We've been seeing a problem on some cameras lately: mounting holes are too small to actually fit common fasteners.
Example, here's a dome we just unboxed to mount for testing. The screws pass through the base of the dome, about a 1-1/4" recess. But about 2/3rds of the way through, the recess tapers and the screw head gets stuck. You can see here that even at the widest point there's not much play to fit a small machine screw (8-32, I prefer not going smaller than that).
A drywall screw gets stuck a little more than halfway through, as well.
The problem is the head gets lodged in there, then the screw head strips out and you can't tighten it or loosen it. Or, if you're extra unlucky the screw bends and then snaps off later when you think it's mounted.
I'm not sure what the solution is here, because:
- The screws included usually fit but they're often low quality and strip out, or not appropriate for what you're trying to mount to.
- Screws that small just don't feel sturdy to me, anyway.
- I could enlarge the hole by drilling it out slightly but that's likely to void warranty in the field.
Is anyone else encountering this? We've seen it on a number of manufacturers. What do you do in these instances?
Manufacturers: Do you actually try a variety of fasteners through your mounting holes during design? It does not seem like it.
