Residential electrical switch box covers: why not Phillips?

[vavet]

Why do residential switch plate cover plates use straight slot screws instead of Phillips? Is it to avoid overtorqueing?
tradition?

 

[Blueshound_GJ]

Probably cheaper.

Edit: This thread is classic GJ.

 

[LXCam]

So we can argue about vertical or horizontal slot alignment…duhhhhh

 

[dscheidt]

So we can argue about vertical or horizontal slot alignment…duhhhhh

There's no argument, though. Horizontal slots are clearly the work of mouthbreathers.

The answer tradition, no doubt.

 

[mm08822]

I had one customer tell me as I finished up that he wanted all the screw slots vertical.....hahaha.....yup...funny

HE WAS SERIOUS!!! Im sure the expression on my face was more than insulting

 

[drmarkr]

 

[Sumboodie]

I had one customer tell me as I finished up that he wanted all the

That's reasonable.

 

[johnre]

I'd guess the reason is that straight slot screws hide better than Phillips; you want these covers to look invisible.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

Phillips head cover screws would end the "vertical or horizontal" screw position debate HOWEVER some would start the "x or +” screw position.

 

[mm08822]

Allen heads for the win

ETA: Even double hex for those still confounded with a simple hex.

 

[WillyBoy]

Oh the horror, with phillips heads, how can we precisely clock the head slots so they shed sawdust?

 

[rlitman]

I own a number of those screw starters, but for plate screws, I use a Wera insulated parallel ground slotted screwdriver that fits so perfectly that it will hang it's own weight from the screw if it's roughly horizontal.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Solution: Use the Spline drive or Double Hex fasteners, there's almost no way to position those incorrectly.

Brilliant!

 

[Codyboy]

Why do residential switch plate cover plates use straight slot screws instead of Phillips? Is it to avoid overtorqueing?

Actually more torque can be applied with a *slotted screw as compared to a Phillips.
*with a proper fitting screwdriver.

ETA
Switch plates get vertical while receptacles get horizontal.
this is non negotiable .

 

[Gozo]

Codyboy said: Switch plates get vertical while receptacles get horizontal.
this is non negotiable.

Great…another thing to keep me up at night.
I’m a vertical fan myself, but on the outlets, if they’re mounted vertically, they follow my preference for the slot vertical. I’ve got a few double outlets mounted horizontally; I’ll have to check how the screws are. Ditto the Christmas tree floor outlet. So parallel or opposed to the axis of the outlet slots?

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Maybe the slotted drivers slip out enough times that the person turning the screw says" Effit, good enough!" long before it gets overtorqued.

 

[mm08822]

Now I understand why screwless plates exist. It's to help those with a few loose screws hide the real concern......

 

[four.cycle]

So we can argue about vertical or horizontal slot alignment…duhhhhh

exactly.

but there's no need to argue about it: if they're not vertical, they've been installed improperly.

 

[dscheidt]

I had one customer tell me as I finished up that he wanted all the screw slots vertical.....hahaha.....yup...funny

HE WAS SERIOUS!!! Im sure the expression on my face was more than insulting

Of course he was serious. I'd expect the same thing, and not have to ask for it. It's how it's been done for 100 years.

 

[MarcSeattle]

Everyone is doing it wrong. One screw should be phillips and the other a straight slot.

 

[Meursault74]

slotted so you can work on it with a butter knife and save a trip to the garage when you're working in the kitchen.

not that I'd use a butterknife............. I keep a multi-bit screwdriver in the kitchen utility drawer like every good GJ member should.

 

[PelicanPines]

I own a number of those screw starters, but for plate screws, I use a Wera insulated parallel ground slotted screwdriver that fits so perfectly that it will hang it's own weight from the screw if it's roughly horizontal.

I consider those torque limiting screw starters...

 

[sparky 1971]

Switches and everything else countertop height are vertical, the low receptacles go wherever it is when I think it's tight enough, usually somewhere around horizontal, but not always exactly and I don't care. They are slotted so that I can use my rapid drive slotted screwdriver; I know they are made in Phillips but I don't want to either buy or carry one. The end.

