Thanks for that example Alec. Great idea. Checking calibration of a torque wrench is probably not normally thought about. Now, if I can get over the way I feel. This video left me a little torqued. 😳 😊 now you know how my grandkids feel. 😊
Thank you Alec! Always appreciate your useful tips (both diving- and ranch-related). Any chance you'll show us some of your Christmas lights in an upcoming video? Merry Christmas!
Hi Alec. It always amazes me that auto makers give you a 6"L type wheel nut removal tool, unless you have an 18" pipe to extend it with you are not undoing anything. Every car I have had ends up with a piece of pipe rattling around in the spare tire well. I never think about testing my torque wrenches settings. Take care Owen m
Manufacturers insist that any calibration must be done by a factory approved tech. It is not an inexpensive process, in my opinion, for what is a 5 minute procedure. I had & used a torque wrench calibration instrument for a while but sold it. It simply wasn't used very much. However, while that's a good idea for a business, say, mechanics, for liability reasons, for the average DIY, there are 2 solutions. 1. If your test reveals that the wrench is off, decide if the inaccuracy is substantial enough to need correcting. Generally, except in high precision cases, the torque value can be out by a few ft/lbs and not be a problem. If you test the wrench at several different levels, say, 50 ft/lbs, 100 ft/lbs, 150 ft/lbs & 200 ft/lbs, and you find the discrepancy is the same at each level, simply remember that amount and account for it when you set the wrench. That is, if the required torque is 100 ft/lbs and you know the wrench reads low by 10 ft/lbs, simply set if for 110. It will be close. You should also know that any wrench may read slightly differently under different conditions. Temperature & humidity can affect the wrench. Different operators may hold the wrench slightly differently and thus give a slightly different reading. These differences may be small but it shows that a slightly off reading is not a serious issue. Slightly off is subjective of course but I'd suggest a difference of up to 10% is not worrisome. That's 5 ft/lbs at a setting of 50, 10 ft/lbs at a setting of 100 or up to 20 ft/lbs at a setting of 200. Many technical service manuals will provide a range of torque values for each application. That is, the specified torque may show as "145 ft/lbs, +or- 5 ft/lbs" or simply say that the torque is 140 to 150 ft/lbs. The common although mistaken practice of going beyond the "click", "just to make sure", likely produces a greater difference than 10%. 2. Some torque wrenches are easily adjusted. I understand, although have not tried it, that the old-style bar wrench could be adjusted by by bending the indicator bar a tiny bit to alter the reading. The click-type which is spring loaded, can be adjusted by placing or removing spaces under the spring. I suppose the digital wrenches might need technical attention. I might do some trial tests to see if these ideas work well & make a video about that. Thanks for your question. Alec
Alec, what you wrote all makes sense. I use an old fashion beam style torque wrench. It is claimed the beam style never needs calibration, which is a great feature. As you wrote, the pointer can be bent back to read zero, if it already isn’t, when there is no torque being applied. Depending on the task at hand, the beam style can be difficult to read and that is a serious downside to them. I have wanted a ratchet style one, like in your video, but was always concerned about the need and cost of recalibration. You made valid points and I may invest in one. Thank you!
@jphickory522 I had a digital wrench for a while, a cheap one granted, but after stripping a regulator body twice, I literally threw it away. I still have the filing cabinet with the dent in it. Get a decent click type. Probably cost about $75 but I'm sure you'll be happy.
Thanks for that example Alec. Great idea. Checking calibration of a torque wrench is probably not normally thought about. Now, if I can get over the way I feel. This video left me a little torqued. 😳 😊 now you know how my grandkids feel. 😊
Haha, that’s a good one.
Thank you Alec! Always appreciate your useful tips (both diving- and ranch-related). Any chance you'll show us some of your Christmas lights in an upcoming video? Merry Christmas!
Did up my Beatty water pumper tower in lots of green lights. Kevin said it looked like an alien landing beacon!
A
Hi Alec.
It always amazes me that auto makers give you a 6"L type wheel nut removal tool, unless you have an 18" pipe to extend it with you are not undoing anything. Every car I have had ends up with a piece of pipe rattling around in the spare tire well. I never think about testing my torque wrenches settings. Take care Owen m
They do weird things just to make more $$ off us buyers.
A
If the torque wrench is out of calibration, can it be recalibrated by the user or must it be sent back to the manufacturer?
Manufacturers insist that any calibration must be done by a factory approved tech. It is not an inexpensive process, in my opinion, for what is a 5 minute procedure. I had & used a torque wrench calibration instrument for a while but sold it. It simply wasn't used very much.
However, while that's a good idea for a business, say, mechanics, for liability reasons, for the average DIY, there are 2 solutions.
1. If your test reveals that the wrench is off, decide if the inaccuracy is substantial enough to need correcting. Generally, except in high precision cases, the torque value can be out by a few ft/lbs and not be a problem. If you test the wrench at several different levels, say, 50 ft/lbs, 100 ft/lbs, 150 ft/lbs & 200 ft/lbs, and you find the discrepancy is the same at each level, simply remember that amount and account for it when you set the wrench. That is, if the required torque is 100 ft/lbs and you know the wrench reads low by 10 ft/lbs, simply set if for 110. It will be close.
You should also know that any wrench may read slightly differently under different conditions. Temperature & humidity can affect the wrench. Different operators may hold the wrench slightly differently and thus give a slightly different reading. These differences may be small but it shows that a slightly off reading is not a serious issue. Slightly off is subjective of course but I'd suggest a difference of up to 10% is not worrisome. That's 5 ft/lbs at a setting of 50, 10 ft/lbs at a setting of 100 or up to 20 ft/lbs at a setting of 200. Many technical service manuals will provide a range of torque values for each application. That is, the specified torque may show as "145 ft/lbs, +or- 5 ft/lbs" or simply say that the torque is 140 to 150 ft/lbs.
The common although mistaken practice of going beyond the "click", "just to make sure", likely produces a greater difference than 10%.
2. Some torque wrenches are easily adjusted.
I understand, although have not tried it, that the old-style bar wrench could be adjusted by by bending the indicator bar a tiny bit to alter the reading.
The click-type which is spring loaded, can be adjusted by placing or removing spaces under the spring.
I suppose the digital wrenches might need technical attention.
I might do some trial tests to see if these ideas work well & make a video about that. Thanks for your question.
Alec
Alec, what you wrote all makes sense. I use an old fashion beam style torque wrench. It is claimed the beam style never needs calibration, which is a great feature. As you wrote, the pointer can be bent back to read zero, if it already isn’t, when there is no torque being applied. Depending on the task at hand, the beam style can be difficult to read and that is a serious downside to them. I have wanted a ratchet style one, like in your video, but was always concerned about the need and cost of recalibration. You made valid points and I may invest in one. Thank you!
@jphickory522 I had a digital wrench for a while, a cheap one granted, but after stripping a regulator body twice, I literally threw it away. I still have the filing cabinet with the dent in it.
Get a decent click type. Probably cost about $75 but I'm sure you'll be happy.