On Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 8:46:03 AM UTC-5, TimR wrote:
The switch on my coffeepot has gone flakey. The whole pot was $10 new so it's not worth the effort to repair but I thought I'd squirt a little contact cleaner in there anyway. I hate just discarding everything.

Three screws, looked like Phillips head, but it wouldn't grip. So I looked closer. Huh, it's a normal flat slot screw, but there's a high spot in the middle of the slot so a regular screwdriver won't go in.

I have some sets of tamper proof drivers, for Torx and maybe something else, but I have never run into this type before. (and I'm nudging up against 70)

I guess I can buy a $10 screwdriver, take it apart, and get another year out of a $10 coffeepot, but..........how many years do I have left? None of my kids want my tools. Hee, hee.

I bought a security bit set years ago for not much, maybe $7,think it was Harbor Freight. It probably has that one, has dozens of types.

On Sat, 1 Feb 2020 06:06:18 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 8:46:03 AM UTC-5, TimR wrote:
The switch on my coffeepot has gone flakey.
The whole pot was $10 new so it's not worth the effort to repair
but I thought I'd squirt a little contact cleaner in there anyway.
I hate just discarding everything.
Three screws, looked like Phillips head, but it wouldn't grip. So I looked closer.
Huh, it's a normal flat slot screw, but there's a high spot in the middle of the slot
so a regular screwdriver won't go in.
I have some sets of tamper proof drivers, for Torx and maybe something else,
but I have never run into this type before. (and I'm nudging up against 70)
I guess I can buy a $10 screwdriver, take it apart, and get another year
out of a $10 coffeepot, but..........how many years do I have left?
None of my kids want my tools. Hee, hee.


I bought a security bit set years ago for not much, maybe $7,
think it was Harbor Freight. It probably has that one, has dozens of types.


Always lots of help available on youtube :-)

https://thespacebetweenblog.net/removing-window-bars/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdMTVQxIBHA

I couldn't imagine what the proper tool would look like -

https://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/...infoneway.html

Duh - I think I have one somewhere ..

John T.

The tool would be a regular (flat slot) screwdriver with a notch in the center of the tip to fit around that little bump in the slot of the screw.

I'm sure Harbor Freight has one.

But so do I, now, thanks to an old screwdriver and a Dremel.

And it worked to remove the screws, and I squirted some contact cleaner and worked the switch, and that did not fix it. So it went into the trash, and I'll get a new one at Walmart.