charles wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Fixed a Wickes rad to a wall for a customer yesterday.

Rule One of fixing things to walls - throw away screws & fixings
supplied & use your own.

But these looked a bit good. Huge meaty plugs & coach screws.

I broke Rule One & tried to use them.

No size marked on plug as usual. Read instructions; "Using a 9mm
masonry bit, drill holes for the plugs".

9mm???

Check extensive stock of drill bits. 8mm & 10mm - no 9mm. Check in
Wickes book. No 9mm. Check in SF, TS, ITS catalogues - no 9mm.

Tried 8mm, plug wouldn't go in, tried 10mm, plug spun.

Applied Rule One & binned the bloody things.

Why would anyone make a plug that doesn't use a standard size hole?

Why would anyone use such a *huge* plug for fixing a radiator to the wall?

5mm would be the biggest I'd consider for such a thing.

I.e. red plastic plugs in 5/5.5mm hole and 5x50 screws.

you aren't considering the weight of the beast when filled with water.

Oh yes I am! :-)

If you take the trouble to work out the shear strength of even a
single 5mm screw (and yes, I took into account the fact that the
diameter is considerably less than 5mm) you'll find that it's *way*
more than even the heaviest radiator you could imagine.

What *really* matters is whether the fixing can pull out of the wall
and I find that a properly prepared 4mm/Yellow or 5mm/Red fixing is
perfectly capable of being able to hold a suitably sized screw such
that it won't pull out. Most of the weight of a radiator (or
bookcase, or whatever) will just exert a shear force on the screw and
not that much will try and pull it out.

I have very heavy bookcases and shelving systems carrying tools and
such hanging mostly on 4mm screws in yellow plugs, no sign of anything
falling off in the 12 years or more we have been here.

--
Chris Green