# Self-drilling drywall anchors breaking



## djgrant (May 12, 2011)

I have some of these Snapskru drywall anchors from Toggler: http://www.toggler.com/products/snapskru/overview.php and they sometimes break when I try to screw them in. For some reason as I'm screwing I suddenly feel a lot of resistance and they stop screwing in and then the top twists off the screw part. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. My only thought is that I'm not puncturing the cardboard/paper part of the drywall first by pushing in the drywall anchor a bit before I start screwing. I can't think of anything else I could do differently.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Are you sure that you are not drilling through RockLathe?


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## 1910NE (Sep 5, 2010)

That sounds similar to what could happen if you were hitting lumber under the sheet rock.


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## djgrant (May 12, 2011)

I'm pretty sure it's just sheetrock/gyproc/drywall. I'm also pretty sure there is no stud there. After pulling out the broken anchor, I could confirm there was nothing behind it.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I've install hundreds of those and never once had one snap off even using an impact screw gun so somethings wrong.


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## djgrant (May 12, 2011)

joecaption said:


> I've install hundreds of those and never once had one snap off even using an impact screw gun so somethings wrong.


Do you always drill with a power drill? I often use a manual screwdriver, mostly because I'm hesitant to use power as I feel like that will be more likely to lead to breakage. If you are using a power drill or impact screw gun, do you use high or low RPM? Thanks.


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## jschaben (Mar 31, 2010)

I'm in the camp that thinks you're hitting something. I just install them with a battery powered drill but have the clutch turned way down.


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## Tham (May 27, 2012)

^Agreed, if you're absolutely sure it's hollow back it out and try another.

Tham


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

I try not to use these type anchors as I have broken so many doing the installation. It does seem that when I install them with a Phillips screwdriver they do not tend to break, but with a drill at low RPM's and low torque they tend to break off the little starting bit part.


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## tempmj (Jun 17, 2012)

*My trick*

My trick with these is to take your phillips screwdriver and poke it through the drywall first (beating/screwing the driver directly into the drywall), then you can use that as the pilot hole and it goes in perfectly. If not, at least half of them break on me.


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