Hello Quest owners,
I tried to open my Quest for some serious spring cleaning. All front screws are seized and I have messed them up pretty much while trying to remove them. I bought even a set of screw extractors which did not help at all. Does anybody have any wisdom on how to proceed?

Any clue on why they're seized? Are they gummed up with coffee gunk on the inside or have they simply remained in place for too long?

Your friends here are going to be penatrating oil and heat.

Heat did not help. I did not try penetrating oil because of the fumes. But you are of course right, if nothing else helps I will have to try oil.
The screws have never been removed.

I'm guessing they are Phillip's heads and once you strip the head it is a big job..
Try getting the roaster very hot and add more heat with a touch if you can..
Can you get a bite with extra small vise grips?

If that fails get some Kano Kroil
http://www.kanolabs.com/
I think you can only buy it from the maker.. This is the best and don't use WD-40 it's not a penetrating oil like most people think..

Let the oil do it thing for a week adding some ever day..
Clean machine with alcohol when done..

Last resort is drilling and tapping the next size bigger..

If these are the screws on the face plate of the drum (btw, shame on you for tightening them beyond the minimum), you might try removing them when the machine is heated up. That will soften any gunk in the threads, and expand the surrounding metal.

After trying oil etc.
As a last resort use a dremel to cut a slot across the face to allow you to use a flat blade screwdriver.
I have had success with this method in the past.

John

A couple things:

They are likely stripped out hex head screws. Not easy to remove if over torqued. But the tip of working on them after heating the machine up is a good idea to loosen some of the hardened oils that have basically varnished themselves in place.

Kroil is amazing stuff. But if I didn't own it, I wouldn't go out of the way to buy it just for this application unless I was quite desperate. Try pre-heating the machine well, (if you happen to own a heat gun, you're even better off) if worse comes to worse, you need to take a hex head wrench once size larger and literally tap them into the stock screws in order to back them out. Then you get to replace them all. I personally am not a fan of hex head fasteners. I'd much rather have square head screws, but I haven't had to replace any of mine, and thats after years of ownership and teardown, use, etc.

One other desperate, but effective trick, is to use any standard nail polish type paint, apply a dap of paint into the socket of each screw and let dry. (You'll have to tilt the Quest with the faceplate facing straight up for this to work for the faceplate screws). Once dry, you can take either the same size or maybe one size smaller hex head, again slightly tapping them in deeply seating them into the fastener and backing them out. If the fasteners you have are truly stripped out, don't hesitate to replace them all.

Cutting slots with a Dremel is another, lengthy and potentially destructive option (if you happen to slip and put some nasty deep scratches into the faceplate or various areas).

JK wrote:If that fails get some Kano Kroil
http://www.kanolabs.com/
I think you can only buy it from the maker..

+1 but it is frequently available from gun shops. Call around your local area and you should be able to find it. It really is good stuff, but is fumey so use in a well ventilated area. If you want to remove it from the surfaces once it's done its job, use some ethanol (I used Everclear from the liquor store).

This is one of the offending screws. Not much of a hex head anymore. If have tried the heat. Next will be the nail polish.

Thank you for the kind advice, everybody; it is much appreciated.

TomC wrote: Try pre-heating the machine well, (if you happen to own a heat gun, you're even better off) if worse comes to worse, you need to take a hex head wrench once size larger and literally tap them into the stock screws in order to back them out. .

I've found that a slightly larger Torx bit is easier to tap into a worn allen head opening. It will also bite better then the allen bit. If that doesn't work drill the center hole with a bit just slightly larger then the threaded section of the screw until the head falls off. Once they are all drilled off remove the cover & grab the remaining threaded shaft with vice grips to unscrew it.

As far as Kroil & other commercial penetrating oils go save your money. In every comparison I've read the most effective penetrating "oil" is a 50/50 mixture of acetone & dextron/mercron auto transmission fluid.