Question about people who overtighten every screw they touch

I was swapping out a power supply for a client last Tuesday, and the previous tech had cranked the motherboard standoffs so tight they were almost stripped. I had to use pliers to get them off, which took way longer than the actual swap. What gives with this? Do people just not know that snug is fine, or are they scared the part will fall out? Has anyone else dealt with stripped screws from overzealous tightening?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor.mary25d ago

@christopher_west1 has a good point, but don't you think part of it is that they're too impatient to back the screw off and try again once it feels tight?

christopher_west125d ago

The bit about "scared the part will fall out" really hits home. I think there's a weird psychology with people who work on computers where they think tighter equals more secure, even when physics says otherwise. A standoff just needs to be snug enough that it won't vibrate loose, and any more force than that is just crushing threads. What gets me is that overtighteners are usually the same people who never use a torque driver or even check their own work twice. You ever notice how they'll crank a screw until the plastic starts to warp and then just shrug?