Here’s a question for all you smarter-than-me types.
I have a speaker cabinet (made of veneered mdf) which has a wooden panel fastened to the front as a cover for the edges of the speaker driver. This panel is fastened to the case with 4 bolts (recessed hex key) these bolts run into t-nuts which are inside the case.
I need to service the driver, but unfortunately one of the t-nuts seems to be spinning freely inside and I can’t remove that bolt. I’ve tried pushing up, down, and even pulling outwards on the wood panel in an attempt to put enough stress on the t-nut to make it stay in one place so I could unthread the bolt. Not working. the bolt still just spins.
Have any of you guys run into this problem and solved it? What options do I have?
Thanks for the input!
Replies
What about driving a small footprint nail or pin in there to stop the rotation?
to enlarge on Bew's idea, drill a small hole through the case and the t-nut head. then either leave the drill bit in place whilst removing the bolt or bang a small pin or drift through the hole.
Sometimes spinning the bolt in reverse with a drill gets the bolt spinning faster than the tee-nut can spin and it will come off. If the tee-nut isn't spinning freely, I fear you might be sunk. I assume you can't see or access the tee-nut, so how sure are you that it's a tee-nut you're dealing with?
I'd rather not drill or nail through the case (it has a beautiful veneer on it). I do know that t-nuts were used because the manufacturer told me so! :-)
It sure *feels* like its spinning freely as i can turn the bolt easily. It just doesn't tighten or loosen at all.
Can you get a grip on the head of the bolt, enough to pull it out away from the case? Pulling hard on the bolt should cause the prongs of the tee-nut to grab onto something. If they don't, then I suspect something else is wrong, like maybe the block that the tee-nut is mounted to has come unglued.
-Steve
Big hammer will do!
Maybe try a large screwdriver if you can get under the bolt head.. Pry up and try yo turn the screw.. If it were me.. I hammer it out and make a plug to glue it to fit whatever happened!
My first HiFi was about 30 Watts and I got all kinds of girls to visit my basement! OK. so I was a nice guy!
Drill a hole about 1/8" diameter next to the bolt head going in either straight or angled slightly toward the bolt. You'll be aiming to hit the disc, but not the threaded area, of the tee nut. Drill right thru the disc which should lock it in place as long as the bit is in the hole. Leave the drill bit in the hole by releasing it from the drill chuck, and then unthread the bolt. Pull the bolt head out as you unthread it so the nut doesn't slip off the drill bit.
An alternative is to drill out the bolt head with a drill bit slightly bigger than the diameter of the bolt's shank where it joins the head, but you'll probably have to grab the bolt head with something like long nose Vise-Grip pliers to keep the bolt from spinning.
John White
BigFrank,
Can you cut a hole or holes in the back of the cabinet in order to get access to the T-nut? Obviously, you need to be careful you don't damage some speaker componets in the process. The holes could be either small or large depending on if you can reach the T-nut with a tool or have to get your hand in there. The holes could then be easily plugged.
Bill
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