Last night my torque wrenches head fell into pieces since the screws came out. The gear and levers fell out of the head. I put it back together and put some loctite on the screws that hold the gear and lever in. Will my torque wrench still be as accurate as it was before it fell apart?
Torque wrench question
- Thread starter Bcom
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6MocoA
Banned
No. Send it off to be calibrated or better yet just buy a new one. You can get a USA made Gearwrench (with 2% accuracy) on Amazon for <$100.
WhiffySpark
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Call the manufacturer and ask them unless it's harbor freight.
SMKS
Well-known member
It's fine, assuming it was fine before.
The ratcheting head mechanism isn't part of the mechanism that determines when the proper torque is reached. Those are two separate things.
The ratcheting head mechanism isn't part of the mechanism that determines when the proper torque is reached. Those are two separate things.
gdocktor3
Well-known member
Go rent one from Auto Zone or Advance and torque down a few bolts with each tool. Then see if they read the same. Once you finish, return the rented one and get your money back. Then you'll know if it's still working.
That doesn't work. Can't check a torque wrench by torquing the same bolt twice. We had a problem at work and our guys spent a lot of time testing to come up with a way to do that. In the end, they had to retorque.
Sounds like the ratchet head to me. That has nothing to do with your torque wrench's functionality. You should be fine putting it back together, BUT if the head suddenly fell apart, you either are incompetent and shouldn't be using a torque wrench, or your tool is absolute garbage.
Using a torque wrench requires skill AND knowledge. If you have neither (not saying you do) you have no business owning one at all.
454ragtop
Well-known member
Come on, it's a torque wrench, not a machine gun. How is a person supposed to learn to use a torque wrench without having one?
gdocktor3
Well-known member
ez-duzit
Well-known member
You get what you pay for.
You can check your wrench's torque directly against a known quality torque wrench, using the right size socket to join them.
How does one learn to use a torque wrench by owning one? I guess that's my point. If you learn to aim your rifle by reading a book, you may or may not hit the target when you get to the range. But either way, you'll know. With a torque wrench, theres no practical way to know if you are using it correctly or not. All you can do is rely on the training most of us don't have.
If the ratchet head falls apart in your hands, rest assured SOMETHING is wrong.
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Loscaldazar
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Gearwrench are no longer USA made unfortunately. They are now imported (not sure if it's China or Taiwan, but they are imported).
Wait, like the Snap On S80 range spewing their guts out and having to be redesigned because of this issue?
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Yes. It sounds like the ratchet head just fell apart somehow. Slap a couple of drops of Loctite on the threads to keep it from happening again.
Did you drop it? Torque wrenches don't like falls
As long as nothing sprung out of the handle end, you should be ok.
toolman9w
Well-known member
Its fine. As long as the handle didn't come apart.
really dude?!? why be a jackass about it?
The message I wanted to get across was torque, and the use of torque wrenches is complicated science. Don't let anyone tell you using a torque wrench is straight forward or simple.
If you don't know anything about it other than twist this dial and pull until it clicks, take a tactical pause and read up or ask me. I assumed you had a cheesy wrench. But know this, based on your OP, its one or the other.
Remember one more thing. I answered your question accurately. What I'm saying can save you money or save your life. Its up to you to decide how big of a jackass I am.
toolaholic
Well-known member
I'm a novice and use kobalt and gearwrench torque wrenches. Nothing I torqued with them fell apart yet. Oh and I do own a beautiful wright 1/2 inch up to 150 lb ft torque wrench. And I'm still alive.
Sanny81
Well-known member
You really should post a tutorial, I'm sure some of us would be interested in learning from a different perspective.
LOL back in the day before I could afford Cman and then a Harbor freight torque wrench, I use what I like to call a "hillbilly torque wrench".
I would tighten the fastener until I thought it was properly tight enough, but not too tight.. If it didn't snap off or come looseend it did what it was supposed to do the torque was perfect.
I don't know how I survived 50 years without a degree from torque wrench University.
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I would tighten the fastener until I thought it was properly tight enough, but not too tight.. If it didn't snap off or come looseend it did what it was supposed to do the torque was perfect.
I don't know how I survived 50 years without a degree from torque wrench University.
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freddyford
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That's what every mechanic in my area does. The only times they break out a torque wrench is when they are rebuilding an engine. For general mechanical repair they go by feel. Have to say I have started to do that as well but that's after years of comparing my "feel" to my torque wrench.
I had a Craftsman Torque Wrench never click when I went to torque a bolt, it ended up shearing off. I was very incompetent in not knowing that my tool had broken internally when I used it last. 
This site is a treasure trove of great info but the occasional hubris displayed makes my head hurt.
This site is a treasure trove of great info but the occasional hubris displayed makes my head hurt.
bmwrd0
Well-known member
Bingo!
guy48065
Well-known member
I only maintain, repair and calibrate them...I probably don't know how to actually USE one, either ;-)
To the OP: You're not an idiot. The ratchet head will work fine with loose screws right up til they fall out. Blind maybe...
To the OP: You're not an idiot. The ratchet head will work fine with loose screws right up til they fall out. Blind maybe...
Might be easier if you asked a question. Here are a couple quick thoughts. Ask away.
Before you torque:
1) Exercise torque wrench at target torque approx 6-8 times for mechanical clicker types.
