Anyone else despise these types of screws? They're the absolute worst fastener type I've ever come across! Every time I have to work on something and see one of these frickers, I know I'll have to waste a bunch of time taking them off and modifying them and/or finding replacements for them.
You can strip them off just by looking at them the wrong way. You can take them off once or twice and that's it... they're done. If you have to re-torque them again. hahahaha... good fricking luck.
Anyway, I'm convinced these things are popular because you can make a hex wrench for nothing and then give it to away to suckers for assembly. Other than that, they have no fricking redeeming value whatsoever and a massive frick-you every manufacturer who still uses this shit. And frick you if your name is Allen
What did Allen do?
not enough
Anything from Apple.
Few years ago they decided to design iphones with two screws slightly shorter than the rest, so if you are repairing one yourself and reassemble with the wrong screws in the wrong places they damage the circuit board.
You see slightly mismatched screw lengths everywhere, my asus laptop has them too, so does my PS4.
It’s just a sneaky way of preventing you from tampering with the device, and detecting that you have done so.
Yeah, but on the iphone 5 it was literally like 1 mm difference.
>my asus laptop has them too, so does my PS4.
Yes, but Apple did it with screws that differed by 100 microns in length.
3 years later and I'm still mad, fixed about 30 phones for friends and the only one that I fricked up on was iphone and its screws
Isn't that illegal? Oh, wait, you're murrican
iPhones uses the same pentalobe screws in yurope...
rent free huh
i always place my screws in the pattern that i took them out of the device. i always ensure that each and every screw goes into the very same hole it came out of. i do this mainly because im paranoid of wearing out the plastic threads of old games consoles, etc but not having to deal with this mismatched screw bullshit is just a nice little extra benefit.
They are the only type of fastener I will use.
Seems like a skill problem to me
>t- machinist
>Seems like a skill problem to me
They have the lowest amount of surface engagement of any fastener. They're almost round and all the internal angles are obtuse. That's their fatal flaw and why they strip out so easily.
They might be OK in larger sizes (like what you'd find on a Bridgeport) but not in anything that's small.
Other fastener types have ridges and more sharper angles which makes them less prone to stripping.
You wouldnt use shitty wrenches on a hex bolt, why are you using shit allen keys?
This isnt the fasteners problem, its a YOU problem.
t. buttmad hex autist
Its ok anon, maybe one day youll be competent.
>competent
Imagine requiring a super-special driver to make a piece of shit fastener work. And then you blame it on a user. kek'd hard.
post adjustable wrench collection
>super-special
Is that what your mom calls you?
why are you mad ?
please explain
I've never stripped a hex head in my life. It's a skill issue, not a fastener issue.
I'll never understand why people look at something which is literally everywhere, used by millions daily, and then conclude that because *they* don't know how to use it properly, it just needs to disappear. No, frickhead. Just practice more
Rust belt mechanic here frick hex bolts and frick you too.
Trisquare bolts are bullshit too
>I've never stripped a hex head in my life
I'm going to have to call bullshit. Cheap chinesium grub screws are in all sorts of things and unless you sit in your basement all day, every day, you have probably encountered many of them.
Torx bits work great in metric allen screws
Any soft screws used on laptops. Unless you have the expensive screwdriver with perfect tolerance and fit you proceed to strip them almost always. How do the Chinese even assemble them without destroying them?
Electric screwdriver with torque control for whatever 5 screws they put in each phone
Use the right type of bit. Metric won't fit standard properly.
I agree. Torx should be the standard for everything, all other styles of fastener should be deleted from existence. All you need is torx, it just werks
Are there 5 sided bits?
Yes
The worst part is, pentalobe is unironically very good at torque transfer. They will basically always snap the screw before they strip.
Why is that the worst part?
>unironically very good at torque transfer
so, it's the best screw.
>They will basically always snap the screw before they strip.
that's what they all should do.
all screw types that cam out (like that shit Phillips) always strip and are a pain the ass to use.
if you snap the head off, you overtorqued and that's your fricking problem.
>Why is that the worst part?
that it's not being used more? that's all I could come up with.
>snapped screw
exactly the last thing you'd want, unless you're a fricking masochist
>over torqued
hasn't heard of rust/seizing
dude, calm your breasts, breaking off a screw is hard.
lol the only one that seems to have his panties in a bunch about it is you...
either way, no, not really
actually just did that, unfortunately (rust), so now I'm stuck with a stub flush with the part it's screwed into, and since it's a tiny, hard steel bolt, drilling to extract it is out of the question; will have to find someone to weld it for me.
>snapped screw is better than a cam out
Wut? One is a lot easier to fix than the other
pentalobe is the word you're looking for
iphone's pentalobe
Usually they're security or really special.
There's a reallyally weird one inside of propane tank valves but I can't find an image.
I'm convinced the problem is that there are American and metric hex heads and they are usually very similar in size but not quite. So you'll fit a metric hex head screw driver into an American screw and it will strip easily.
