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04-17-2020, 12:10 PM
I'm trying to install post bases into a concrete porch. As per instructions I drilled a 3/16" hole for a 1/4" Tapcon, when I went to screw it in, using a 5/16" socket on a hand ratchet, the screw went in about 1" then snapped. I called Tapcon to get advice, the woman suggested a hammer drill. That seemed odd, I would have guessed an impact driver.
Anyone have any idea why it would snap with a hand installation?
Is a hammer drill right, or should it be an impact driver?
How do you install these things?
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time! 
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04-17-2020, 12:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-17-2020, 12:18 PM by fredhargis.)
I do it the way you did. The advice s confusing...you mean she suggested a hammer dril to drill the hole? Anyway, that's what I did, and a rachet/socket to drive the screws in...even then I did break a couple. I hate to ask this: is the hole deep enough (and did you vac out the dust)?
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I cannot give you advise on which is better, but in my experience, they snap very easily.
Paul
They were right, I SHOULDN'T have tried it at home! 
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(04-17-2020, 12:10 PM)Scouter Wrote: I'm trying to install post bases into a concrete porch. As per instructions I drilled a 3/16" hole for a 1/4" Tapcon, when I went to screw it in, using a 5/16" socket on a hand ratchet, the screw went in about 1" then snapped. I called Tapcon to get advice, the woman suggested a hammer drill. That seemed odd, I would have guessed an impact driver.
Anyone have any idea why it would snap with a hand installation?
Is a hammer drill right, or should it be an impact driver?
How do you install these things?
I use an impact driver. A hammer drill seems like the wrong choice but one would think Tapcon has people qualified to help customers on the end of the line. Perhaps she meant you should use a hammer drill to drill the hole?
Back to the impact driver, it takes less torque to install a screw than doing it by hand. Regardless of how I install them, I back them out and clear out the dust if I start to feel a lot of torque. Also, you need to blow the hole out before even beginning to install the screw.
John
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Hammer drill to drill, impact to drive. Make sure the hole is clean and drilled deep enough.
Mark
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(04-17-2020, 12:17 PM)fredhargis Wrote: I do it the way you did. The advice s confusing...you mean she suggested a hammer dril to drill the hole? Anyway, that's what I did, and a rachet/socket to drive the screws in...even then I did break a couple. I hate to ask this: is the hole deep enough (and did you vac out the dust)?
No, she suggested the hammer drill to drive the screws in, which is why I thought it odd advice.
Yes, I vac'd out the dust, but the screw didn't go in deep enough to contact anything. It's a 2-1/4" screw that snapped after 1", the hole is 2-1/2" deep.
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time!
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(04-17-2020, 12:18 PM)jteneyck Wrote: I use an impact driver. A hammer drill seems like the wrong choice but one would think Tapcon has people qualified to help customers on the end of the line. Perhaps she meant you should use a hammer drill to drill the hole?
Back to the impact driver, it takes less torque to install a screw than doing it by hand. Regardless of how I install them, I back them out and clear out the dust if I start to feel a lot of torque. Also, you need to blow the hole out before even beginning to install the screw.
John
Okay, another question:
Should I buy the cordless impact driver, or with the compressor-driven one that I have do the job? Not sure if there's any difference between them, other than power source.
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time!
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There is a special sleeve where the drill bit sits inside. You pull off the sleeve drill the hole and put the sleeve back on and drive the screw. ALL using a hammer drill. They gave you the correct advice
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(04-17-2020, 01:43 PM)Turner52 Wrote: There is a special sleeve where the drill bit sits inside. You pull off the sleeve drill the hole and put the sleeve back on and drive the screw. ALL using a hammer drill. They gave you the correct advice
I have no idea what you're talking about. Sleeve? On a drill bit?
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time!
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This thing, explained down the page.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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