Snap-On TechWrench Torque Wrench Repair

Hello All,

I have a Snap-On TechWrench TECH3FR250 that recently stopped vibrating intermittently before the appropriate torque was reached. I had to torque very carefully as there was only the beep indicating over-torque. It seemed that if I twisted the handle in a certain way as I applied torque, the vibrations would be inconsistently stronger all the way to non-existent. Seeing as how the torque wrench was 6 months out of the one year warranty and the local rep advised a ~$90 repair charge, I decided to investigate myself.

If you are within warranty or you don't want to potentially break your things, please send your defective item to Snap-On for repair. If you aren't bothered by this, please read on....

READ THE ENTIRE POST IF YOU ARE GOING TO FIX ANYTHING…. Trust me, it’s worth your while.

Here is an exploded diagram from Snap-On's website:




Even though I am tired from a long days work, I figured the problem I was experiencing could only be caused by a few scenarios:

1. Loose connection (i.e. bad solder)
2. Bad DC motor (drives the vibrating function)
3. The vibrating mechanism has become dislodged / obstructed
4. Component level failure on the PCB
5. Squirrels

Having self-taught, hobbyist level, soldering skills with modest practice I was up to the challenge. Plus, in general, I love fixing things (don't we all).

I was hoping that it wasn't #2 or #4. Number 5 would be fun to see and the other two are easy to fix. For my case it was a variation of #3 combined with, what I believe to be, a design/manufacturing flaw. It will become evident with the pictures below and further rectified by the fact I was able to fix the problem.

First, remove the "tamper-proof Torx" screw from the back of the torque wrench. Off lifts the display panel:




Take note of the wiring and inspect for typical PCB assembly anomalies:



If everything looks good, you can de-solder the connections at the lower left of the display panel (taking note of the color order):




Here you will find the connections for the battery and vibration mechanism. (Notice how the connections for the vibration motor are hooked up backwards; anomalies). Since it is a simple DC motor, the backwards connections won’t hurt anything, it's just shows how much attention to detail there was during assembly:




Here's the part where I didn't take many pictures but it is pretty straight-forward. Remove the connections for the battery at the display panel (noting the colors). Then slide the entire handle assembly off of the metal shaft, making sure not to tear any wires.

Then, remove the black cap on the fore-end of the handle. Prying the release tabs inside the handle with a pocket screwdriver (from fore-end to aft-end) and pry the top of the handle off. The black handle grip will peel off as it is held lightly in place with small amounts of soft glue (surprising small amounts actually!!)

The inside of the lower handle with the top cover removed looks like this:




Taking a look at the inside of the top handle portion, you will see the problem. The vibration weight is coming in contact with the handle frame (note the gaps), preventing the rotating mass from doing its business. This is due to either a design flaw and/or manufacturing tolerance flaws:




This is how, I'm sure, it looked when the torque wrench was shipped from the factory (operational). Note the gaps again:




As you can deduce, the vibration assembly has shifted within the flimsy handle and was seized against the frame. There are a couple of solutions, the easiest being to clearance the frame to allow the rotating mass sufficient area to spin during tolerance shifts experienced throughout the normal use of the torque wrench.

A quick touch-up with my Dremel:




Now, regardless of how much flex that is incurred, the rotating assembly will not contact the upper part of the handle.

However, there is another surface that may be a contributor as well; the lower handle battery carrier. To clearance it as well, you do not have to remove it from the lower handle. I just did it for portability:




All done with the hard part! Move the motor around gingerly in the upper handle to test for any potential binding. If you are satisfied with your work, reassemble and re-solder (making note of the colors). Do not install the rubber grip yet. Test to see if the vibrating function has been restored.

If you are successful, the last part to go on is the rubber grip. Use adhesive sparingly in a few small dots near the outermost edges of the rubber. Hold the rubber in place and allow it to dry by applying electrical tape tightly STICKY SIDE OUT. This way, you don’t leave any residue:




Forgoing all the steps above, you may be able to temporarily resolve your issue by removing the battery compartment and pushing the rotating mass towards the fore-end of the torque wrench with a thin probe. It is barely visible on the upper segment of the handle. SEE, I told you it will be beneficial to read the whole post! Man, I’m tired…. and some would say delusional……….


I am a big fan of Snap-On tools and I own many thousand dollars worth. The warranty process is painless most of the time and that’s why I don’t mind paying for it. For such a high-end brand, it kind of bothers me that the $400 TechWrench does not offer a better design or build quality/oversight for such a simple problem. I haven’t heard of any voluntary recall (I even asked the Rep about it). Hopefully my torque wrench is a “one-off” and no one else will have this problem. If you do have this problem, feel free to chime in here as well as contact Snap-On. Perhaps Snap-On will comment or at least take interest/action. After a minimum of four hours of sleep, I will be drafting an email to them soon to see if Snap-On is interested in my findings and simple solutions.

I will save this spot for any replies I get from Snap-On, then edit it later.

