# Speciality bit correction.



## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

There's some misleading info in that thread that unfortunately can't now be corrected.
I believeThe ECX bit is a propriety Milwaukee product. It certainly does not fit all combo screws. The orientation of the square part is improper for some types of fastener. 
The ideal style combo bit fits more types of screws if you mess with control circuits. But as was mentioned it is kinda junk as it breaks more easily than it should.
There's a few combo head schemes. Sadly, to be fully prepared you need to have multiple drivers.

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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Flyingsod said:


> There's some misleading info in that thread that unfortunately can't now be corrected.
> I believeThe ECX bit is a propriety Milwaukee product. It certainly does not fit all combo screws. The orientation of the square part is improper for some types of fastener.
> The ideal style combo bit fits more types of screws if you mess with control circuits. But as was mentioned it is kinda junk as it breaks more easily than it should.
> There's a few combo head schemes. Sadly, to be fully prepared you need to have multiple drivers.
> ...


Enough of this nonsense. Phillips . Just Phillips. No need anything more fancy.


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## Flyingsod (Jul 11, 2013)

macmikeman said:


> Enough of this nonsense. Phillips . Just Phillips. No need anything more fancy.


Phillips? We don't have no Phillips....we don't need no stinkin Phillips!

Actually my pocket knife can do most screws. I do however prefer a posidriv bit with the proper posidriv driver. 

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## Satch (Mar 3, 2011)

Well, I know it gets contentious about fastener/driver types but I wish some sanctioning body would do two things. A; Ban the manufacture and use of slotted screws, and B; settle upon ONE type of driver style such as Torx. Well, you could keep combo heads as long as they were hex with a Torx center. Kind of like the hex/slot/Philips combos now. Don't know how well Torx grabs or torques compared to square drive but I think it may be the only true worldwide standard other than Philips in driver sizes that is actually the same from continental Europe to the United States. .02


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Satch said:


> Well, I know it gets contentious about fastener/driver types but I wish some sanctioning body would do two things. A; Ban the manufacture and use of slotted screws, and B; settle upon ONE type of driver style such as Torx. Well, you could keep combo heads as long as they were hex with a Torx center. Kind of like the hex/slot/Philips combos now. Don't know how well Torx grabs or torques compared to square drive but I think it may be the only true worldwide standard other than Philips in driver sizes that is actually the same from continental Europe to the United States. .02


Opinions of people from Timbuktu don't count here. Phillips.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

I've seen the straight with the square drive on the diagonal, the straight with the square drive parallel to the straight, and the straight with the phillips.

I haven't used any of them, phillips in an impact gun works great for everything.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I am biased towards any type of socket head screw, or hex head screw. However, since many of you pointed out, you have to have a box of bits and by the time you found the right ones you could have torqued the whole lot if they were just simply phillips, it stands to reason that the KISS strategy is sound.

Manufacturers are never going to listen though, because they want to sell you more crap (just like the car manufacturers started making parts that had to have a "special" tool ).

Look at bathroom stalls, for instance. Do those "one-way" screws ever really keep vandals and maniacs from tearing them apart ?

I vote hex head or hex socket head (sae). (not that my vote matters)


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

wildleg said:


> Look at bathroom stalls, for instance. Do those "one-way" screws ever really keep vandals and maniacs from tearing them apart ?


I think those vandal proofs they use make a difference. Seems even in the best golf course men's rooms where phillips screws are used there are always missing ones.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Just leveling the playing field here, so we are all on the same page.

Straight with sq on diagonal is the one you will find on electrical devices that the ECX tip is designed for are called Quadrex or Pozisquare:










The older ones were phillips/slotted combo:










The straight with square on the parallel are 'Supadriv' and far less common and not to be confused with Pozidrive:


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

And just to complicate things more, that first ground screw that MDVR posted can use the ECX tip, a square drive, OR a philips.

While this bastard (the typical panel cover screw) could use the square or ECX but doesn't work well with phillips:


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

HackWork said:


> And just to complicate things more, that first ground screw that MDVR posted can use the ECX tip, a square drive, OR a philips.
> 
> While this bastard (the typical panel cover screw) could use the square or ECX but doesn't work well with phillips:
> 
> View attachment 91873


I use square drive for those since messing up a phillips in the past.


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

Philips and flathead will get you pretty far. If you're doing production type work using the same fasteners all the time, it may be worth pulling out the specialty drivers, square, #3 philips, pozidrive, etc.

I own a #4 philips for work I did 5 years ago. Haven't picked it up since. Honestly a #3 worked well enough but the #4 was cheap.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

TGGT said:


> Philips and flathead will get you pretty far. If you're doing production type work using the same fasteners all the time, it may be worth pulling out the specialty drivers, square, #3 philips, pozidrive, etc.
> 
> I own a #4 philips for work I did 5 years ago. Haven't picked it up since. Honestly a #3 worked well enough but the #4 was cheap.


This is why I love the 11in1. I have all the various drivers in my Veto and if I'm doing a lot of screwdriving I'll get the right one in the preferred length for the job at hand. I have a single #4 phillips and for me that says a lot I have like multiples of everything else.


