Digital or Clicker That is the Question

[dnschmidt]

I've got a **** load of torque wrenches. Easily at least 20+. Eclatorq and Gearwrench digital with and without angle measurement and an equal **** load of clickers from everybody from Torque-Tech to J. H. Williams to AC-Delco to Precision Instruments split beams. Now I understand the inherent superiority of digital, especially with angle, but in the real world of torqueing things on cars I find the clickers much more convenient. Even with buzzers, lights, and vibrators the digital wrenches almost demand that you look at their displays while using them whereas the clickers don't and I find that to be a big plus for the clickers. If I'm building and engine its digital all the way, if I'm installing an alternator, I go clicker. SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS PREFER?

 

[richfinn]

Never used a digital in 35 years of being a mechanic

I've done just about every technical job you can do on a vehicle with clickers and an old angle gauge (if required)

I might of saved a few days or weeks of my time and earned fractionally more money, but never really worried about it too much

I did used to have younger guys watch me torque down heads this way and they always thought it was a good thing to learn before they decided to buy digital

If I still did that type of shop work I might treat myself, but I can get by using old tools on my own projects

 

[Lassen Forge]

Clicker. I got the chance to use an electronic one for a while, and I realized I couldn't hear the "beep" which told me I'd hit my mark, and I'd pretty much consistantly overtorque stuff, where my old school clicker hit the mark you felt it... as long as I keep them calibrated (which takes all of a second to check and a minute to adjust if needed) my clickers have yet to let me down.

There is a caevat, tho... I decided to go cheap and got a couple modern-era China Craftsmans... Because, hey, I had C'mans some 40+ years ago and they were really good, stable, accurate wrenches back then... the new ones lasted about a day, they went out of calibration PDQ (I'm kind of fussy about that), and became a pain to use until the ratchet head decided to "foul the nest"... I broke down, got a set of lightly abused SO's (I think it was here I found them), checked them, they were spot on when I got them and remained spot on to this day.

 

[bob15]

Haven't found the need for digital yet. Built a lot of SBC's with a simple beam-type torque wrench.

Never needed a torque wrench to install an alternator either......

 

[Ralf11]

When my Clicker died, I got used Snappy digitals, Techwrench but before the Techangles came out. I have not looked back.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Unless I'm using angle, or need a high tooth head due to space issue, mechanical clicker is king. No batteries to die, or instructions to read.

 

[S/RConcepts]

I like my torque wrenches like I like my pens- clicky. Unless I start building some ultra-precision stuff, I can't really justify the added expense/hassle of the digitals.

 

[RedneckWelder]

If I was in our rebuild shop I would have all digital torque wrenches those guys are constantly torquing stuff because they do all internal work.

For my occasional use clicker. The split beams offer speed of adjustment to Match the digital ones.

 

[ThePostman]

I have a digital for degrees of angle, primarily, if I don't need that, split beam, and not have to worry about calibration

 

[Sumboodie]

Clicker. I got the chance to use an electronic one for a while, and I realized I couldn't hear the "beep" which told me I'd hit my mark, and I'd pretty much consistantly overtorque stuff, where my old school clicker hit the mark you felt it... as long as I keep them calibrated (which takes all of a second to check and a minute to adjust if needed) my clickers have yet to let me down.

There is a caevat, tho... I decided to go cheap and got a couple modern-era China Craftsmans... Because, hey, I had C'mans some 40+ years ago and they were really good, stable, accurate wrenches back then... the new ones lasted about a day, they went out of calibration PDQ (I'm kind of fussy about that), and became a pain to use until the ratchet head decided to "foul the nest"... I broke down, got a set of lightly abused SO's (I think it was here I found them), checked them, they were spot on when I got them and remained spot on to this day.

When I was in the tool room, we had so much trouble with Snap On torque wrenches not able to hold +- 5%, even brand new, that we switched to Matco.
The "cheap" Craftsman units held calibration better even.

It's not often I torque things. Most of mine are "junk" ones from work that could only hold +- 6-10%. Good enough for my uses.

 

[Fedwrench]

If the unit of measurement is foot pounds without the need for angle, I prefer the durability and accuracy of the precision instruments split beam torque wrenches. However, if I'm bouncing around from inch pounds to foot pounds or metric, you really can't beat the speed offered by a digital torque wrench. when using Torque to yield fasteners, it's digital all the way. Safe safe & healthy

 

[bradlys]

Digital. Got annoyed with click type wrenches not actually clicking. Had it happen far too many times.

 

[vavet]

There are some applications requiring a torque + angle, but the angle is not possible with one pull because of space constraints. In that case, digital rules because it tracks the cumulative angle.

 

[pbon]

I prefer digital for angle torque though I have used a clicker with an angle torque gauge before.

