Nylon coated screws, replacing them?

[Nigellus]

I have not experienced any problems re-using my screws... but the year is young.

[think2much]

I just added some memory to my X60. The Hardware Manual says to loosen the screws on the memory cover, but not to remove them. So not all screws need to be replaced.

[frogger3d]

has anyone had problems with screws falling out after reuse?

[eddy eddy]

...the special nylon-coated screws used in ThinkPad models should be used only once...

The nylon coating on the screws is a threadlocker, pure and simple. In theory, you could use the screws over and over again, until they physically wear out, if you were able to apply an equivalent threadlocking material to the screw prior to each use so that you achieve the same results as the nylon coating. However, the problem with that is trying to find an 'equivalent' threadlocker. Obviously you don't want to use an automotive product, because that would lock them up too tight (you would not be able to release them in the future), and you don't want to use a liquid product, because of the risk of the liquid running off the fastener and onto something inside the ThinkPad.

I've tried PTFE (Teflon) Tape on 2 screws. Works fine, but it's annoying to wrap the threads without leaving any visible white residue...