Precision instrument torque wrench question

[bradnyc]

I already have a 50-250 1/2” precision instruments, but am looking to replace my old craftsman 3/8” 20-100. Any trustworthy vendors you‘d buy from besides Amazon? I’m partial to precision instruments only and not wanting to buy snap on.

Thanks

 

[boom_bap]

I picked up a 3/8 PI 10-50 split beam on amazon and it shipped from national tool warehouse. Maybe try them directly?

 

[JWC86]

I’m in the market for a 10-50 PI split beam myself. Seems the price has really gone up the last few months.

 

[boom_bap]

Ya it wasn't cheap. 150 before tax. looking at all the options it wasnt horrible though. all the harbor freight options are only 30 bucks or so less and made overseas amd not split beam. I hadnt really seen any other 10-50 in general let alone split beam. Seemed worth the premium to me. Ironically I tested it against my 1/4 $50 tekton and it they both tested spot on. Ymmv

 

[Zewnten]

Second National Tool Warehouse, very easy to work with even if you purchased through Amazon.

 

[dnschmidt]

Precision Instruments is going to be under a lot of pricing pressure shorty. Apparently the Taiwanese have figured out that a lot of Americans like this style of torque wrench and Torque-Tech and other Taiwanese manufacturers are coming out with split beam models. The new ICON model is an example of this.

 

[Outahere]

Precision Instruments needs to start supplying a real calibration certificate with their torque wrenches, instead of a generic card from their marketing department that claims 4% accuracy.

 

[boom_bap]

Yep agree. I have the Icon 1/2 and its been great. It not just taht we like the style but that it hold accuracy better over time so for weekend warriors its a good choice. I'll add that the Taiwanesse offerings are still expensive (Olsa, Icon, Tekton etc, still in the $120+ range) so don't count on pricing being lower.

 

[JWC86]

Is there any competitors with split beams in the 5-50lb range 3/8's drive?

 

[brownbagg]

i bought a proton

 

[Lucid Moments]

The two PI torque wrenches I have I bought off Amazon.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have three PI torque wrenches
1) goes up to 600 Inch-pounds (50 foot pounds)
2) goes up to 100 Ft.-lb.
3) goes up to 250 Ft-lb.

They work well but they all have one common problem. At the lower end of their ranges you can barely tell if they have snapped over or not. The click can barely be felt or heard. Once you get about 1/3 above full scale it's no longer a problem.

The other thing I'm not crazy about is that I'm a metric kind of a guy and I wish they would make these with there primary scales in N-m. This is the way most cars are now currently specified and having two foreign cars that's what they spec in all of the manuals. The bolts are metric the parts of just about all cars are metric why are the torque wrenches still in Imperial?

 

[tamaraw]

I love my C2FR100F! I think I originally tried buying off of Amazon but they lost the package, then I ordered from an ebay seller (no longer stocked, this was a few years ago). I think as long as you find a good price and receive it in good shape, the vendor doesn't really matter. After a quick google search, Tool Discounter seems to have a relatively low price on the market right now.

And for the record, I believe that Precision Instruments makes the split beam Snap-On models anyway.

 

[dnschmidt]

They did but now

I love my C2FR100F! I think I originally tried buying off of Amazon but they lost the package, then I ordered from an ebay seller (no longer stocked, this was a few years ago). I think as long as you find a good price and receive it in good shape, the vendor doesn't really matter. After a quick google search, Tool Discounter seems to have a relatively low price on the market right now.

And for the record, I believe that Precision Instruments makes the split beam Snap-On models anyway.

They did, but now they took these in house and they're made by CDI Snap-On's torque wrench division.