Back boxes a new thread!

What type of thread do Australians use!

I cannot believe that the B&W touch screen back boxes use some sort of variation on a Whitworth thread.

Please just put a 3.5mm in and be done with it!

Surely no other manufacturer in the WORLD uses such a thread id it a Clipsal own pitch!

 

Believe it or not is is actually a standard thread. Exactly what it is though I don't know.

It is the standard Australian switch & GPO mounting screw pitch (whatever that is).

I too have tried to buy screws and nuts in the past for odd projects, but no bolt supplier that I have ever found can match them.

So if you do find out what it is, then let me know as well.

 

Threads

Gents

The thread used in a Clipsal wallbox is a 6-32 UNC (sometimes called a 6UNC) with the following properties:

Thread Name: UNC
Dia (inch): 0.138"
Dia (mm): 3.5mm
Pitch (TPI): 32
Pitch (mm): 0.794mm
Core diameter (inch): 0.1"
Core diameter (mm): 2.532mm
Depth (inch): 0.019"
Depth (mm): 0.487mm

An M3.5 is fairly close in most regards, the biggest difference being the pitch of 42.3 tpi.

 

Now, if only I knew where I could buy such hardware?

Any Ideas?

 

An M3.5x0.8 would do the job. Can't help with locating some, though.

 

Aaagh

OK we now have conformation that that this thread is a bizzar choice!

3.5mm is a standard thread that is used throughouteurope on electrical backboxes (and I expect readily available throughout the rest of the world)

Rather than people trying to get 6UNC or re-tapping to 3.5 - can someone in clipsal please take some action! -


- Change the thread
- supply additional 6UNC screws with the backbox (a set of longer ones would be usefull.

 

Action

The really annoying thing about forums ........

It is quite obvious that this topic is very niggly however it is also obvious that i have a point!

Why do I bother mentioning it if nothing is ever going to be done about it!

 

Hi UK Household Automation,
I doubt that the engineers here have the time or the patience to answer this question for you any more than they already have. Newman has given you all the info you need to source a screw that will do the job. The thread type and size are hardly what you would call "hard to source". UNC fine is a very common thread type.

Your friendly Clipsal wholesaler, or otherwise, will probably have them on the shelf anyway. The Clipsal part number for this series of screws in various sizes is 355, or if you have a Clipsal catalogue then page 97, or if not, you can get most of the info you are after from here.. http://alfred.clipsal.com/scripts/apeweb.dll?ShowCatNo&Index=6

Anyhow I hope you have some success in sourcing some product. Its not that no one cares, its just not such a big deal.

Cheers

 

To answer your original question, which was

The answer would appear to be that the 6-32 screw that Clipsal use is the same 6-32 screw that the Yanks use for their electricals, and that are used in PCs, so I suspect that you'll find that the 6-32 is one of the most popular, if not the most popular screw on the planet.

RS do them, but contrary to Ross's assertion they are not an easy to find screw in the UK and probably Europe as a whole, due to the pervasive impact of metrification.

 

Just to add, that "wierd" thread isn't a Clipsal thread, it's the standard thread used for ALL brands of switches and wallboxes sold in Australia.

I appreciate that the thread is different on European wallboxes, but I doubt that Clipsal will be able to change the whole country over to metric. It's the Australian market that dictates the thread to Clipsal, not the other way around

 

Screws loose

I had the good fortune of attending a tour (ca. 1987) of the Clipsal "screw plant" previously situated in Bowden. There they told me that the Clipsal screws were:
a) not purchased, but manufactured on-site, and
b) Not exactly M3.5x0.8, nor #6-32 UNC, but close enough that they could be screwed into holes tapped for either standard, and would be slightly looser than a "proper match" so that sparkies could get them in more quickly.

Don