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## Jhellwig (Jun 18, 2014)

I learned a long time ago you get a long #2 square for panel work. Works on every new panel I have seen unless they have hex heads like on the heavier duty panels. You can't use the exc on a ge panel.

I love the ecx for devices and ground screws though. Never seen a posi drive screw that I can remember.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

Jhellwig said:


> I learned a long time ago you get a long #2 square for panel work. Works on every new panel I have seen unless they have hex heads like on the heavier duty panels. You can't use the exc on a ge panel.
> 
> I love the ecx for devices and ground screws though. Never seen a posi drive screw that I can remember.


On the GE panels we bought before we swore them off, you couldn't use square drive at all, because the neutral bar screws would strip out before it even hit the wire. Had to use straight blade for everything.


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

Jhellwig said:


> I learned a long time ago you get a long #2 square for panel work. Works on every new panel I have seen unless they have hex heads like on the heavier duty panels. You can't use the exc on a ge panel.
> 
> I love the ecx for devices and ground screws though. Never seen a posi drive screw that I can remember.


Pozidrive can be found on a lot of equipment/machinery, especially if it is european. Philips will work, but won't be snug and can cam out the screw if you don't press hard.


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## Satch (Mar 3, 2011)

Going_Commando said:


> On the GE panels we bought before we swore them off, you couldn't use square drive at all, because the neutral bar screws would strip out before it even hit the wire. Had to use straight blade for everything.


I despise the GE Spectra series distribution panels. We had a number of facilities with them and just taking the cover and dead front off was a task of wrist tiring proportion. I have never seen so many bloody screws in my life. And the front comes off in mutilple pieces. What a pita to replace. And I won't go into the costs of breakers and finger buses. The last one in our facilities will be removed in a year or two during a remodel and will be replaced with Square D I-Line or maybe Siemens. The latter is not my favourite either. It is hard to beat Square D for me.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

TGGT said:


> Pozidrive can be found on a lot of equipment/machinery, especially if it is european. Philips will work, but won't be snug and can cam out the screw if you don't press hard.


I think the only place I have seen pozidrive has been interior automotive trim. I have never carried one and must have just used a phillips.


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## five.five-six (Apr 9, 2013)

I have been useing the APEX 492-C for decades and aside from Robertson drive, I don't have these problems


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

APEX 492-C bit:

Phillips Head Sel-O-Fit® Power Bit for 1/4" Hex Drive, #2 x 6" Long:

http://www.all-spec.com/Catalog/Hand-Power-Tools/Screwdrivers-Accessories/Screwdriver-Power-Bits/492-C-SFX-4292


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## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

North of the 49th for years our devices were just slot (flat head) or a green handle Robertson apparently a Canadian patent  then this Phillips came around


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I bought a Milwaukee tool with those ECX bits once. I threw it away.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

99cents said:


> I bought a Milwaukee tool with those ECX bits once. I threw it away.


I didn't care for the Milwaukee screwdriver but I've bought several of their ECX tips for use in other drivers.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

MechanicalDVR said:


> I didn't care for the Milwaukee screwdriver but I've bought several of their ECX tips for use in other drivers.


They seem equally useless for all kinds of screws. Of course, Canadians know the meaning of a good screw...


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

99cents said:


> They seem equally useless for all kinds of screws. Of course, Canadians know the meaning of a good screw...


LOL, yes I've had many girls up there give it their best shot showing off their skills. 

I do like the ECX tips for device screws better than using just Robertsons.


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2014)

Going_Commando said:


> On the GE panels we bought before we swore them off, you couldn't use square drive at all, because the neutral bar screws would strip out before it even hit the wire. Had to use straight blade for everything.


GE panels are garbage. Fit and finish problems up the yin-yang. 

I love me some ECX action. I use mine for emt fittings all day long. Good for other stuff but if you're running emt day after day it's the bee's patella. 

Rack a tiers makes a racky bit about the same design. I had two, intending to use them for devicing, but they break pretty easily. So now I just use a #1 Robertson. 

A long #2 Robertson is a must for most panels! I had Wera's stainless steel one, but it rounded after like two months. So I bought their normal one. It rounded after about the same amount of time. So I bought a Wiha insulated one. Did about fifteen panels with it so far and it seems to be holding up. Word to the wise. Otherwise I find Wera products delightful, so no smear on them. 

In the New England area we don't see posidrive. Never seen one personally although I know what they are. Not sure we get them anywhere this side of the pond; seems to be a European thing. 

Finally, for ground screws, I actually bought years ago Klein's magnetic 5/16" nut driver. Makes is super easy to get that guy in there if the mud ring is already on, or if I'm installing the ground wire at the same time. Then of course a local supply house switched to 1/4" hex head ground screws. So I had to buy the pertinent magnetic nut driver! Aargh. Also have the 11/32" magnetic because lots of fluorescent fixtures seem to use those for their stamped metal ground nuts. 


My two cents. If I'm going to do a significant amount of work with even a specialty bit/tip, and if it makes the going easier, I will buy and use it.


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