2) make sure mating surfaces are clean, dirt and burr fee, washers are installed correctly (stamped washers have right and wrong sides).
3) correct lubricants have been applied to threads, mating surfaces etc. Remember there no such thing as a dry torque value.
4) determine what to torque, head or tail, bolt or nut. Know how to choose.
5) find correct values, specifications, tolerances
6) know your wrench's capabilities, calibration status, etc
In use:
1) determine prevailing torque. Very important!
2) apply correct torque pattern if applicable
3) adjust target torque to correct for prevailing torque if necessary. Torque angle requirements are designed to eliminate this step.
4) compensate for flex head, extension, deep socket use.
Very important techniques:
5) target value must be achieved in a single continuous pull at least 1/4 turn.
6) target torque must be reached slowly and torque stopped just as wrench begins to click, not after wrench clicks and limits torque through release. This results in over torquing.
7) depending on part, target torque may need to be achieved by bringing all fasteners in the pattern up to a lower target torque before applying the installation torque.
We torque fasteners to produce preload produced by placing the fastener system in tension. Think of each fastener as a really stiff spring. As engineers, we specify torque requirements solely to produce preload. But torque wrenches don't measure preload. And they don't even do a good job of getting close. Different studies show different percentages but some indicate up to 40% of the torque we apply is consumed by friction in the threads. An additional 40% can be consumed under the head. That means roughly 20% of the torque we apply actually does what engineers require. This also means it's virtually pointless to use a torque wrench without controlling friction (prevailing torque).
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I must not know how to use a torque wrench since Adam has told me the complexities of one. I was using mine as a back brush in the shower and ocassionally I'd use it as a toothbrush as well. That's probably why mine fell apart. SMH
OP here is the takeaway
1) the ratchet and the torque instrument are two separate things
2) the ratchet broke, this changes nothing about the torque instrument
3) fix the ratchet head and carry on
If you need help post up pics and follks will help you put the ratchet back together. If the guts of the handle (not he head) are all over your workbench, throw it away--that means the torque instrument was disassembled.
TLDR: Rebuilding a ratchet is trivial work, rebuilding the torque instrument not-so-much.
Good luck.
1) the ratchet and the torque instrument are two separate things
2) the ratchet broke, this changes nothing about the torque instrument
3) fix the ratchet head and carry on
If you need help post up pics and follks will help you put the ratchet back together. If the guts of the handle (not he head) are all over your workbench, throw it away--that means the torque instrument was disassembled.
TLDR: Rebuilding a ratchet is trivial work, rebuilding the torque instrument not-so-much.
Good luck.
skidozer670
Well-known member
I send our work torque wrenches out to a local calibration company yearly. The charge $20 for calibration usually a one week turn around. Eliminates any question.
See, that's funny.
guy48065
Well-known member
I want this name. That's less than half what the major players and my local cal vendors charge. Surprised you can get a wrench certified that cheap in NY state.
rocket1420
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Most people don't know this, and judging by the responses to you in this thread, no one gives a **** either. I don't know why they even bother with a torque wrench.
yea, I sort of agree with this.
the agressive responsive seems overly defensive. if people don't bother to thing through tenson vs torque, there is really no point in trying to discuss it further. a torque instrument is a best guess at tension, and an indirect one at that.
But hey if it clicks...
Right. And I'm not sure why I bothered posting.
Sanny81
Well-known member
Thanks for that write up Adam, got me thinking about stuff I never thought about before.
So what's the overall opinion on the "double click" technique I've heard and seen people use? Tighten until it clicks, then give it one more click. I would assume that's just over torquing?
So what's the overall opinion on the "double click" technique I've heard and seen people use? Tighten until it clicks, then give it one more click. I would assume that's just over torquing?
gdocktor3
Well-known member
Did you read #6 in Adams post?
Seriously, everyone has their own technique and methods of doing things. I'm sure a lot of mechanics do this "double click" method and it works for them. I myself have never even heard of the double click. Just go slow and steady and once it clicks that's it. With experience you will learn when enough is enough or if more is needed. When I was 18 I rebuilt my Harley motor and never torqued anything down. Nothing. It ran fine for nearly 5 years until the base gaskets (the originals I reused) started leaking. By that time I was more experienced and referred to the owners manual & the torque specs.
Snap On did research that led to the patent for their digital Techwrenches' "early warning system". Basically, the research showed that the inertia of that last pull resulted in over torque if we pulled into and even slightly through the click and into the release. The early warning buzzer is triggered 5% below the target. That's roughly the amount Snap on found we were over torqueing.
Guys here compare torque wrench accuracies. Many are good within a percent or two. But that means nothing when they pull through the click and are 5% over. (this not to mention the effect of prevailing torque).
The absolute torque value can make a difference on some parts, specifically with gaskets, bushings etc, but I feel it is the difference between fasteners that is more worrying for engineering.
You can test this your self on any Snap On van that has that digital calibrator. You can learn to torque accurately with virtually any tool.
Similarly, when I started doing a bunch of machining and used my digi-cals constantly, I got some gage blocks and measured them repeatedly. Depending on how quickly you slide the jaws shut and with how much pressure determines the accuracy of the tool. The best tool in the world can't compensate for your technique/touch. Like torque wrenches, if you didn't think about this, you would never know you were using the tool incorrectly.