Motherboard standoff screw stuck halfway

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I'm installing an ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger in a Define R5 case and 7 of 8 standoff screws went in fine, but the one in the lower right seems stuck halfway. There is so much resistance that I'm scared to keep screwing it in, but it's also not coming back out.

When I try to unscrew it, it starts to come out a millimeter or so, but it seems to be pulling the surrounding pcb along with it and then pops back down with a really scary sounding snap. The problem screw also doesn't appear to be rotating entirely around its center. Because of how the R5 is built, I can't look behind the motherboard to see what going on back there. The standoff seemed to be perfectly aligned before I started.

Right now, the other screws can hold the board firmly in place, but I'm wondering if this messed up screw could become a long-term structural problem. I'm also wondering what I would do if I ever needed to remove the motherboard. Most of all, I'm wondering WTF is wrong with the damn screw.
 
Solution
ubercake
Do you have any spare screws/standoffs? You may want to try a different pair in that mount location. Bad hardware usually comes with lower-end cases but I've gotten some with higher-end cases as well. There could be a burr or any number of things happening in the standoff or on the screw itself (or both) by which this has happened.

I know it sounds funny but because this has happened to me before, I like to try each screw in each standoff before I even put the motherboard between them to make sure I don't run into this situation.

Since you are where you are, you may want to try holding the standoff tight with needle-nose pliers while trying to loosen the screw with the other hand. If it still won't unscrew, you may need to loosen...
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ubercake

ubercake

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Do you have any spare screws/standoffs? You may want to try a different pair in that mount location. Bad hardware usually comes with lower-end cases but I've gotten some with higher-end cases as well. There could be a burr or any number of things happening in the standoff or on the screw itself (or both) by which this has happened.

I know it sounds funny but because this has happened to me before, I like to try each screw in each standoff before I even put the motherboard between them to make sure I don't run into this situation.

Since you are where you are, you may want to try holding the standoff tight with needle-nose pliers while trying to loosen the screw with the other hand. If it still won't unscrew, you may need to loosen the screw by grabbing the head of it with another pair of pliers while still maintaining the vice-like grip on the other standoff. Ideally, you'll want to remove the other screws securing the motherboard to the other standoffs first so you don't put any undue force where you don't want it (as you said it sounds like the standoff is coming away from the motherboard tray when you unscrew the offending screw).

Once you get the screw out, I'd remove the motherboard and try another screw in the standoff. If you have the same problem with a different screw, then I'd try another standoff, lather, rinse and repeat.
 
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I guess the design of the Define R5 is part of the problem. The motherboard tray is in an indent of sorts, which makes it really hard to look or reach behind the board. At least this standoff is close enough to the edge that I might be able to grab it with pliers even if I can't see it. I may need to find a second pair of hands for this, though.

Hopefully it works, but in case I fail to get the screw out, what do you suggest I do?
 
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ubercake

ubercake

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The thing is it sounds like the offending soundoff loosens when you try to loosen the screw. This is why I think you should remove all other screws first. If the offending screw/standoff combo are all that are left and loosen, eventually you be able to take the board out of the case with the standoff/screw combo still attached to it then it will be much easier to deal with at that point.

I would keep at it until you resolve this issue. Realistically, you probably wouldn't run into any problems if you left it, but having something like that going on would constantly bug me and you'd eventually have to deal with it if you ever upgraded your motherboard one day (but at that point you might want a new case with USB 4.0 connections or whatever is around at the time).
 
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With some hard work an perseverance, I've managed to make the situation a bit worse.

As predicted, the reason why I couldn't remove the screw was a loose standoff. I managed to hold the standoff in place and remove the screw eventually, but I went about it so poorly that the standoff also came out. No big deal, just take out the motherboard and put the standoff back in, right? Well, turns out there are two other loose standoffs which didn't have any problems accepting screws, but are now refusing to let go of them. And these two I can't reach with normal pliers.

So now I have an unremovable motherboard, mounted on 8 standoffs instead of 9. I'm trying to get my hands on a pair of needle-nose pliers that are bent 90 degrees and hopefully put an end to this nonsense. Or maybe I'll just give up on having a properly built system and just put a small piece of silicone in place of the missing standoff...
 
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ubercake

ubercake

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Sounds like you can thank Fractal for including junk hardware with your case. That just sucks. If you do end up being able to pull the board out, I'd order some aftermarket screws/standoffs and try each screw in each standoff before putting the into the motherboard tray.
 
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So, in the end I did manage to get the issue sorted by unscrewing everything and pulling the motherboard up together with the loose standoffs. It took a bit more force than I was comfortable with, but I asked for help from a friend who deals with this stuff professionally, so it should be okay.

In conclusion, lessons learned:

- Make sure your standoffs are properly screwed in place.
- Check for defective standoffs and screws before you start assembling.
 
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