Heres a little issue that is annoying I
wonder if anyone can help.

I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Matthew

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:37:03 UTC, Matthew wrote:

Heres a little issue that is annoying I
wonder if anyone can help.

I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Depends how the thread is knackered, but you could try this:

http://tinyurl.com/2dmg66

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:37:03 UTC, Matthew wrote:

Heres a little issue that is annoying I
wonder if anyone can help.

I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Another thing. If it's a really old box, the thread may be different.
Are you using one old, and one new, screw?

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Bob Eager wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:37:03 UTC, Matthew wrote:

Heres a little issue that is annoying I
wonder if anyone can help.

I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Depends how the thread is knackered, but you could try this:

http://tinyurl.com/2dmg66


I've taped a nut on the back of the lug before now

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:37:03 UTC, Matthew wrote:

Heres a little issue that is annoying I
wonder if anyone can help.

I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Another thing. If it's a really old box, the thread may be different.
Are you using one old, and one new, screw?

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Use Mole Grips to gently squash in the threaded hole and then run the thread
restoring tool (tap) into the hole.

Thanks Ive just phoned the electrical wholesaler
and they sell 3.5 and 4mm hole restorers. I presume
its 3.5mm?

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Matthew wrote:

Thanks Ive just phoned the electrical wholesaler
and they sell 3.5 and 4mm hole restorers. I presume
its 3.5mm?

If it's an old box, chances are that the threads will be 4BA - which is a
similar diameter (about 3.6mm) to the newer 3.5mm screws, but with a
different screw pitch. If you mangle the lug a bit (as suggested by another
poster) you'll probably be able to tap a new 3.5mm thread in it, using a
hole restorer.

The alternative is to use a slightly larger (provided it will go through the
hole in the fitting) self-tapping screw.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Matthew wrote:

Thanks Ive just phoned the electrical wholesaler
and they sell 3.5 and 4mm hole restorers. I presume
its 3.5mm?

If it's an old box, chances are that the threads will be 4BA - which is a
similar diameter (about 3.6mm) to the newer 3.5mm screws, but with a
different screw pitch. If you mangle the lug a bit (as suggested by
another poster) you'll probably be able to tap a new 3.5mm thread in it,
using a hole restorer.

The alternative is to use a slightly larger (provided it will go through
the hole in the fitting) self-tapping screw.

Use a 4.0mm rethreader and a 4.0mm bolt if the threads are really knackered.

Adam

In article .com,
Matthew wrote:
I have just retiled the kitchen and have
an issue with an old electrical socket.
One of the screw holes in the sunk metal box
is knackered. Normally I can replace the
damaged threads with a piece from a new
box. However this box is old and has
non removable lugs. I cant replace the box
without damaging the walls. Any ideas?

Drill out the remains of the thread and superglue a nut on the back.

--
*If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Drill out the remains of the thread and superglue a nut on the back.

Since they are all galvanized you could probably solder a brass nut on too,
given a decent sized iron. Not actually tried it, but I have a similar
application which I need to fix some time.

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:46:19 +0100, "Newshound"
wrote:


Drill out the remains of the thread and superglue a nut on the back.

Since they are all galvanized you could probably solder a brass nut on too,
given a decent sized iron. Not actually tried it, but I have a similar
application which I need to fix some time.

I think that if it's virtually impossible to replace the whole box,
the best approach would be to attach a 3M5 nut to the back of the
remaining lug using Araldite, holding the nut in place with a screw
well-greased to stop it being 'Araldited' in place.

Alternatively consider Helicoils :-)

It really isn't all that difficult to replace an entire box if you
score around it with a Fgnayrl knife, avoiding the cables; there
should be a minimal amount of repair plastering to do.

--
Frank Erskine