Stripped threads
The screw turns and turns and never tightens. The thread in the plastic box has rounded off, so there is nothing left for it to bite on.
20 rods · 20 screws · 2 spanners
Wall Box Repair Rods
When a faceplate will not pull up tight, the threads inside the back box have usually gone. These give you new ones. A threaded bar with a spiked nut at each end spreads across the inside of the box and bites into the plaster behind, so the faceplate has two fresh screw points — no cutting the wall, no new box.
Which size fits your box
86 type
$29.95
Bought as singles:
Spans 69 to 82 mm between the screw points. For the square 86 × 86 mm box. 20 rods, 20 screws, 2 spanners.Sold out
Spans 69 to 82 mm between the screw points. For the square 86 × 86 mm box. 20 rods, 20 screws, 2 spanners.
118 type
$29.95
Bought as singles:
Spans 50 to 62 mm between the screw points. For the long 118 × 72 mm box. 20 rods, 20 screws, 2 spanners.Sold out
Spans 50 to 62 mm between the screw points. For the long 118 × 72 mm box. 20 rods, 20 screws, 2 spanners.
Save 20%
Both sizes
$55.95
Bought as singles: $69.90
20 of each size — 40 rods, 40 screws and 4 spanners. Take this if you have a mix of boxes, or if you would rather not measure every one before you start.Sold out
Bought as singles: $69.90. Save $13.95 vs singles. 20 of each size — 40 rods, 40 screws and 4 spanners. Take this if you have a mix of boxes, or if you would rather not measure every one before you start.
Two sizes, and they are not interchangeable. Measure between your two screw holes, then pick the one that covers it — or take both sizes and have the right one to hand either way. Each single-size pack is 20 rods, 20 screws and 2 spanners; the combo is 20 of each.
86 type
Total $29.95
- Free US shipping from $49
- 30-day returns on unused items
- Delivery in 7–15 business days
Fix the box, not the wall
The screw holes went. The wall does not have to.
A back box whose threads have stripped is the usual reason a socket or switch plate sits proud and wobbles. The proper fix is a new box, which means cutting plaster and making good. This is the other fix: a bar that spreads inside the box you already have and hands you two fresh screw points.
- Two fresh screw points
- No plaster cut
- 20 rods per pack
Two sizes
Measure before you choose. They do not overlap.
The only difference between the two is how far the bar spreads. The 86 type covers 69 to 82 mm; the 118 type covers 50 to 62 mm. There is a 7 mm gap between them that neither one reaches, so a tape measure across your two screw holes settles it in ten seconds.
86 type — 69 to 82 mm
For the square 86 × 86 mm box, the common single-gang size across Asia, Australia and much of Europe. The longer of the two.
118 type — 50 to 62 mm
For the long 118 × 72 mm box used for wide multi-gang plates. Noticeably shorter; it will not reach an 86 box.
Two per box
One rod on each side of the faceplate. A pack of 20 therefore does ten boxes, with twenty screws and two spanners to tighten them.
Not sure which you have?
Take the combo. It is 20 of each size, so whatever is behind the plate when you take it off, you have the rod that fits it — and a spare set of both for next time.
Both figures are the maker's own, printed on its drawing. Measure centre to centre between the two screw holes in your box, not the outside of the box.
The specifics
Straight answers
Every figure here is the maker's own, read off its drawings. Where it publishes nothing, this page says so rather than guessing.
20
rods per pack
Two rods per box, so twenty does ten boxes.
2
sizes, not interchangeable
86 type and 118 type. Measure first.
69–82mm*
the 86 type spreads
2.72 to 3.23 in, centre to centre.
50–62mm*
the 118 type spreads
1.97 to 2.44 in, centre to centre.
* Marked figures are the maker's own and are not measured by us.
Full specifications
A threaded steel bar with a spiked nut at each end and a sliding block in the middle, sold twenty to a pack.
- What it is
- A threaded steel bar with a spiked nut at each end and a sliding block in the middle. Two go in a damaged back box and give the faceplate fresh screw threads. It repairs the box you have. It is not a replacement box.
- Pack
- 20 rods, 20 screws and 2 spanners, in whichever size you choose above. The maker sells these ten to a box, so a pack of twenty arrives as two sets — which is why there are two spanners.
- 86 type range
- Spreads 69 to 82 mm (2.72 to 3.23 in) between screw points. For the square 86 × 86 mm box.
- 118 type range
- Spreads 50 to 62 mm (1.97 to 2.44 in) between screw points. For the long 118 × 72 mm box.