~lazyacevw

Well it seems that Snap-On isn't concerned with the flaw. They sent a reply to my first email asking for my details (address, name, etc.) but stopped replying to follow up emails! The reply email seemed very "canned". I have sent half a dozen or so emails over the last 2-3 weeks with no response. They never even hinted to forwarding the info to their designers/engineers. Very weak...

Good luck out there.

Nice repair tip.

Thanks for the great write-up!

My early-production 1/2' drive "tech-angle" or whatever they call it broke many times due to poor design/intermittent connection at the battery end-cap that my rep finally replaced it free of charge almost 2 years after purchase. The new one has been solid so far, but it's still hard to trust it after getting burned so many times by it's predecessor, (torquing head bolts midway through the "+90degrees bit and having it shut off for instance!). Like you said, the quality of these particular tools doesn't seem to match the selling price.

I think the problem may have been simpler, look at the first picture of the motor. The red wire from the motor was wedged between the bottom of the motor and holder pushing it in the direction of binding.

Nice job on the picts etc, good to know there aren't any "ha ha you opened it tricks".

PaulsGarage said:

"My early-production 1/2' drive "tech-angle" or whatever they call it broke many times due to poor design/intermittent connection at the battery end-cap"

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I had the same issue on mine and it was only 1.5yrs. old. I ended up adding more solder to the connection that leads to the battery cap:




Thanks for the thumbs up guys.... this was my first post here.

Danglerb said:

"I think the problem may have been simpler"

Click to expand...

It is true; the wires wern't as straight as they should've been and were pinched in the "holder" but if the motor would have shifted after they were straightened, I would be back in the same boat. It takes a surprisingly small amount of resistance to keep the motor from starting up. I suppose you could also put a small amount of glue to hold the motor in place.... to me... the Dremel seemed best.

That would stink if they had any tamper indicators on the torque wrench.. I guess they were nice and recognized that the torque wrench, like many others, would be serviced at one time or another.....

Cool wright up

Nice write up and DIY. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Well it seems that Snap-On isn't concerned with the flaw. They sent a reply to my first email asking for my details (address, name, etc.) but stopped replying to follow up emails! The reply email seemed very "canned". I have sent half a dozen or so emails over the last 2-3 weeks with no response. They never even hinted to forwarding the info to their designers/engineers. Very weak...

Good luck out there.

Sounds like you need to talk to the actual snapon reps who are over the torque division; I would assume they are connected to CDI somehow. I would email or PM our resident Snapon dealer mrshaun; I'm sure he can get you connected to the right people. Keep us posted as things progress. When you contact Snapon; you are dealing with tier 1 people; who just attempt to answer typical customer service issues; you need to communicate with the people who oversee the torque product line.

i'd expect this kind of DIY repair to improve a malfunctioning cheap import tool but to have such careless work in a $500 torque wrench is disgusting. This is why i cant embrace the electronic models, as convenient as they may be with automatic torque angle and switchable scales, they're built cheap and clearly arent dependable. I'll take a solidly built mechanical one any day.

lazyacevw said:

I had the same issue on mine and it was only 1.5yrs. old. I ended up adding more solder to the connection that leads to the battery cap:

.

Click to expand...

+1 .i have problem...

V!

My SO dealer tried to get me to buy one of those torque wrenches. I'm glad i didn't, all my gear is SO but the build quality on that from the pictures is shocking. No way worth what they charge.

Stick with my clip type.

Good work on the fix though.

The race team I'm on uses one and I think it's caused motor problems, but people are in denial because it's a "Snap On". It always feels really inconsistent to me.

Skin said:

i'd expect this kind of DIY repair to improve a malfunctioning cheap import tool but to have such careless work in a $500 torque wrench is disgusting. This is why i cant embrace the electronic models, as convenient as they may be with automatic torque angle and switchable scales, they're built cheap and clearly arent dependable. I'll take a solidly built mechanical one any day.

Click to expand...

Agree. It appears to have the build quality of a cheap flashlight. For $500!

billymade said:

Sounds like you need to talk to the actual snapon reps who are over the torque division; I would assume they are connected to CDI somehow. I would email or PM our resident Snapon dealer mrshaun; I'm sure he can get you connected to the right people. Keep us posted as things progress. When you contact Snapon; you are dealing with tier 1 people; who just attempt to answer typical customer service issues; you need to communicate with the people who oversee the torque product line.

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Why should the OP be cast in the engineering role when it's exclusively their (S-O) responsibility to offer a product that is suitable for its intended purpose?

Bigblue&Goldie said:

The race team I'm on uses one and I think it's caused motor problems, but people are in denial because it's a "Snap On". It always feels really inconsistent to me.

Click to expand...

I've seen them used quite a bit in aerospace by Lockheed and Boeing. When I was looking to purchase some for our shop, our Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory on base didn't have the right equipment to calibrate it to ±2%. In the Air Force, we typically only cal to around ±4%. I have heard others that state they have never had to have theirs adjusted during calibration, just certified.

I still trust mine, especially since I know what exactly is going on inside now.

wow i just found this thread.

I keep getting error0 on my display you guys ever had this problem?

