Slotted screws in electric boxes

[gba2331]

After removing a dozen pendant lights, it finally hit me - why do the screws inside electric outlets and boxes use slotted heads instead of Philips? Slotted head screws are such a pain and it seems like Philips would work, or am I just dealing with older installations?

I can understand slotted heads for the covers but not for the excessively long screws that hold an outlet into the box.

 

[Blue Chips]

Older equipment may vary. I have some old steel junction boxes lying around that have straight-slot screws for box covers or for mounting box extensions, but most of the boxes, receptacles, and luminaires that I've installed in recent years have combination-head screws, usually in a pan-head profile. They look like a combination of a phillips and a straight-slot head.

I have a number of combo screwdrivers and bits made specifically for those screws. The screwdrivers are available in different sizes.

Here's an example of a screwdriver from Wiha:
https://www.wihatools.com/products/insulated-xeno-2-softfinishr-driver

And a variation from from Klein:
https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/screwdriver-sets/screwdriver-set-combination-tip-2-piece

Brochure from Klein:
https://data.kleintools.com/sites/a...rochures/klein/Combo-Tip-Sell-Sheet_96252.pdf

Receptacle covers still usually have straight-slot screws, probably for aesthetic reasons.

 

[alfredeneuman]

...or am I just dealing with older installations?

You are.
Modern devices use "combination drive" heads. You can use Robertson, slotted, phillips, or posi-drives. The same is true of the terminal screws on the actual devices

 

[nadogail]

All the wiring devices I have purchased in the last 30+ years have had Combo head screws on the terminals.

 

[whateg01]

You totally need to replace those screws with combination head screws and get the awesome tool that nobody can live without! Or is it everybody should live without? Damn I can't remember where it left off.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I just helped my son remodel his newly bought house that was built in 1961. We replaced all the old worn out receptacles plus added in some new circuits with ground wires to supplement the existing 2 wire receptacles. Those old slot head screws were a pain. Especially in this house, since the plaster walls were 1" thick over the studs, so the screws were even longer than usual.

 

[gba2331]

Guess I’m living in the past! Thanks for the info.

 

[infinkc]

Wonder if switch plates will ever go away from slotted screws. Least they make concealed screw less now.

 

[David Paul]

Older equipment may vary. I have some old steel junction boxes lying around that have straight-slot screws for box covers or for mounting box extensions, but most of the boxes, receptacles, and luminaires that I've installed in recent years have combination-head screws, usually in a pan-head profile. They look like a combination of a phillips and a straight-slot head.

I have a number of combo screwdrivers and bits made specifically for those screws. The screwdrivers are available in different sizes.

Here's an example of a screwdriver from Wiha:
https://www.wihatools.com/products/insulated-xeno-2-softfinishr-driver

And a variation from from Klein:
https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/screwdriver-sets/screwdriver-set-combination-tip-2-piece

Brochure from Klein:
https://data.kleintools.com/sites/a...rochures/klein/Combo-Tip-Sell-Sheet_96252.pdf

Receptacle covers still usually have straight-slot screws, probably for aesthetic reasons.

Thanks for the links. Ordered the Wiha. Another tool I didn’t realize I needed.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Wonder if switch plates will ever go away from slotted screws. Least they make concealed screw less now.

Doubt it.

Concealed plates are fine in a perfect world. In the real world most wall surfaces are not suitable for them.
The nylon mid-size plates are the best compromise available.

 

[andyvh1959]

I'm surprised switch/outlet covers still have screws at all. You think by now someone would have developed covers with flexible tabs so all you needed to do is push the cover "home" to install it. Cost savings, no more screws. The flexible tabs could have steps on them to allow for the box depth, wall/plaster thickness. Kind of like the lock tabs in zip ties.

 

[alfredeneuman]

I'm surprised switch/outlet covers still have screws at all. You think by now someone would have developed covers with flexible tabs so all you needed to do is push the cover "home" to install it.

Screwless covers already are produced. The "screws" are soft enough to pull out the holes for the plate's removal.