- Will it fit a US box?
- Measure yours first — this is the one thing to check. A standard US single-gang device has its screw holes 83.3 mm (3.28 in) apart. That is just past the 86 type's 82 mm maximum. The holes on a US device are slots rather than round holes, so it may still reach, but the maker makes no US compatibility claim and we have not tested it on a US box. The 118 type is far too short for a US box. These were designed for the 86 and 118 wall-box standards, not for the US standard. We would rather say that plainly than have it arrive and not fit.
- Material
- The maker states a PP plastic block with a steel threaded bar and steel nuts. No grade, plating or load figure is published.
- How many per box
- Two — one at each screw point.
- Not published
- Any load or pull-out figure, the steel grade, the plating, and any electrical or fire rating. The maker gives none of them, so we quote none.
- Safety
- Switch the circuit off at the consumer unit before you take a faceplate off. If you are not sure what you are looking at behind the plate, get an electrician. This is a mechanical repair to the box. It does not touch the wiring and it is not a substitute for one.
In the box
- 20 repair rods
- 20 screws
- 2 spanners
The same contents for either size.
When you need them
The plate that will not sit flat
Almost always the same story: someone has over-tightened the screws, or the box is old, and the plastic threads have given up. The plate then sits proud, rocks when you press the switch, and no amount of turning the screw helps.
A cracked or broken lug
One of the two screw lugs has snapped off the box. A rod spans the box instead and puts the screw point back where it was.
A box set too deep or skewed
The spiked nuts bite into the plaster behind, so you can pull the rod up until the screw point sits where the plate needs it.
Decorating and re-fitting
Plates come off for painting and papering and the threads do not always survive going back on. Keeping a pack in the van saves cutting a wall you have just finished.
How it works
Power off. Spread it. Tighten it.
-
Kill the circuit, take the plate off
Switch off at the consumer unit and check it is dead before anything else. Undo the faceplate and let it hang on its wires, or disconnect it if you prefer. You are working on the box, not the wiring.
-
Set a rod across each screw point
Slide the block so the bar is roughly the width you measured, drop the rod in so one spiked nut sits behind the plasterboard on each side, and line the block up with where the screw needs to go.
-
Tighten with the spanner, then refit
Hold the block and turn the nut with the spanner until the spikes bite and the rod will not move. Repeat on the other side, then screw the faceplate into the two blocks as if the box threads had never failed.
Two rods and a spanner per box. The one thing that decides whether this works is the measurement — take it before you order, not after.
Compared with the usual options
Repair rods, a new box, or a bigger plate?
Three ways out of a faceplate that will not tighten. Here is where this one wins and where it does not.
| Approach | Nexura repair rods | Fit a new back box | Oversize cover plate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuts plaster | |||
| Makes the plate sit flat again | Sometimes | ||
| Needs re-decorating after | |||
| Keeps the original plate | |||
| Time per box | Minutes | An afternoon with filler | Minutes |
| Works when a lug has snapped off | |||
| Depends on getting the size right |
Compared by approach, not by brand. “Sometimes” means it depends on how bad the box is.
Free shipping on orders of $49 or more. Below that, standard shipping is a flat $4.95 to any of the 50 US states. Delivery takes 7–15 business days from the time you order, and that window already includes the 1–2 business days we take to process. Shipping & Delivery.
30-day returns. Items must be unused and in their original packaging. Email support@nexuratool.com with your order number to start a return. Returns & Refunds.
30 days from delivery. Email support@nexuratool.com with your order number and what you want to return. We reply with a return address — do not send anything back before you have it, or we cannot match the parcel to your order.
What we can take back: unused items in their original, undamaged packaging. Adhesives, sealants and lubricants cannot be returned once opened; the same goes for any item with a broken safety seal. That is a safety and hazardous-goods rule, not a preference.
Who pays: return shipping is paid by you, except when the item arrived damaged, faulty or was not what you ordered — then we cover it and refund the original shipping too.
Refunds go back to the original payment method within 5 business days of the return reaching us. Full returns policy.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Before you order
Which size do I need?
Will these fit a US electrical box?
How many do I need per socket?
Why are there two spanners in a pack?
Does this work on a metal box?
Do I need to turn the power off?
How much weight will it hold?
Will it show once the plate is back on?
20 rods · 20 screws · 2 spanners
Measure once. Then pick your size.
69 to 82 mm takes the 86 type. 50 to 62 mm takes the 118 type. Twenty rods does ten faceplates — or take the combo and have both sizes to hand.