 

[andersen24]

Yet another vote for Precision Instruments. Also Amazon just dropped the price today on their 1/2" to $146.25. That is a SCREAMING deal!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XMSFIM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Outahere]

I've got a **** load of torque wrenches. Easily at least 20+. Eclatorq and Gearwrench digital with and without angle measurement and an equal **** load of clickers from everybody from Torque-Tech to J. H. Williams to AC-Delco to Precision Instruments split beams....

Wow. How did you accumulate so many torque wrenches?

 

[joe_padavano]

A digital torque wrench is no different from a beam-type torque wrench. You still have to look at it. There are applications that require that (running torque when setting bearings, for example), but for 99% of the applications, a click-style is all you need. And don't equate "digital" with "precision". A digital watch can still run fast or slow, and can read the wrong time.

 

[engineer2]

I've never owned a digital and am curious too. I've been OK with both dial and clicker types, but when you get to the lower end of the scale, the click can be very vague. I was thinking about a digital for those 10 to 40 ft-lb ranges.

 

[will335i]

If you are using it all day every day and have trouble reading/converting the numbers on the click style then go with digital. Other than that it is just a nice to have and the batteries will probably die by the time you go to use it.

 

[Snapped-off]

When I was in the tool room, we had so much trouble with Snap On torque wrenches not able to hold +- 5%, even brand new, that we switched to Matco.
The "cheap" Craftsman units held calibration better even.

It's not often I torque things. Most of mine are "junk" ones from work that could only hold +- 6-10%. Good enough for my uses.

On the other end of that, all of ours in the tool room are Snap-on. Most of them being dial wrenches since we usually need to document running torque. We've got a couple micrometer and split beam wrenches though.

Split beam is my first choice when running torque isn't required.

 

[Dave455]

Never used a digital, have no objection to doing so, but wouldn’t want to spend my own money on one.

I have click type and dial type, generally older British made ones, generally acquired used, over a period of 30 plus years. They all work within sensible tolerances, which I can verify using my torque tester acquired by similar method.

My point is, I very much doubt if any electronic digital torque wrench is even going to be functioning in 20 years. If you work for a company, you’re torquing stuff up every day, and need a high level of accuracy, then they might be for you. For me, no way!

 

[Alpine4x4]

I've never owned a digital and am curious too. I've been OK with both dial and clicker types, but when you get to the lower end of the scale, the click can be very vague. I was thinking about a digital for those 10 to 40 ft-lb ranges.

Snappy guy had digitals on special yesterday on the truck and it kind of got me thinking. I had to torque a bunch of bolts up last night on an Outboard and had ranges from 3lbs-22.4lbs and my clicker was barely audible and I worried about accuracy. I think digital would have been supreme there and it really has me thinking I need to grab a digital for that low range stuff.

 

[dnschmidt]

Wow. How did you accumulate so many torque wrenches?

I bought them. I'm sort of a collector of torque wrenches. I'm not as bad with torque wrenches as I am with spray guns. I've got at least 50 of those. Mostly, SATA, Iwata and DeVilbiss/Tekna but I've got some Walcom and Astro's in there too and three or four Sharpe's prior to Graco screwing up Sharpe.

 

[tarbellb]

Yet another vote for Precision Instruments. Also Amazon just dropped the price today on their 1/2" to $146.25. That is a SCREAMING deal!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XMSFIM/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Love my PI but $150 is the going rate these days...

 

[Qualitytools]

Clicker. I got the chance to use an electronic one for a while, and I realized I couldn't hear the "beep" which told me I'd hit my mark, and I'd pretty much consistantly overtorque stuff, where my old school clicker hit the mark you felt it... as long as I keep them calibrated (which takes all of a second to check and a minute to adjust if needed) my clickers have yet to let me down.

There is a caevat, tho... I decided to go cheap and got a couple modern-era China Craftsmans... Because, hey, I had C'mans some 40+ years ago and they were really good, stable, accurate wrenches back then... the new ones lasted about a day, they went out of calibration PDQ (I'm kind of fussy about that), and became a pain to use until the ratchet head decided to "foul the nest"... I broke down, got a set of lightly abused SO's (I think it was here I found them), checked them, they were spot on when I got them and remained spot on to this day.

You peaked my curiosity when you say you check your calibration and adjust as needed in minutes, please share this knowledge and methods. Thanks

 

[Fly YX]

I have a few clicker Type torque wrenches. I was thinking of getting a digi. tal one Until I talk to a couple other mechanics in the hanger that got snap on ones We use a company called Quality Calibration to check tooling every year. They failed cal and the had to send them back to Snap On for cal. I have a 3/8 Husky USA that I got in the 90s and has never flailed calibration yet. I have a few CDI and Precision Torque wrenches and have not failed either. But I take care of them. They have a few company owned ones but they don’t set them Back to the lowest setting when they are done. And use them like a regular ratchet. I tried to tell them a few times but talking somebody that just got out of school and knows everything or graduated from The University of YouTube I might as well just be yelling at the clouds

 

[16again]

Never used digital. Honestly as a home mechanic, I have yet to see the need. My clickers do exactly what they are supposed to do. Yes, they are accurate, haven’t had one out of calibration.

