Torque wrench storage.
- Thread starter ryan_289
- Start date
Mikefromcny
Well-known member
Either one is probably ok, the absolute worst thing you can do to a clicker torque wrench is use it at the max torque. My boss maxed one of our cheap HF type ones to do some tractor head bolts, ruined it.
A whole 'nother argument is zeroing them. I always zero my personal and "good" torque wrenches at work. We have a few HF 1/2 wrenches we have left at 35, 45 ft lbs, never zeroed, checked against a flex beam type monthly, still accurate. I would be willing to bet they've seen 100k pulls on the handle as well.
A whole 'nother argument is zeroing them. I always zero my personal and "good" torque wrenches at work. We have a few HF 1/2 wrenches we have left at 35, 45 ft lbs, never zeroed, checked against a flex beam type monthly, still accurate. I would be willing to bet they've seen 100k pulls on the handle as well.
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wafrederick
Well-known member
I set mine to the lowest setting.I was told not to set it at zero by the Snap On dealer down the road in my area including my Matco tool dealer,does more damage.
ChrisStarks
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2011
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- 102
It would be silly of me to say that you should do what the manufacturer recommends, so I'll put my 2 cents in. I suggest turning it down, then throwing it against the wall as hard as you can before putting it back in its box.
Just another mans opinion.
Just another mans opinion.
Chubi_QC
Well-known member
Split beam are the answer.
I was always taught to wind them all the way off
Meaning there was then no compression of the spring at all and as such no chance of the spring collapsing over time and therefore requiring a higher number of turns to achieve the desired torque.
Now this was training from time served Aircraft Techs during my Air Force trade training. Maybe it was more a case of "always done it like that" but I have followed in their footsteps and mine are still accurate 10 years later to within 2lb ft of what the dial shows.
Meaning there was then no compression of the spring at all and as such no chance of the spring collapsing over time and therefore requiring a higher number of turns to achieve the desired torque.
Now this was training from time served Aircraft Techs during my Air Force trade training. Maybe it was more a case of "always done it like that" but I have followed in their footsteps and mine are still accurate 10 years later to within 2lb ft of what the dial shows.
granitestater
Well-known member
Everyone talks about the split beam torque wrenches being accurate and not having to be zeroed to store. But in my experience, unless you are able to look at the needle straight on, not on any sort of angle, you will not read it accurately. Thus your bolts will be tighter or looser than needed. A click type releases, period. I was taught that torque is relative, meaning all bolts must be the same. Not one head bolt, being 75 foot, pounds another being 95 etc... thus even a click that is off, will likely be off the same each time allowing all bolts in an assembly to be tightened the same even if that is up or down a few pounds from recommended torque. Flame away....
Rossco
Well-known member
The official CAT issue Torque wrenches needed to be stored at 25% output ..
It was official order for quality control and was backed up by a special instruction letter included with the wrench. .. Torque wrench models 1/2 Snap on & Proto 3/8.
It was official order for quality control and was backed up by a special instruction letter included with the wrench. .. Torque wrench models 1/2 Snap on & Proto 3/8.
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Kinda confused. You talk about being zeroed, and then talk about looking at the needle straight on. Split beams don't have needles you look at, they have a dial you set to the desired torque. You pull on them, and they make a Ping kinda sound and feel (not quite like a clicker), when they reach the set torque. Only needles you look at are either conventional beam type with exposed pointer and scale, or a round dial type.
If you put a clicker on a torque wrench tester, when it "breaks" it is very momentary, short travel of the handle, after which the tool become a solid wrench like a ratchet or breaker bar. I got a chance to "play" with a couple of clickers on the calibration equipment at work several years ago, and you have to have a slow steady pull and the moment you feel it start to break over, you stop. If I let it fully break over, I over torqued every time. I found this especially true of 1/4 drive inch pound clickers.
Screwing a micrometer type below the lowest setting on the scale MIGHT (depending on the brand and model) cause the mechanism inside to shift and come out of place, and it may or may not go back into place when you turn it back up to a torque setting. Older Proto clickers are especially subject to this problem, at least that is what the guy in the calibration and repair shop at work told me.
Charles
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PassnThru
Well-known member
I was always told to store them at their lowest setting. Both by friends and by the manufacturers instructions. Since that was the consensus I took it to heart.
Following up on the CDI instructions above, all of the following mfg. recommend setting the wrench to it's lowest scale setting (not zero):
Sturdevant Richmond http://www.srtorque.com/Downloads/Instructions/857046-F.pdf
Precision Instrument: http://www.torqwrench.com/Info/FAQ.php
Norbar: http://www.norbar.com/Portals/0/NTTS TorquePaper2a Nov08 NAB.pdf
Sturdevant Richmond http://www.srtorque.com/Downloads/Instructions/857046-F.pdf
Precision Instrument: http://www.torqwrench.com/Info/FAQ.php
Norbar: http://www.norbar.com/Portals/0/NTTS TorquePaper2a Nov08 NAB.pdf
Benji
Well-known member
I do what the manufacturer recommends I have cheap ones that say to turn it down to the lowest setting and a Snap On one that can be left on current setting.
granitestater
Well-known member
Sorry, I meant the beam type, they are the ones that are hard to read unless looking straight on. Charles (in GA) and stephen9666 thanks for setting me straight on that. It is the second type that stephen9666 posted a photo of that I was trying to describe.
Straightgrain
Well-known member
Good info, I always backed it up past 0.
rlitman
Well-known member
Actually, BOTH are "split beam" torque wrenches.
In the "Precision Instruments" model, the split is hidden within the box frame, and a rack at the end of the beam half without the handle, rotates a pinion, which moves the indicator on the dial. This is how my Snap On split beam wrench works.
In the second picture that you called "a beam type torque wrench", the split half of the beam contains the pointer, which is directly read off a scale attached to the beam half with the handle.
What makes this type of torque wrench different from clicker torque wrenches, is that half of the beam never experiences any spring pressure, and the other half is released every time you let go of the handle, so recalibration is not required, so long as it reads zero correctly.
TozziWelding
Well-known member
I disconnect the air hose