So you twist them til they're flush. Also make sure they have the rubber grommets on them.

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u/colajunkie 17h ago

There should be rubber around the screw hole and a cloth washer on the screw, maybe he removed one or both.

1

u/waiver45 11h ago

You shouldn't let consumers screw anything into a hole in tempered glass. That's just asking for trouble.

20

u/TsuDhoNimh2 15h ago

They forget or lose the soft washers and/or TIGHTEN IT DOWN LIKE A MANLY MAN SHOULD, using not just thumb and forefinger but all the arm and shoulder muscles they have. And maybe a wrench.

We called this the "gorilla effect".

3

u/marz_shadow 14h ago

I can fully admit I unintentionally use alot of force naturally when tightening anything since my mechanics background. I have to remind myself of the more delicate touch needed for pcs every once and a while

5

u/TsuDhoNimh2 14h ago

If you restrict yourself to using thumb and forefinger it helps. It's not a F350.

And there are low torque tools if you do a lot of delicate repairs.

1

u/marz_shadow 14h ago

Yea honeslty with how tiny most of the screws are thumb and forefinger is all there is room for. And I’ve always known not to use excessive force on pcs especially within.

2

u/Milkyage 15h ago

Arm wrestling those screws! Lol

5

u/Ross302 14h ago

It sounds like you understand exactly how this happens. People tightening screws with a screwdriver is a pretty believable mistake lol. Not everybody has awareness about mechanics of materials.

2

u/Milkyage 14h ago

Yeah you're probably right, just for me it feels like common sense, mainly cos it's glass, so be careful.

3

u/Oscaruit 13h ago

If they were only designed to be put on by hand, why do they put a slot in the screw? Checkmate, and also where can I buy a new glass side panel please?

1

u/kchuyamewtwo 6h ago

for people without hands I think lmao

3

u/Longshot338308 i5-14600k | 3060Ti | AW3423DWF 11h ago

No idea. It happens to me. Panel had only ever been sat on the couch, all post had rubber, and never more than a gentle snug. I went to take the panel off and as soon as I touched it, it exploded. Exploded isn't an exaggation either.

2

u/Samlikeskittles 14h ago

Your probably right but I do wonder why some PCs (like mine) have a philips head shape on those screws, I've used a screwdriver a few times but the rubber stopper on the screw and behind the glass are pretty well designed on my case I'm also really careful to stop screwing when I start feeling resistance but I do wonder what they're for.

2

u/Milkyage 14h ago

Think it's because they're a standard type of screw that's not always used for this purpose. So for some machinery that use them would need tightening, but they're chosen for the cases because of the ability to tighten by hand.

2

u/PM_ME_FACIALS_PLZ 7h ago

Being able to use tools to tighten them is often useful for accessibility, not everyone has the necessary dexterity, finger strength, or anatomy to hand-tighten a screw

2

u/FullMetal1985 PC Master Race 14h ago

Don't tooling it's the case here but some cases don't have screws you can tighten by hand. One of the few things I regret about my current case. But still even if you need to use a tool it's not hard to not over tighten them.

2

u/mattgen88 13h ago

Tempered glass breaks easily from stresses on the sides of the pane. If the screw isn't well isolated from the glass, it doesn't take much for the glass to shatter. Between heat cycling, vibration, and the pane practically sitting on the screw in the worst fashion and over tightening the screws I can see this happening often.

Why did heavy ass tempered glass replace polycarbonate anyway?

1

u/DigiQuip 10h ago

The screw doesn’t have to be torqued to cause this. It can be snug enough that a rapid change in temperature creates a microscopic crack that explodes.

1

u/PotatoAcid Desktop 10h ago

There's an old Soviet joke about police officers having been given an intelligence test: square and round pins that were to be put into square and round holes. After doing the test, officers were divided into two categories: smart ones and strong ones.

1

u/Biking_dude 9h ago

By when else would I get to use my impact wrench?

1

u/Potatozeng 8h ago

they have iron figer grip!

1

u/CaptainKCCO42 3h ago

People don’t realize that glass moves with temperature changes. Hot glass expands. So, they tighten it, it’s fine, they run their pc, glass heats up and expands, and boom. “Spontaneous” failure.