 

[unslow1]

I have probably 8-10. One digital adapter. Two deflected beam and the rest clicker. I had them all tested a few years ago. The one that was furthest off was 3 1/2 percent. We weren't really trusting one of them a couple of years ago and had a guy run to the dealership to grab his. His matched ours but we just spent 12G on the motor and didn't want to risk it on an inaccurate torque wrench.

 

[Mas78]

Clicker is what I prefer.
Digital ones work fine as well only thing I don't like is they vibrate instead of the breakaway click of a mechanical one.
Also some digital ones vibrate when you achieve torque. Others do it a few percent before you achieve torque.

Back off your clicker wrench after use and never use it as a breaker bar, it should serve most everyone well.
Those are the two biggest killers of an adjustable clicker wrench. The spring does take a set over time if they aren't backed off. If it's of just a little you can usually split the tolerance for the low and high setting to get the wrench back in tolerance.
Most semi current snap on wrenches the spring is $20 or less but you need an accurate way to reset the wrench after changing it.



If you need to measure rotating torque like pinion input you'll need a dial or digital wrench.

One more thing to note is the stated accuracy on torque wrenches is usually only the 20-100% full scale of the wrench. You have to look into the specs to figure that out.
Even a Snap-On CTECH 12.5- 250 lbft wrench that starts at 12.5 lbft has peak accuracy of +/- 2% start at 50 lbft.
Below that there are two other tolerance percentages that are higher.

Team torque is where we send our calibration equipment to annually now instead of snap on.
That's where we send the few torque wrenches we can't do in house as well.

 

[Renegade1LI]

We use all clicker wrenches & for all structural bolting I have to get the wrenches calibrated every 12 months so I know they are correct. If any one is unsure & so concerned with accuracy than having the wrench calibrated is the only way to be sure. When we have a bolt up inspection first thing the inspector asks for are the wrench calibration certs & bolt certs doesn't matter if it's a clicker or digital.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I use clicker for fast work, deflected beam for accuracy. I also have about ten or twelve viable torque wrenches running from 0-30 inch pounds to 300 foot pounds, not counting a Seekonk 6 inch pound preset. I have a dial KwikWay that is too fragile for use, and I sold my 600 foot pound and my torque multiplier. I’ve never used digital, and probably never will. Nothing against it, just no need.

 

[Mc817]

I love my digital snap on tech angle. I need to do alot of torque-turn stuff, usually upside down, so its nice to set it and not have to keep looking under the engine to check paint pen marks. When its loud and I cant hear it beeping, it also vibrates, and if all else fails you can just look at the light and stop when it turns green. Plus, I don't need to take the time to calculate newton meters to foot pounds or anything, I just switch the mode to newton meters. It goes from 15-300 ft lbs, and it holds its accuracy very well. The only downside is the price, but I justify it by not having bought a 3/8 torque wrench, because of how low I can set torque on my 1/2.

 

[Steve_P]

If you use a torque wrench every day, I can see the desire for digital with all the TTY bolts today. If not, you can mark them with an ink marker and use a clicker and be close enough that it won't matter. Torque is only an approximation of preload, and it varies greatly. For home use, a good clicker wrench will outlast all of us if even moderately cared for. I can't say that about digital.

 

[Mgdoug3]

I like my digital Snap-on for TTY bolts and when I occasionally run into Nm. 95% of the time though I use a clicker. Most of the things I torque a clicker is more than accurate enough. When I'm working on a motor, I breakout the Snap-on.

 

[dnschmidt]

In the final analysis I've concluded that digital (and this means digital with angle measurement included) is the way to go for TTY bolts which are becoming ever more common. If angle isn't required clicker is the better and faster option.

 

[speed bump]

I have a 3/8 snap on tech wrench and a digital napa 1/2" as well as a bunch of clickers that I only break out if I am doing fast repetitive work that I don't care about very much. I would absolutely buy another Snap on digital torque wrench if this one for some reason disappeared (BTW I bought it used 12 years ago).

 

[visionguru]

I've got a **** load of torque wrenches. Easily at least 20+. Eclatorq and Gearwrench digital with and without angle measurement and an equal **** load of clickers from everybody from Torque-Tech to J. H. Williams to AC-Delco to Precision Instruments split beams. Now I understand the inherent superiority of digital, especially with angle, but in the real world of torqueing things on cars I find the clickers much more convenient. Even with buzzers, lights, and vibrators the digital wrenches almost demand that you look at their displays while using them whereas the clickers don't and I find that to be a big plus for the clickers. If I'm building and engine its digital all the way, if I'm installing an alternator, I go clicker. SO WHAT DO YOU GUYS PREFER?

Lug nuts: clicker
Everything else: digital

 

[Hytekrednek]

I have clickers for home auto repair and gunsmithing type use. Work fine, but a digital screwdriver type would be handy due to being more accurate in the lower ranges.