Project Farm Digital Torque wrench test

[ronkz650]

I don't need or care about warranty on anything unless bad out of the box. Once I've used it and it works, generally it's fine. Waste of money buying extended warranty.

 

[engineer2]

Well, per his tests I guess it was a mistake to buy the GearWrench. I do find it awkward to use too.

 

[neophyte]

Or the fact that the one you showed isn't sold by Best Buy, but rather Beach Camera. The "hint" is that it wasn't available for Store Pickup (from this seller)...

You were the one that mentioned hand mixers, so I was pointing out that both hand mixers and stand mixers SOLD By Best Buy (not another seller) have the same warranty. Both of which were driven by price.

They offer different lengths of warranties on different categories, hence my linking appliances. Selling a different length for TV vs mixers doesn't hhelp your initial argument, that "Within a category type, Best Buy sells different lengths of warranties (including none), based on the perceived level of quality of one product vs another." They sell warranties for a given time amount, based on category type and price when purchased. Nothing about quality of one vs another.

Best Buy used to offer different length warrantees on the same category, from the same manufacturer, for different models.

They seem to have stopped doing so, and I was unable to look up the 5 speed hand mixer, because despite still bring sold at other retailers, it’s no longer offered on the Best Buy website.
As I check reviews, thoroughly, I generally don’t replace appliances frequently.
The Best Buy website and app also kept glitching on me, repeatedly, like a typical bloatware website. (Ie. Home Depot, but worse than Home Depot).
Apparently, Best Buy only started allowing “marketplace” sales from third parties on their website like Amazon does, on August 19th of this year, so just over 3 months ago.
I doubt I’ve checked the Best Buy website in 6 months, which might explain the mistake.
Is Best Buy having money problems?

 

[dchawk81]

How accurate does a digital torque wrench actually need to be? Torque is a ******** measurement to begin with having 1000 variables that affect the true bolt stretch, such as lube, distorting the measurement, which is why torque to yield has become the standard for many applications. 3% in basically all cases is certainly close enough and just about every wrench, except Gearwrench, met that specification. To me he should have used all angle torque wrenches as they are needed for most automotive applications these days. As an Eclatorq dealer I can tell you that the S-K is made by Eclatorq.

It's usually more about evenness and repeatability across a bolt pattern than about specific tightness.

Most torque specs aren't like dead *** critical where a tenth of a ft-lb is going to ruin the entire system.

 

[dchawk81]

Wish they'd put a standard 18650 cell form lithium battery inside. All higher end flashlights have these user replaceable cells. Most cars and electronics also use them but they're welded in a pack so it's not replaceable. But there's no need for that, if it works for high end flashlights it could just as well work for a bunch of other products...

My torque wrench uses AAs or AAAs (I forget which) but easily bought anywhere.

I prefer those.

 

[dchawk81]

Unacceptable rate is relative to expected rate. The cost to the manufacturer from expected warranty replacements are built into the initial price, spread out among all customers. A low-quality tool with a lifetime warranty is only a problem for the manufacturer (beyond reputation) if they don't realize it's a low-quality tool before they sell them and experience more warranty claims than were expected, by a substantial margin.

I would point out that Sears learned decades ago that offering a mid-tier tool with a top-tier, no-hassle warranty is a successful formula. Harbor Freight continues that tradition today. Despite the great warranty, there is good reason that most professional mechanics don't rely on HF (or Sears) for the bulk of their tools.

In my experience, manufacturer reputation is more important than product warranty. I prefer tools that are less likely to fail over less reliable tools with great warranties. I have plenty of second-hand tools (with non-transferrable warranties) for which I paid more than I would have paid for a similar new tool, with a lifetime warranty, from a less reputable manufacturer.

Warranties used to be a way for companies to build a reputation for building, and standing behind, a quality product. Somewhere along the line, manufacturers figured out that warranties are fundamentally just insurance policies for which appropriate premium prices can be calculated. As long as those premiums can be included in the price without scaring away consumers, product quality and warranty quality can be largely independent. A poor-quality tool can have a great warranty just like a poor driver can have excellent insurance coverage.

Sears and success don't really go hand in hand anymore.

 

[dchawk81]

No. Just no. 3rd-party blades wouldn't make a bit of sense, given CR's purpose. That would be the same as making sure every car they tested had the exact same model tires installed. It would be great info for enthusiasts, but not very useful for the non-enthusiasts for whom they are comparing products.

Every scientist knows to test for something you have to remove every possible other variable.

If you're testing blades you use the same saw. If you're testing saws you use the same blade.

If you're testing tires you use the same car, and if you're testing cars you use the same tire.

 

[neophyte]

Sears and success don't really go hand in hand anymore.

Is there dome correlation between major corporations building big fancy headquarter office buildings, and then going out of business?

