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Torque Wrench Calibration


monkie

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I always pay attention to torque figures in the manual when working on my 110, however to be totally honest I do not wind my torque wrenches back to 0 nor hang them up after use. I have two torque wrenches that I use regularly, both from Halfords and were supplied in a nice tube with a calibration certificate.

  • Am I compromising the accuracy by not winding them back to 0 and hanging them up after use?
  • Should I get them calibrated periodically?
  • If yes to the above, any recommendations for where to calibrate them?

 

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Never had my Norbar torque wrench calibration checked, but I always wind it back to 0 after use to ease the load on the internal springs/mechanism, its normal standard practice on troque wrenches at work too. [aircraft engineering] & the torque gets checked on a analyser before using on the aircraft task.

 

just found this 10 point info on Norbar's website

 https://www.norbar.com/en-gb/News-Events/Blog/entryid/449/the-ten-things-you-should-know-about-your-torque-wrench

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Thanks for that link. Some interesting points there. I think from now on I will do the wise thing and wind the dial back to zero after use. I wonder how many people have followed point number 10...? I haven't in the past. It's obvious though now it's been pointed out.

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I calibrate Torque wrenches for a living, and yes you do need to wind them back or the spring will go flat.. BUT If I were you I'd shell out and buy a Stahlwille, they work in a completely different way and do NOT need to be wound back, furthermore the quality is so good you'll have the same wrench the rest of your days.

With regards to calibration frequency, about every 5 years should do it on a stahlwille at a DIY shed, then you'll always be able to trust your settings, no use in using a torque wrench if it isn't telling the truth :D 

Edited by Soren Frimodt
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We  use Caltech,  calteccalibration.co.uk for all  our tools.

The engineer turns up in a van and does everything from torque wrenches  to  tyre gauges, takes him a good few hours.

I  have 3 Britool's and one Snap-on torque wrench, all over 30 years old, none have  ever had more than very minimal correction and  they're used  every  day.

Tbh it's not worth the cost unless you use it daily in a professional capacity.

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Should always be wound back to zero after use on the spring type. None of mine have had enough use for me to think about having them calibrated... but when it's time (or for the Norbar one I've been given) I'll take them into work as we have an inspection group who do all the calibration of our micrometers/torque wrenches/calipers etc. 

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Right, from all of your responses I think the best thing to do is to get them calibrated because I've not been storing them correctly then I'm going to do things properly and wind them back after each use and hang them up.

Thank you for all the input.

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I have used the old bendy bar type and it's difficult to actually get the torque to want bit I guess it depends what accuracy you need. 

In terms of keeping calibration it' a metal bar and a needle so excessive head or physical damage, dents, scratches, rust etc will alter it.

I wind my spring ones back as I don' use them very often. I don't get them calibrated. If you feel you should I would go for every couple of years or if you know they've sustained damage, knocks, extremes of temperature, exposure to moisture etc. If you have a few you can get a gauge to check them to which you can keep in a safe place and check from time to time then get that calibrated and reduce your calibration costs. 

I get various things at work calibrated and costs can be from tens of pounds per item to more. 

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1 hour ago, dailysleaze said:

What scale of magnitude reduction in accuracy do you all see over time? 1%, 10%?

I don't ever see any linear form of deviation, and they might as well rise as fall in torque value. Usually when abused they tend to be too high in the lower setttings and too low in the higher. Many do the mistake of using it for those last 90Degrees on the stretchy bolts. They just don't like that

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