The bolt is loose! Are you sure?

This is a short film clip on how to address the most common problem with expander bolts when used on climbing routes done on granite, gneiss and other hard or medium-hard rocks around the world.

Climbing in Stockholm

[jasonlau]

I've always wondered how these things worked...

[stenlundstrom]

This is only applicable on very solid rock types such as volcanic rock, granite, etc.. For brittle rock types like limestone and sandstone I´ll say it´s more complicated.

[alexmetcalfe]

so that's how they work. Reassuring to know next time I clip into one...

[tomtom]

Size 19 wrench/spanner for 12mm bolts and size 17 wrench/spanner for 10mm bolts. So take adjustable not size 17 (and you also can tighten up quicklinks/maillons with it too!)

[Captaraknospider]

Cant water get behind it and freeze and push out?

[graycleary]

Can you use these on brick walls for added safety when climbing a tall ladder?

[franztrischberger]

This is NOT the whole truth! There are of course circumstances where the bolt really is loose.
E.g. in Northern Frankenjura, Germany, the rock has a hard outer layer but softens below. An expansion bolt grabs in the soft rock, but the forces when climbers fall into the bolt will peel off the rock inside the drill hole, the bolt loses the grab and slowly wanders out the hole. That's why you only can trust glue-in bolts in that area.
And I am sure that there are many climbing areas (or just single crags) all around the world that have similar problems.

The only solutions might be to have a wrench and a hammer so we can see if it is possible with minimal forces applied to move the bolt in both (in and out) directions.