Craftsman torque wrench handle fell off

[Micahdogg]

I've had this "up to 150ft-lbs" craftsman torque wrench for 10 years now. Recently loaned it to someone and when I got it back the handle fell off. Looks like a nut loosened up inside the handle.

My dad has a pretty new craftsman torque wrench and I was thinking of putting the handle back on mine and comparing the torque back and forth to see if the calibration is close. I'm just not sure if I should waste my time trying to figure out where the handle goes (since both of the nuts have moved around) or if this is a lost cause.

Anyone else had this happen?

 

[iroc409]

Is this a beam style wrench or click type? If it's a beam, it shouldn't really go out of calibration.

 

[ajchien]

Will this help? Repost from before ...

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/torque_wrench/index.html

 

[Shopshirt Mofo]

I had the same thing happen. Took it back to Sears no lifetime warranty on Torque Wrenches they are not hand tools.

Ended up buying a new one because I didn't want to try recalibrating it myself.

 

[SMKS]

Recently loaned it to someone and when I got it back the handle fell off. Looks like a nut loosened up inside the handle.

Anyone else had this happen?

I assume the person you loaned it to unscrewed the handle too far.

 

[SGKent]

Team Torque is whom to call. They do mine once every couple of years and they know what they are doing. http://teamtorque.com/

 

[Micahdogg]

I'm sorry, yes it is a clicker....and yes, I think the guy I loaned it to did not understand how it worked and kept trying to unscrew it. He's young...it was an honest mistake.

I did call Sears first to see if they could repair it and they said "no." I knew it wasn't covered under warranty, but thought a tech may at least be able to fix it.

 

[billymade]

I saw this many times when I worked at Sears; as noted in the link, it just isn't cost effective to repair the tool and have it re-calibrated... unless you did the calibration yourself. Most people just ended up buying a new one; just like the story in the link. The needed replacement parts maybe available here: www.searspartsdirect.com The plastic parts are fragile on these; usually the lock ring is what breaks as well. You may want to upgrade to a professional grade tool like PI. http://www.torqwrench.com/

 

[Micahdogg]

Thanks for that link ajchien. The cross sectional of that plastic handle is nice. I think I'm going to try and recalibrate this one. My game plan is to torque a few different size bolt/nuts together through a plate of steel - hoping that if you try to loosen them without holding the bolt head, they will spin freely. This should give some consistant resistance.

Then I'll use my dad's new craftsman to see what the torque of each bolt is before it begins to spin. Then i should be able to try reattaching my handle in different spots to find out when they match up.

Biggest hurdle appears to be finding a socket that is thin enough to reach the nut inside the handle. I do have a welder though so maybe I can make a socket, or maybe weld a piece of pipe to that nut so I can extend it out. I don't know yet.

I just hate to junk a tool that will still work good.

 

[trboxman]

A hollow shaft nut driver might be thin enough to do the trick.

 

[rlitman]

The Craftsman "micrometer" torque wrenches only have a 90 day warranty (last I checked). The ONLY lifetime warranty I've seen on that style of torque wrench was from Pittsburgh (HF) and Husky (HD). NOBODY else has a lifetime warranty on a micrometer torque wrench. Just saying.
Still, I've had a Craftsman torque wrench replaced at a Sears once before. Just had to talk nicely with the manager and make a few trips (first I went to Sears, they sent me to the tool repair center, they sent me back to Sears, I guess the manager felt bad about my story . . .)

Their beam style wrenches DO have a lifetime warranty.

 

[Micahdogg]

Wellz, I got to mess with the wrench tonight. Luckily, my dad's was the exact same part number and since I just bought it for him last year, it had hardly been used.

I bottomed his out and referenced how far under the -20- mark it was, and what number was lined up. I adjusted mine until I got it to that point. I also happened to have a socket that was thin enough to reach inside the handle. So I set mine just like his, then tested it on a heavy duty bolt that I clamped in a smooth jaw vice as tight as I could. Every time I checked it, at varying clamp loads, mine was pretty close. The tightest I could get was 42ft-lbs on his wrench and 43/44 on mine. So if I just remember to lean on the higher torque value of things, I should be good for under 50ft-lbs.

Now, how to test at a high range, like 100-150? I'm not quite sure on that.

 

[cglasgow]

Find a socket that will accept the square end of an extension. Put the extension on one torque wrench and the socket on the other. Set both wrenches to the same setting and gently clamp one wrench in the vise (pad the jaws -- pieces of aluminum work well). Adjust yours so that they both click at the same time. This gets you only as close to accurate as your "reference" wrench happens to be, but it's a start.

It's good that you had a thin enough socket. I had to buy a cheap 11/16" deepwell and turn it down on the bench grinder until it was thin enough....

 

[Outlawmws]

Find a socket that will accept the square end of an extension. Put the extension on one torque wrench and the socket on the other. Set both wrenches to the same setting and gently clamp one wrench in the vise (pad the jaws -- pieces of aluminum work well). Adjust yours so that they both click at the same time. This gets you only as close to accurate as your "reference" wrench happens to be, but it's a start.

It's good that you had a thin enough socket. I had to buy a cheap 11/16" deepwell and turn it down on the bench grinder until it was thin enough....

Easier to get either a square socket (1/2 or 3/8...), or two sockets the size of a coupling nut for all thread, so you have a short link and eliminate/minimize any extension torque. But this will work within it's limits...

 

[Ign]

It's not surprising this happened. What is surprising is that it lasted 10 years before it happened. Craftsman should be banned from selling clicker torque wrenches, or referred to the AG for prosecution.

 

[SMKS]

I've had the same Craftsman clicker torque wrench the OP has since about 1998. It's worked great for me. I did crack the plastic on the handle, but that was my fault. I glued the chipped piece of plastic back in place.

My locking ring hasn't broken like some people complain about.

 

[obsessive]

I check calibration on mine with a beam type torque wrench that I purchased just to do calibrations.

I use whatever size socket fits the 1/2" drive (I think it's 7/16" but can't remember), so only one socket directly connects the 2 torque wrenches. Similar to posts 13 and 14, only less parts. Since the 2 torque wrenches are so close together, I can squeeze the handles towards each other with one hand.

You should be able to do the same with your's and your dad's.

 

[Outlawmws]

I check calibration on mine with a beam type torque wrench that I purchased just to do calibrations.

I use whatever size socket fits the 1/2" drive (I think it's 7/16" but can't remember), so only one socket directly connects the 2 torque wrenches. Similar to posts 13 and 14, only less parts. Since the 2 torque wrenches are so close together, I can squeeze the handles towards each other with one hand.

You should be able to do the same with your's and your dad's.

If you use a socket use a Square/8 pt socket. 9/16 is too small, 5/8 is so big it's likely to round off/split. Possibly a 12 pt metric might be a decent fit.

 

[cglasgow]

Easier to get either a square socket (1/2 or 3/8...), or two sockets the size of a coupling nut for all thread, so you have a short link and eliminate/minimize any extension torque. But this will work within it's limits...

Not a bad idea, esp at higher torque values. At lower values the flex is probably negligible. And if you're testing against a reference of unknown accuracy, it doesn't really matter anyway! ;-)