Metallics TP311SFC Screws 8-32 x 2 FH Span TR MS USA 18- (100 pcs)

Yes. A spanner drive has two round holes in the head rather than a slot or cross recess, so it takes a spanner (snake eye) bit or driver sized to that head. A standard flat, Phillips or square bit will not engage it. That is the point of the TP311SFC: it keeps tenants and the public from backing the screw out with a common screwdriver.

Two inches is a long screw for an 8-32 device thread, and it is meant for deep builds, not flush work. Typical uses are a device or plate set behind thick tile, stone, panelling or multiple layers of drywall, or a fixture mounted off a spacer. On a normal flush plaster ring the TP311SFC will bottom out or leave excess thread, so a shorter 8-32 is the better choice there.

Device and cover screws that come in the carton take a common screwdriver, which means anyone can open the plate. In schools, transit areas, detention, dorms, restrooms and other public spaces, the spec usually calls for a tamper resistant head so cover plates and fixtures stay closed. The TP311SFC answers that with a spanner drive flat head in the same 8-32 thread the device already uses, so nothing about the box or plate prep has to change.

It is a machine screw, so it needs an existing tapped 8-32 hole or a nut. It will not cut its own thread in sheet metal or wood. If you are fastening into unthreaded material, you need a self-drilling or sheet metal screw instead.

A flat head is countersunk, so it seats flush with the surface when the hole is countersunk or the plate is formed for it. That is what you want on cover plates and faceplates where a protruding head would catch. If the hole is not countersunk, the head will stand slightly proud.

One hundred pieces per pack. For a plate-swap or standardization job, count two screws per single-gang plate when figuring quantity, so a 100-piece pack covers roughly 50 standard device plates.