I like to support US build products. However, electronics products made in USA doesn't quite cut it. While US electronics have build quality issues, German electronics have senseless logic issues. A perfect marriage is utilizing US algorithm in logic and German workmanship in production. As of now, Japanese seems to have the best of both worlds. That's why you see a lot of contracts out of NASA awarded to the Japanese. The Chinese could make good electronics IF you watch over their shoulders. For every IPAD (made in China) there are probably 10 times more junk coming out of that country because of lack of supervision.

Very nice DYI write up

old thread i know but could somebody re hose the pictures?

mrlaw said:

old thread i know but could somebody re hose the pictures?

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Thanks for the heads up on the pictures! I have uploaded the photos to imgur and updated the links. Photobucket *****.

Pictures are gone again... My SO torque wrench just developed this "no vibrate" problem so I'd love to see the pictures if possible.

I had Snap-on click types when the original tech angle from Snap-on came out (4 button model). I wasn't impressed with them at all. They were squishy plastic, felt soft, creaked when you used them, etc.

The newer atech is lightyears better (6 buttons). I love my 1/2" --- never had a problem with it. I don't think you can abuse these by tossing them around like you can with click types.

Here are the pictures, since photobucket decided to crater their business.

Moar

My SO techwrench has recently stopped vibrating as well... That combined with the fact that it always seems to decide it needs new batteries when I'm torquing some important fastener has me thinking of just abandoning it and picking up a harbor freight Quinn digitial torque wrench.

Sad, sad world when a HF torque wrench might be higher quality than my SO techwrench?

On the other hand, my SO split-beam 1/2" torque wrench (really a CDI?) has been a gem for many years.

pfbz said:

My SO techwrench has recently stopped vibrating as well... That combined with the fact that it always seems to decide it needs new batteries when I'm torquing some important fastener has me thinking of just abandoning it and picking up a harbor freight Quinn digitial torque wrench.

Sad, sad world when a HF torque wrench might be higher quality than my SO techwrench?

On the other hand, my SO split-beam 1/2" torque wrench (really a CDI?) has been a gem for many years.

Click to expand...

Old thread, but current situation.

Same problem with my gen 1 Techangle... No vibrate, eats batteries. And now the head is skipping ( I know that problem is just a rebuild kit). Spend the $125 to repair it, or just move on to a Quinn...

pfbz said:

Old thread, but current situation.

Same problem with my gen 1 Techangle... No vibrate, eats batteries. And now the head is skipping ( I know that problem is just a rebuild kit). Spend the $125 to repair it, or just move on to a Quinn...

Click to expand...

The ”repair” is just a replacement of the handle, and a renew of the end cap. I think these were gen 1 problems, fixed on the later models. My gray handled wrenches, one had the old end cap and various problems, went in for calibration and is now as perfect as my newer grey handle. (I have a 3/8” and a 1/2”).

I’m just a weekend warrior, so I pull out the batteries every time I put it away. Theres a spot in the case for the batteries. I find doing that, the batteries last years.

Not sure if it’s my imagination, but the strength of the vibration weakens with weak batteries and is less pronounced or non-existent at low torques.

AEAdam said:

The ”repair” is just a replacement of the handle, and a renew of the end cap. I think these were gen 1 problems, fixed on the later models. My gray handled wrenches, one had the old end cap and various problems, went in for calibration and is now as perfect as my newer grey handle. (I have a 3/8” and a 1/2”).

I’m just a weekend warrior, so I pull out the batteries every time I put it away. Theres a spot in the case for the batteries. I find doing that, the batteries last years.

Not sure if it’s my imagination, but the strength of the vibration weakens with weak batteries and is less pronounced or non-existent at low torques.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly what you are saying... Do you mean when they repaired your ratchet, they essentially upgraded it to the newer versions of the same model? And that it *is* worth sending in for repair?

Mine definitely has zero vibrate at any torque level. Other than that, and the stripped reverse ratchet gears (which I know is a fairly easy fix), works fine.

As for batteries, I don't pull the batteries if I'm in the middle of a project and might be pulling it out again shortly, but then don't always remember to pull them when I'm done. And I'm far past having room. for blow molded cases... I'd need another $5K worth of tool boxes if kept everything in their original space-consuming cases.

This is what I have, labeled TECH2FP100:

pfbz said:

I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly what you are saying... Do you mean when they repaired your ratchet, they essentially upgraded it to the newer versions of the same model? And that it *is* worth sending in for repair?

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Yes exactly so. They don’t actually repair them as far as I know. The big problem they had was the battery door. So for me, all that plastic was renewed.

I have had four or five of these red Techwrenches over the years, my current one is the latest version with the slimmer, ribbed endcap, it gives zero trouble compared to the earlier version pictured above.
I have the latest ATECH125 torque wrench which I keep for when I need to do angles, but for everyday use the old Techwrench is much easier and quicker to cycle between values, is easier to clean and nicer to work with.

Thanks for the update. RMA completed, call tag received, it's going back to SO for refurb...