We’re always stressing the importance of high quality tools and that buying cheap for one job isn’t worth it in the long run. An excellent real life example of this came up over the weekend, there was a need for precision Torx drivers and cheap tools were used in a situation where a good tool like a Wera or a Wiha would have been better. Yeah, the job got done, but it could have went better.

The Story

I was at the coffee shop with the laptop doing some work and a guy sits down in front of me with his coffee. My first reaction was that I should move so he doesn’t spill on my laptop, but I didn’t want to overreact to my own paranoia. After all, what kind of grown man spills his coffee immediately after sitting down in front of someone with a laptop? This one, apparently. Within 30 seconds, the guy spilled his coffee and enough of it got onto and into the back part of my laptop and the screen went black. Fast forward about an hour, I realized the power was still on on the lap top so I powered it down and went to the most obvious place I could think of to get some emergency PC repair tools and some canned air to salvage the situation.

First stop was Best Buy. I stopped by the Geek Squad and he didn’t have any tools I could use and since I didn’t have a service plan he didn’t offer much help or look at it. He kindly pointed me to the PC repair/upgrade section and showed me where the screws on the laptop were. Not surprisingly, Best Buy had no loose tools to buy, no racks of precision drivers. Nothing that would be a relatively cheap or easy solution. I wasn't even guaranteed to get the tool I needed. Probably they want people to pay the Geek Squad to look at their PC. The best thing they had was a PC repair kit that had a bunch of various cheap tools in it. It was overpriced for what I needed so I passed. They were also out of stock on canned air. I left with only my laptop and the fear that it was a goner.

Next stop was Wal-Mart…I went to the Electronics Department with the sense that I might be out of luck.

“Do you guys have any tools for PC repair?”

“No, we don’t have anything like that.”

“How about canned air?”

He reaches down, unlocks a secret compartment behind the register and removes a can of air. I pay, then start thinking about where I might find a precision tool set and wishing desperately that I had bought some from our stock at work. Realizing I was at Wal-Mart and not trusting the information I had been given, I took a walk about six or seven aisles down to the hardware section, and wouldn’t you know it, there are some precision drivers that would be perfect for laptop repair.

For about $7 I got a pretty cheaply made, 44 piece precision screwdriver set in a carrying case. The metal on the bits looked SUPER cheap, and they were, but in the end I was able to use the set to get the cover of my laptop off. In an emergency, this cheap set was better than a laptop soaking in coffee.

The Repair and Why Quality Matters

To help my laptop recover from the spill, I took the panel off with the precision driver set, the screws stripped a little and to be honest the Wal-Mart Hyper Tough T5 seemed too small and their T6 almost fit, but not quite right. I was really disappointed with this aspect, but it was a cheap tool after all.

Inside, I saw the small amount of coffee so I made sure the power was off again, then used the canned air to get rid of the coffee. Then I let the laptop sit open to dry further until the next day. The following day I used a very small amount of rubbing alcohol on a Q-Tip (again with the power off) to deal with some sugary residue on the motherboard and one of the chips. It really wasn’t the best cleaning job, so I was a bit worried. Another few blasts of air and a few more hours to dry, I powered up the laptop and miraculously it worked! I put the access panel back on, but again, because the driver bits were not the best fit, the screws stripped a bit more and I couldn’t get them tight enough without stripping even more.

As I was writing this blog I went to our stock and tried a Wera T6 Precision Torx (05118182001) and it was too big. Wouldn’t even fit in the screw at all, clearly demonstrating how off the Wal-Mart Special was. The Wera T5 Precision Torx (05118181001) was going out for an order, so I couldn’t try that. I opted to try the Wiha 26705 T5 precision Torx and it was a perfect fit. I was able to get the screws tightened perfectly and the driver fit the screw head perfectly. Best of all, there was no further stripping of the screw. It was a great experience.

Comparing the Precision Torx Drivers

No question the Wal-Mart driver was not the best purchase, but in an emergency it did what I needed…at the cost of stripping my screws. I will say that the case and holders inside are actually a nice idea, and the screw cap on the driver handle is a great feature. I was able to open up the driver and put all my screws in the holding area and didn’t lose anything. I mean, you could use a small jar to the same effect, but for the price it was a great extra feature and one I would love to see Wiha or Wera take a stab at.

The Wal-Mart tool has some serious downsides though. First and foremost, the bits are not that precise and led to my screws getting stripped. To replace the screws would probably cost the money I “saved” on this tool and I might as well have just bought the one tool I needed in a better quality. When you’re working on such a small scale with small electronics, precision is critical. The other downside to this set is that it doesn’t feel durable. If I’m careful with it, it probably will last a while, but it honestly feels that if I drop it, something will undoubtedly break.

Conversely, the Wera T5 and the Wiha 26705 was a perfect fit, if I had had one of these at home on hand I wouldn’t have stripped my screws taking the laptop apart. Comparing the Wera to the Wiha, I liked the feel of the Wera a little bit better, it is more ergonomic, and at the risk of sounding snobby, the Wera looks a little cooler. The Wera is more expensive by a few more dollars though and since the Wiha did the job really well and this is a one-off purchase, the Wiha is a much better investment than the Wal-Mart set. It’s the one tool I needed so I also don’t have a bunch of pieces I’ll never use. So if you’re going to use this size a lot for repairing electronics, I’d recommend a Wera but if it’s just for occasional use at home for hobbies or emergencies, the Wiha will do just fine. The tip where you rest your finger on the Wiha driver is also smooth whereas the Wera has a small plastic bur on it that you would have to file off.

So to summarize, it does pay to prepare and have a few common, emergency repair tools on hand and it pays to make sure they’re brands that don’t skimp on quality. After this ordeal, I’ve bought the Wiha T5 Torx to have on hand should my laptop ever need to be saved again. It’s better to have spent the $7 on the right Precision Torx driver and have it handy so I don’t have to panic and buy a huge cheapo set for $6 and damage my screws. Don’t get me wrong, the cheap tools helped save my laptop, but prior planning prevents poor performance, and having some good drivers at home or in my backpack would have been nice. You can bet that I’ll be stocking up on some commonly used high quality tools for this and other jobs around the house. My next target will probably to buy some nice Wiha or Wera bits for my drill or one of the ratchet sets with bits.

Takeaways

The most important lessons from this experience would be as follows. First, keep some good, high quality precision tools on hand for emergencies. Second, if someone sits across from you at the coffee shop while you have your laptop out, move it off of the table until the risk of spilling has been removed.