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[The Cobbler]

in grade school I had a friend who's family home had all electrical plates fitted with decorative screws like used on glass shades.
I thought that was one of the coolest things

 

[rmanrman]

I’ve had customers congratulate me for the screw orientation horizontal. Aka as left to right
Electricians are special

 

[OccupantRJ]

I clock mine at the two o’clock position so the slots look like they are doing a wheelie.

 

[nadogail]

Because that's the way we have always done it

 

[reader2580]

I knew an electrician who would throw away any slotted screws except plate screws. He hated slotted screws.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I suspect a little bit of it is they've been making the covers forever with slotted screws, and there was little reason to change.

The screws are small enough that you'd probably need a #0 or #1 Phillips screwdriver, and most people don't have either one.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I’ve had customers congratulate me for the screw orientation horizontal.

It's like the toilet paper roll argument going on currently in another discussion, there's no one answer. I like the screws to be installed with the slots horizontal so that's how they are in my house. I don't care if other people like them vertical.

 

[johnre]

Now I understand why screwless plates exist. It's to help those with a few loose screws hide the real concern......

Whoa, hitting pretty close to home - I have Lutron Fassada screwless plates, for this exact reason.

Switch plates get vertical while receptacles get horizontal.
this is non negotiable .

OK, I'll give you that. But you have to tell us once and for all which way the grounding pin goes on a NEMA 5-15R receptacle.

 

[PelicanPines]

I’ve had customers congratulate me for the screw orientation horizontal. Aka as left to right
Electricians are special

I made my builder reorient them all to vertical (up & down)...

I double checked the plug behind the fridge... Gave the kid $100 tip.

 

[Codyboy]

Whoa, hitting pretty close to home - I have Lutron Fassada screwless plates, for this exact reason.


OK, I'll give you that. But you have to tell us once and for all which way the grounding pin goes on a NEMA 5-15R receptacle.

Ground pin down.
It acts like a stiff leg to support the cord.
Also look at how a refrigerator cord is made.

 

[yatg]

Ground pin down.
It acts like a stiff leg to support the cord.
Also look at how a refrigerator cord is made.

not consistently. i have a garage fridge and freezer. on one the cord hangs from the ground pin end, on the other the cord hangs from the hot/neut blade end. i have a 2g box with one recept ground pin down, and the other ground pin up to keep the cord hanging down and not bending over iteself.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Electricians here in San Diego County seem to favor installing all new outlets with ground pin UP. I don't know if it's required or if it's just a local practice.

I questioned this during the construction of my garage addition (all of the outlets had been installed with the writing upside-down and I brought this to the contractor's attention), and I was told the theory is, if a plug isn't fully inserted, an object falling onto the plug would contact the ground pin first, as opposed to the live conductors.

I guess I could buy into that, but I did sort of mentally roll my eyes, then I took a deep breath and told my OCD self to calm down.

 

[mm08822]

Everyone's a winner now......

 

[bwringer]

I swear upon all that is holy that I oriented all the screws vertically about six years ago when I replaced every last outlet and switch in my house. (They were all backstabbed by the lazy a-holes who wired this place, and several were arcing, overheating and generally trying to kill us in our sleep.)

Anyway, I have no idea what slow force might be acting on the screws, but several are... moving. Some are now up to 15 degrees off kilter. I suppose I'll have to go around with a screwdriver soon, and meddle with the will of unseen forces I do not understand...

 

[mm08822]

I swear upon all that is holy that I oriented all the screws vertically about six years ago when I replaced every last outlet and switch in my house. (They were all backstabbed by the lazy a-holes who wired this place, and several were arcing, overheating and generally trying to kill us in our sleep.)

Anyway, I have no idea what slow force might be acting on the screws, but several are... moving. Some are now up to 15 degrees off kilter. I suppose I'll have to go around with a screwdriver soon, and meddle with the will of unseen forces I do not understand...

Red lock-tite or drill out and use pop-rivets.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Red lock-tite or drill out and use pop-rivets.

I just had a vision of a home inspector's head exploding.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

I had one customer tell me as I finished up that he wanted all the screw slots vertical.....hahaha.....yup...funny

HE WAS SERIOUS!!! Im sure the expression on my face was more than insulting

I know someone who recently bought a house. All the faceplate screws were clocked into the 12:00 o'clock orientation.