What are the M.2 heat sinks made of?

[Xpoint]

Hello there,

I just bought a second M.2 SSD. It arrived today and I tried to install it to the lower M.2 slot of my Maximus XI Hero but the right screw won't come out. It sits so tight that I already completely rounded it out.
Now I am not sure if I can save the lower M.2 SSD slot somehow.
One way to save it would be to cut the heat sink covering the connector near the screw with pliers or something like that.
But for that I need to know what the right black part of the lower heat sink is made out of. Is it a aluminum kind of hard material under the black plastic or is it maybe just plastic at the right end?
Can someone maybe look at the back of your shield and check whether there is some harder material than the black plastic at the right end? That would be of great help.
I bought this board a few months ago, so couls I return it and ask for warranty since the lower M.2 slot is not usable like that?

Thanks for any help!

[Xpoint]

dingo99 wrote:
For example, iFixit has a set for precision screws, but they don't make clear what sizes are included.

I had a look at them but they look like you would still use a hammer to impregnate the profile into the screw. Or do you think the screws on the board are soft enough pushing it down would be enough?

[edrickjk]

Mate no insult intended but its obvious you are not handy with tool, you might want to step back and ask a friend to do it for you . Extractor don't need to be hammered in,its rotation force only. Reason i recommended the dremel was its the easiest that wont create to much metal shaving. Drilling out the head of the screw is another option but again will create tons of shaving. Heck i even did use jb weld in a pinch before to glue a second screw on top of the other one .

[Xpoint]

edrickjk wrote:
Mate no insult intended but its obvious you are not handy with tool, you might want to step back and ask a friend to do it for you . Extractor don't need to be hammered in,its rotation force only. Reason i recommended the dremel was its the easiest that wont create to much metal shaving. Drilling out the head of the screw is another option but again will create tons of shaving. Heck i even did use jb weld in a pinch before to glue a second screw on top of the other one .

Maybe I should XD.

By the way, I thought you would use it with a hammer because I thought it is an impact driver. But it seems like you just push it down and then turn it. Ok then.

[Luck100]

The M2 screws have Loctite on them which makes it very difficult to turn. Don't know why they did this. They can be loosened up with heat (hair dryer or soldering iron if you're careful). Once heated up they turn easily.

[Xpoint]

Luck100 wrote:
The M2 screws have Loctite on them which makes it very difficult to turn. Don't know why they did this. They can be loosened up with heat (hair dryer or soldering iron if you're careful). Once heated up they turn easily.

Oh, intersting. But to turn my rounded out screw I'd still need tome tool like iFixit precicion screws to grap it, right?

Can I damage some electronics around the M.2 slot when I put a hair dryer right infront of it? These things get quite hot.

Thanks for your tip!

[Xpoint]

Luck100 wrote:
The M2 screws have Loctite on them which makes it very difficult to turn. Don't know why they did this. They can be loosened up with heat (hair dryer or soldering iron if you're careful). Once heated up they turn easily.

Oh my god, thank you so much!
I just put a hair dryer infont of the screw for about a minute, tried and didn't work. Then I left the dryer pointing at the screw for a few minutes and tried again. First, I slipped again but then I tried a flat head driver I tried earlyer and all the sudden I had a really good grip. So I had to put my whole muscle power of my hand in to loosen that f*cker up.
Why do they tighten these screws to much that one barely gets it out?!

Anyway, your tip saved my second M.2 slot! Now I finally have an all-SSD-build. No annoyingly slow and loud HDDs anymore! 😄
Thank you all here very much!