Tools for opening electronics - looking for recommendation

Question

Hello,

My family keeps me busy with their electronic devices - laptops, PCs and other smaller devices - to repair or upgrade it (if possible).

However, more and more of the devices use plastic clips (usually around a frame of a laptop or an LCD) as a companion for screws, which makes the casings not so easy to open.

Can you recommend any tools (I guess plastic) for opening such devices? Also, any idea, how long do these tools last?

I found several sets like this one: https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/vtbt21/mobile-phone-repair-tool-set-19/dp/TL17898 However, I am not so happy to buy additional screwdrives set for each pair of these tools.

I haven't even tried to open a newer (last 10 years) cell phone or tablet, as most of them use components glued together and can be dismantled only in an irreversible way.

Thanks for any help

David

mp2100 · Accepted Answer

David,

These people at ifixit.com have some good tools for modern devices. They specialize in taking cell phones and gadgets apart, and want to sell tools to people like us. Also, the posted tutorials have helped me take things apart with less damage.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store

I've seen their tool kits for sale in some electronics stores in the U.S. (Fryes, Microcenter).

Allen

shabaz · Answer

Hi David, Guitar picks are cheap and might be useful sometimes, they come in various thicknesses. I bought this set, for under £3: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005EYOWVA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

jw0752 · Answer

Hi David, As long as I can remember there has been a competition going on between the designers of electronic enclosures and the tool makers of tools to open those enclosures. The heads of the fasteners keep evolving and the methods to clasp and interlock the cases without fasteners get more obscure and ingenious all the time. For me I find I almost always have to do some damage the first time in order to learn the new secret. "Open Sesame" has stopped working years ago. I also find that the number of specialized tools needed continue to accumulate. You will just have to start accumulating specialized tools as needed and as you can find them. John

koudelad · Answer

Oh, the variability is great. Here are probably some fixed sized: https://eustore.ifixit.com/en/Tools/Prying-Opening/iFixit-Opening-Picks.html Thanks for the tip.

14rhb · Answer

Hi David, I've bought some of those tools shown in your photo (the white plastic openers) as part of a much more basic and cheap set (but not Farnell). Mine are blue in colour but seem to be OK for prising open most gadgets so far. Sometimes I've found I can free one section but not others, however careful inspection of the free part enables me to determine the way the clips work and where they are located....often freeing the rest of the case is then simple. Of course, when the case doesn't budge there is always the possibility of that hidden fixing under the serial number label. Feeling over it with a finger normally determines if there is a fixing hole underneath. How about used plastic loyalty cards or, for something slippery and thin, a section from a polypropylene milk carton? I've also used sections of the polypropylene milk carton screwcaps before for the same thing but with more strength. Rod

koudelad · Answer

You are right, John. The reason I ask is that I recently bought a Lenovo laptop, model E580... It is the cheapest of the business models (many consumer models are not commonly serviced in the same country) and it also comes with an official hardware maintenance manual: https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/tp_e580_e585_hmm_en.pdf But what dissapoints me - even a product that is designed with future modifications / upgrades in mind has this kind of fasteners. The fun part is, that in case of removing the base cover, the manual says only "Loosen the screws and then remove the base cover assembly". Well, yes, but... you need something not to damage it... David

Tools for opening electronics - looking for recommendation

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