What tool undoes this screw?

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Need to change the bulbs in these outdoor lights that have stopped working, can anyone suggest what type of tool I need to undo these screws?
 

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05-spanner-bits-26-driver-kits_s.gif

something like this but if you have a pair of long nose pliers the tips of them will sometimes fit
 
i think they are called
Snake Eye Security Driver Bits

but i'm just naming the bit shown image , no idea if that's what is needed from light image
 
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Once you get the screws out, run a saw blade down the head - so you can use a normal screwdriver next time.
 
if necessary, you can notch out the middle of the tip of an ordinary flat-ended screwdriver. I've done it with a Dremel using an abrasive wheel.
 

that's useful

I need some 2-hole "pig nose" or "snake eye" wrenches as used on some old optical products. Somewhere in the region of half-inch pin spacing. You can get a wrench like a pair of dividers but it is not strong enough and will usually quickly be wrecked.

Have you seen a 2-hole like the 4-hole socket they show?
 
...I need some 2-hole "pig nose" or "snake eye" wrenches as used on some old optical products. Somewhere in the region of half-inch pin spacing. You can get a wrench like a pair of dividers but it is not strong enough and will usually quickly be wrecked.
Given that you talk about 2-hole ... wrenches", I'm not sure whether you are talking about a 'male' or 'female' tool - but if the former (i.e. a tool with 'pins'), have you considered circlip pliers (which, if decent, can be fairly strong)?

Kind Regards, John
 
that's useful

I need some 2-hole "pig nose" or "snake eye" wrenches as used on some old optical products. Somewhere in the region of half-inch pin spacing. You can get a wrench like a pair of dividers but it is not strong enough and will usually quickly be wrecked.

Have you seen a 2-hole like the 4-hole socket they show?
When we done works on the underground, there lights used similar, we had a nightmare getting the wide ones in the UK anything larger than about 4mm, finally found a place in Barking and one near Dunstable.
Though not 1/2 inch ones.
https://www.cromwell.co.uk/search?query=spanner+hex

I was tempted to just get a nut driver of the right diameter and try and grind the sides off to leave two small prongs.
Coughtrie used to sell similar for there fittings but was only about 7mm
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/security-screws.476288/
 
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Given that you talk about 2-hole ... wrenches", I'm not sure whether you are talking about a 'male' or 'female' tool - but if the former (i.e. a tool with 'pins'), have you considered circlip pliers (which, if decent, can be fairly strong)?

Kind Regards, John
yes, it's a male I need

but they can be rather tight, so pins are liable to bend or break.

Ideally it would be a disk the same size as the "nut" with short pins that fitted precisely, with zero length of pin exposed. I can imagine a socket with numerous holes in it, so you could poke the pins through whichever pair you need. The "nuts" are round and flat.

I have tried L-ended circlip pliers, but they tend to slip out.
 
yes, it's a male I need .... but they can be rather tight, so pins are liable to bend or break. .... I have tried L-ended circlip pliers, but they tend to slip out.
It obviously does depend on how tight they are. Circlip pliers like the old rusty ones of mine illustrated below are pretty robust, with the pins short and parallel-sided so, whilst they might snap off, I would not have expected them to be too inclined to slip out.

It seems to be a matter of size. Standard cheapo sets of 'security hex screwdriver bits' usually have several 'sizes' of two-pronged ones, but taht 'size' seems to really only relate to the width of the prongs, since the outer edges of the prongs are never further apart than the width of the hex bit.

If nothing else, I suppose this discussion illustrates that these things are douing quite well at achieving what it says on their tin - if it takes so much effort and discussion to find ways of undoing them :)

upload_2021-10-26_16-0-37.png


Kind Regards, John
 
Drill a hole and use a stud extractor but dont' drill in the middle or you stand the risk of the head parting company with the screw.
 

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