I just purchased some Wurth Elektronik HEX STANDOFF M4 STEEL 17MM (part no. 970170471). The datasheet claims that this particular part is threaded all the way through, and in fact I can see light through it, but a M4 screw won’t go in more than half way from either end. I guess it was threaded halfway from each end, with no attempt to synchronize the two threads where they meet in the middle. So, it IS actually “threaded all the way through”, just not in a way that’s actually useful.
Would I have grounds for returning these parts as defective? I don’t see any way of reading the datasheet that would allow a thread discontinuity in the middle. They certainly aren’t usable for my intended purpose.
How would I identify standoffs that truly have a continuous thread, given that I apparently can’t trust the datasheets?
Greetings,
If we’re looking at the same datasheet, I don’t see an explicit guarantee of thread continuity either.
A presumption that it might be so is quite relatable, from the standpoint that most folks haven’t spent any significant length of time working in a machine shop. Those who have will understand that through-tapping to depths more than 3x diameter becomes a rather sketchy/tedious matter, particularly when speaking of smaller threads and hard materials such as steel.
Understanding that what you’re looking for is probably at the edge of practicality for a standard product, one should probably look for explicit indications in the documentation that a candidate P/N has the characteristic of interest.
Technically no, though that doesn’t necessarily mean a request would be denied. If the cost of the items involved is comparable to that of return shipping it’s probably not worthwhile anyhow.