Possible, but I think OP keeps using shitty chinese allen wrenches made of shitty metal and not up to the correct specifications of 99.9% of countries.
Yea this whole thread is probably a combination of people using the wrong tool and people using shit tools. If your only experience with them was putting together ikea furniture with 2$ tools from alibaba I can see why it would be frustrating.
>I'm convinced the problem is that there are American and metric hex heads and they are usually very similar in size but not quite. So you'll fit a metric hex head screw driver into an American screw and it will strip easily.
Also can't recall any problem stripping hex, and I'm not infrequently a Phillips-stripping savage who only ever uses like, three sizes of Phillips driver for everything.
On the other hand – I can't remember the last time I saw imperial hex, but I use metric hex every day. Don't even own imperial hex besides a partially disintegrated one of those cheap shit folding things that has some on there.
What still commonly uses imperial hex out there?
Also why does shit still use security torx? The nice namebrand bits still come with regular/security sets (also why?) but literally all the random bullshit Ali/Amazon sets are security. Who do they think they're keeping out with security torx?
>i always place my screws in the pattern that i took them out of the device. i always ensure that each and every screw goes into the very same hole it came out of.
This is the way.
the only place i ever see button heads screws is ikea tier furniture...and they probably use them because nobody else wants to buy the shit and theyre cheap
They're common on cars. I saw them on my old Nissan. Not sure about other brands. They were used as machine screws into aluminum castings.
>best
robertson
>runner up
torx
>worst
slotted
>runner up
philips
I actually don't mind slotted for fine adjustment screws like on engine valves, since you can just turn them with your fingernail and get a good direct feel for the adjustment.
fricking leaf detected
I always wanted to move to the States and lost up on Robertsons and install them everywhere like Johnny Appleseed to stunlock American tradesmen.
what screw is this? None of my bits fit. I can't really get a good pic of it since it's deep inside this recess and it's tiny af.
It's what's preventing me from changing the battery of my UPS.
looks like a rivet made of relatively soft material that someone was jamming all heads into
>rivet
fugg
it alllllmost looks like it has a c**t hair of a chance of being triangular drive if its not totally cammed out
Looks like it could be security hex. Is that a pin in the center?
>Looks like it could be security hex. Is that a pin in the center?
I think you might be right. I don't have any security torx drivers... only regular torx. I don't think they'd use a rivet plus it's very small to be an actual rivet.
Another problem is that they're recessed pretty deep so regular bits with a driver can't reach.
it does looks like
May want to step back and reassess the situation? Been doing telco and IT for 25+ years and I've never encountered a UPS that wasn't designed to allow for brain-dead easy battery changes with the bare minimum of tooling.
>May want to step back and reassess the situation? Been doing telco and IT for 25+ years and I've never encountered a UPS that wasn't designed to allow for brain-dead easy battery changes with the bare minimum of tooling.
Are you saying I'm lying or that I'm moronic? See the hole circled in red? It's the same hole as in
pic and there's a screw in there. One of the "security" type screws. I've ordered a new set of bits so maybe one of them will fit it. I doubt it's a rivet.
>you saying I'm lying or that I'm moronic
Nta but yeah use some kind of pry bar and be done with it dummy . Frick it
I don't wanna destroy the plastic. It's 3-4 years old and probably brittle. It's OK, I can wait another day. I think it's security torx. I've ordered some bits. One will fit. if it doesn't, I'll dremel that piece out.
It's a UPS for my fiber modem.
No one gives a frick. Break it and move on. Quit being Mr good shoes
>It's a UPS for my fiber modem
Also, I give a frick
>Name a worse fastener
Those triangle shitheads some McDonalds toys have, though I would argue they're equally shit
Its the ball end. People frick up the screw trying to crack it loose with the ball that has no engagement area.
Grind that shit off
Hipster or just busywork?
Allens are not a problem. Button head Allens with tiny sockets are a problem. Proper strong cap screws are wonderful.
So is it hex or allens you're having problems. It matters
someone should make an octagonal screw just to frick with tradies
When all else is stripped out, you will have to make a slot and use flathead.
>When all else is stripped out, you will have to make a slot and use flathead.
The way most mechanics deal with stripped Allens is by hammering in a torx bit. This is why so many mechanics always have a box full of cheap sacrificial torx bits on hand.
Yes, I did this and so does everyone else, I’ve worked with
>blocks your path
every bit set comes with security torx nowadays so I don't really see the problem
they're much better than these frickers
I actually destroyed a flathead screwdriver so I can take off one of these frickers. I dremeled out a slot in the flathead so it would fit.
They invented a 3-pronged version now.
Every fricking year theres a new screw type.
I'm pretty jaded but that's fricking horrid.
Used to live in an apartment that charged out the ass for cable, but their lockout was just unhooking the cable from the back of the wall plate which was held on with two of these. Two nails taped together turned by a pair of pliers was enough to defeat these worthless frickers.