 

[dchawk81]

Is there dome correlation between major corporations building big fancy headquarter office buildings, and then going out of business?

Lol probably.

 

[zendriver]

Its a ******* torque wrench to tighten bolts on a mini van. Wtf are we arguing about here.

Been surfing the Internet, long, have ya?’

Arguing about nothing, is the center of human existence anymore. YouTube creators know this so they feed that need.

It’s probably would’ve been mostly who gives a **** review of adequate mostly imported torque wrenches until they throw in the ringer

Snap on - that always changes the game

 

[Cruzan80]

Best Buy used to offer different length warrantees on the same category, from the same manufacturer, for different models.

I worked there for a time (over a decade ago), and it was never this way within the last 20+ years. That was my point. It was always based on the sales price and category. The evidence I posted shows the same. So far, you have only stated what you "remember" being true, about a product they no longer sell.

At this point, I am done debating this. "Confirmation Bias" for the win ..

 

[finn]

Best Buy used to offer different length warrantees on the same category, from the same manufacturer, for different models.

They seem to have stopped doing so, and I was unable to look up the 5 speed hand mixer, because despite still bring sold at other retailers, it’s no longer offered on the Best Buy website.
As I check reviews, thoroughly, I generally don’t replace appliances frequently.
The Best Buy website and app also kept glitching on me, repeatedly, like a typical bloatware website. (Ie. Home Depot, but worse than Home Depot).
Apparently, Best Buy only started allowing “marketplace” sales from third parties on their website like Amazon does, on August 19th of this year, so just over 3 months ago.
I doubt I’ve checked the Best Buy website in 6 months, which might explain the mistake.
Is Best Buy having money problems?

I didn’t realize that Best Buy was still in business.

Learned something today.

 

[AEAdam]

I didn’t realize that Best Buy was still in business.

Learned something today.

Pretty sure the name has been ironic for some time.

Should have been called impulse buy.

 

[logical]

When that happens, no meaningful conclusions can be drawn about the population from which that single specimen came. We can learn only about the particular specimen tested. That's not useful for evaluating mass produced goods.

That it's challenging to perform a proper evaluation doesn't make an improper evaluation valid or credible.

So Car and Driver tests are meaningless unless we have 3 or maybe 30 of every vehicle? I understand your point but we can also sprinkle in some experience based knowledge about the likely variation within a population of mass produced products. If you have tested tires for 3 decades you will have a pretty good idea of part to part variation, and if it has always been minimal it is reasonable to use a small sample size.

 

[neophyte]

I worked there for a time (over a decade ago), and it was never this way within the last 20+ years. That was my point. It was always based on the sales price and category. The evidence I posted shows the same. So far, you have only stated what you "remember" being true, about a product they no longer sell.

At this point, I am done debating this. "Confirmation Bias" for the win ..

I would try actually showing what the warrantees on the Best Buy appliances that used to be offered were, but more than half the Kitchenaid mixers are now marketplace items fulfilled by outside vendors.
I wonder of there is a “reason for that” since Best Buy still sells some Kitchenaid products?
I can’t go back in time to take screenshots of extended warrantee offers.

 

[finn]

Is there dome correlation between major corporations building big fancy headquarter office buildings, and then going out of business?

The Sears Tower was constructed in 1970, fifty five years ago.

And almost twenty five years before Amazon was started in 1994.

 

[neophyte]

The Sears Tower was constructed in 1970, fifty five years ago.

And almost twenty five years before Amazon was started in 1994.

I was thinking of this complex.

A quick search says it started construction in 1992, and started being used between 1993 and 1995, and cost around $250million.
I suppose 25 years isn’t so bad, but the building supposedly needed **** loads of maintenance and repair at the end, which seems like questionable construction or design, at 25 years old.
I suppose they did build large notable buildings before this while still having periods of success.

 

[finn]

I was thinking of this complex.

A quick search says it started construction in 1992, and started being used between 1993 and 1995, and cost around $250million.
I suppose 25 years isn’t so bad, but the building supposedly needed **** loads of maintenance and repair at the end, which seems like questionable construction or design, at 25 years old.
I suppose they did build large notable buildings before this while still having periods of success.

Sears made a lot of money when they sold the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago to The Blackstone Group. It cost $150 million to build, and was sold for $1.3 billion to Blackstone. The $1.3 billion sales price was considered a bargain at the time. $340/sq ft.

The Hoffman Estates complex was largely funded by the State, Village / City of Hoffman Estates and Cook County, from what I recall. The state kicked in $80 million. The $250 million construction cost.is a drop in the bucket compared to what the Tower sold for. Taxes were undoubtedly lower in the suburbs, too, even if it is Cook county.

The Hoffman Estates site sold for $194 million to a Texas group for a new Data Center, after the Sears bankruptcy.