Tamper Proof Screws and Bolts/Nuts for Solar Panel.

[Basement Yeti]

I thought I had some picked out on Amazon but they won't work.

I'm looking for 4 1/4"x3/4" bolts and 4 1/4" nuts as well as 4 #12 sheet metal screws to secure my solar panel to my van and deter theft (All theft resistant).

Does anyone know of a company that sells these in smaller quantities that is recommended?

 

[mike r]

http://www.mcmaster.com/ or http://www.fastenal.com/web/home.ex

 

[ExpoMike]

Take a drive up to the Miramar area and go to Marshal's Hardware. Basically I have found, if they don't have it, I don't need it! It's the big kids candy store.

I buy ALL my hardware there. They sell individual and in bulk.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Awesome, thanks guys!

 

[bat]

Be aware Marshall's is not for the speedy and bring your glasses if needed

 

[Basement Yeti]

Haha, what? Do you mean I'll get sucked in and shop all day?

 

[ExpoMike]

Oh yeah! You'll find things you never knew existed. !!!

 

[dhackney]

Another great source of things you never knew existed or to buy one or two of anything you find is:

McFadden Dale Industrial Hardware

They have stores in:

• Corona, CA
• Ontario, CA
• Anaheim, CA
• Santa Ana, CA
• Las Vegas, NV
• Phoenix, AZ

You'll need patience here too, at least in Corona.

I can't speak to the other locations, but the Corona store was still writing every single nut and washer line item on every single receipt *by hand* when we built our truck.

It was a great step back into another era when everybody who worked in the store knew where every obscure thing was located, you could buy exactly how many you needed of anything and the entire place ran at a completely different pace than the world outside its doors.

Highly recommended, even if you just walk the aisles.

 

[Dale]

Would you be able to invert the bolt so the side with the nut is exposed and tack weld??

 

[Borrego60]

How about a carriage bolt?

 

[craig333]

Is this just a precaution? Or do you know of panels actually being stolen? If they want mine they better bring a ladder.

 

[Finlay]

I used to work for this place; we had a Hummer H2 set up as a show car. It was to demonstrate our automated road data acquisition system (rutting measurements, bridge height, cracks per mile, etc).

The owner of the company was driving it to California for a demo, and stopped at hotel near Las Vegas. He set the alarm, and armed the cameras and all that. During the night, thieves struck and took the wheels. They put blocks under the axles, let the air out, gently removed the wheels and split. Took the two of them about 2 minutes, even with the locking lugs on it.

The thing had our new 3D rotating LIDAR system, cameras and other sensors equipped. 4 servers, 14TB of storage, fibre channel disk array - probably $200,000 worth of equipment. And they took 1000 dollars worth of stock H2 rims.