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Preventing screws and bits falling into the machine

Durzel

Durzel

Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
2,041
Location
Bath, UK
What keeps me awake at night isn't the thought of Brexit, or zombies, it's unscrewing one of those little screws that hold on a lamp holder or suchlike and it dropping down and immediately vanishing into a black hole, or disappearing into the wiring loom somewhere or - knowing my luck - bridging two contacts that aren't supposd to be bridged, etc.

I have magnetic nut drivers but the magnetism on the smaller ones doesn't seem to be particularly strong - don't know whether this is just the way mine are (I have this set), it seems only the lightest contact with anything whilst removing the attached screw will dislodge it and send it into the wiring looms, a black hole or the aforementioned "place where no screw should go".

It seems crazy to me that in the year 2019 that unscrewing stuff from the bottom of the playfield remains a surgical bomb defusal like operation. Either that, or I'm missing something really obvious.

I even try using a nut driver in tandem with a telescopic magnetic tool to grab the screw as its about to fall out, but that ends up being just as fraught, like I'm performing brain surgery or something.

Hasn't anyone invented a nut driver with a claw on the end to clamp onto the screw head or something? Failing that - what are you lot doing to avoid this problem?

I need to remove a lamp socket and a light board PCB (with standoffs that are just begging to fall down into the machine too) and just the thought of it sat at my desk at work is giving me a panic attack. :( Help me fellow Pinheads, you're my only hope.
 
Hi,

There are attachments , "Screw Launchers", which clip around the shaft of a screwdriver or suchlike, with two opposed arms to hold a fastener. They're touted as for helping to insert screws, but could also be used for removal. The arms fit under the head of the screw, which is held in place between them by the tip of the tool. Different sizes cater for differing diameter of shaft

For use with a nut, a spring-retracted triple grab, something like Arnie used to remove a locating device from his nose in Total Recall, would be more useful. One name for these is a 'Pearl Catcher'
 
Last edited:
Hmm, never heard of those before.. any links?

Also found this whilst searching:

 
Those are......

Includes 9 x Magnetic Nut Drivers:
  • 1/4"
  • 9/32"
  • 5/16"
  • 11/32"
  • 3/8"
  • 13/32"
  • 7/16"
  • 15/32"
  • 1/2"
 
Ahhh ok, your first link was metric I think? Thanks :) Are the magnets on these pretty good then?
 
I'm afraid I'm not all that tech-savvy, but I think the set I have were the 'Stanley' brand. In all fairness, though, I rarely dug them out of the tobacco tin where I kept odd items, in extremely dire situations
 
Durzel said:
Ahhh ok, your first link was metric I think? Thanks :) Are the magnets on these pretty good then?
Click to expand...

Sorry.. yes i reposted the link as i had the wrong ones - you must have caught me mid-edit :D

they are strong enough to hold a screw with a socket... (Tho i did get mine from Harbour freight in the US)...
 
Just 'charge' your magnets back up, there is even a handy magnet in the bottom of your machine to help (speaker)

Or buy a set of neodymium magnets and stick on on each shaft of your nut drivers

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tiny-Neo...60d1ac3d6:m:m88XunK8WGYN8RTur49TE9g:rk:8:pf:0

these are small and unobrusive, i use larger, slightly bigger than a 5p piece sized ones. be aware that your screw driver wont always go where you want it to when it has a strong magnet on it
 
Spent two days trying to find a nut that fell off my TZ (off one of the flipper plunger links). I was attempting to screw it all back together and the nut dropped down the underside of the playfield. Normally you hold your breath until it clunks into the bottom of the cab, but this bugger got stuck half way down. I took off loads of bits and pieces trying to find it after dropping the playfield back down didn't work. I even tried my telescoping magnet - poking it into openings and under boards etc. No joy. 48 hours later it magically dropped out from somewhere when I slightly moved the uprighted playfield. In the meantime I'd ordered a spare bag of said nuts.

Pleased to say it's all up and running again now.
 
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