Reattach ground screw?

Switches General Discussion
#1

My neutral screw fell out of two red on/off switches. I cannot figure out how to reattach them. Anyone know how to do this??

EDIT: it’s the ground screw that fell out, not the neutral

#2

I have not had to do that, but I imagine you are going to have to get something underneath the plate to hold it up toward the screw. I imagine that those screws are threaded to keep you from backing them out all the way, so it will probably take significant force down on the screw against the plate to get it started.

#3

Yep, been trying that. No success, total nightmare

#4

I said neutral, but it’s actually the ground screw that fell out. Still a nightmare

#5

Is it metal or plastic box? If metal you could scrape/wire brush some off the black paint off near the screws.

#6

@stu1811, that’s not the issue.

@Bry has the right idea, but it’s just not possible to do. I’m contacting support.

#7

I would try another screw that will grab if it’s too tough with the screw that came out. You can try a regular screw or bolt with the same thread and size or even try something with a coarse thread like a sheetrock screw.

#8

Hey @budmannxx – I can take some pictures real fast. I’ve seen this happen in returns and it’s fairly easy to fix. Hang tight!

Edit #1: @Bry had the right idea – here it is in picture format.

Edit #2: I created our first Wiki troubleshooting article regarding this matter. Please see the link below for reference:

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#9

That article is nice. Would have helped me out a few months back when a new dimmer I ordered came with a screw rattling around in the box. I got it swapped out but I’m glad to see it’s a easy fix if it happens again!

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#10

Lol, better late than never I suppose! Sorry for the switch arriving that way. Did you get it from Amazon by chance?

#11

No worries it got taken care of!

I just looked up the order details and apparently my memory is really bad. It was an Inovelli store order that was taken care of in January. A little longer than a few months :smile:.

#12

No joke, I once spent 2 hours straight trying to get a ground pin back into my Inovelli switch. Luckily for me, the time flew by and I didn’t realize how much time had passed until afterwards.