Today I’m not talking about gaming or tech, but a life hack that saved my (vacuum robot’s) life. If you’re reading this, I believe you screwed things up and being nervous to find the solution, just like what I did.

Long story

My Xiaomi Roborock S50 stopped working a couple of months ago. It said the sensor was covered but it’s actually not. I then spotted that the sensor wheel didn’t turn at all, so I assumed that the sensor motor was broken. I bought a replacement from eBay which cost $17 and when I tried to replace it, the nightmare started.

I screwed up and stripped the screws when I strewed! I used a screwdriver that didn’t have a good hand grip and is too large for the screws:

Attempt 1: Rubber Band

The screws are pretty small and they cannot be reached by pliers. I found and read the first article that came up from Google on how to remove stripped screws. The only thing I could do without buying any tool is the rubber band way, and it doesn’t work for sure. I don’t think the screw extractor work for the small screws either…

Attempt 2: Glue Gun

Upgrading from a rubber band, I tried a glue gun that I believed glue gives a better grip than a rubber band. I tried both gluing with a screwdriver or without, all didn’t work.

Last Attempt: Sandpaper

After few hours of tinkering and watching videos on tools like screw extractor, I decided and was about to buy a rotary or drill to cut a thin slit in the stripped screw. I had a brainwave out of the blue that if I want a good grip on the screw, sandpaper may do. I then cut a small piece of sandpaper, and use a relatively large screwdriver with excellent grip:

Make sure to push the screwdriver down hard while turning, so the grip on the screw can be maximized. Finally, with a big surprise, the screw was successfully removed!

I wasted a few of my precious hours trying the fix this and was almost spending money to buy tools that are not guaranteed to work, but indeed the solution is dead simple – a small piece of sandpaper! It is surprising that this life hack seems not mentioned anywhere in Google. Wish this may help in your case and your screwed screws!