Digital torque wrench recommendation?

[ZStig]

I tried using a mechanical click wrench to tighten a spark plug, from harbor freight, and I was NOT happy when it didn't click when it should have

anyway, whats a good digital wrench?

http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Line-BLD...421959&sr=1-13

?

[inTgr8r]

FWIW, Digital torque wrenches still work on the same principle.
The accuracy is in the wrench itself.

[ZStig]

I understand, I'd still like the safety net of watching the torque rise as I'm building it up. I don't trust mechanical gauges anymore

[daveysew]

I'd imagine the snap-on ones are quite good, but I believe they cost a bit over $500... Pay to play as the saying goes.

[santov]

I bought the $200 3/4 inch drive Crafstman model at Sears. It was father's day sale and I had a coupon plus a gift cert.

It appears to be stupid accurate compared to my old mechanical one. I like the digital one so you can see torque values as you build and when you're done it blinks the last torque value for a few seconds. I don't like it since it eats batteries, even when off. I keep the 2 AA in it's case. And the battery cover is made of cheap plastic. Even when putting in new batteries I only get 2 bars out of 3. Being electronic the warranty was only one year.

I wish I had dropped the money on a mechanical one and just got use to the clicks. Spark plugs or other delicate work should be done with the smaller wrenches (I still have and use my mechanical torque wrench for those situations) so you don't have so much leverage over the part.

But for torquing lug nuts it's nice to have the beep and last value. Also, having the wrench instantly flip from inch lbs > foot lbs > NM is nice.

Hope this helps.

[Pheonix]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

I understand, I'd still like the safety net of watching the torque rise as I'm building it up. I don't trust mechanical gauges anymore

I work as a Manufacturing Engineer for one of the world largest Jet Engines maker and you won't find a single digital torque wrench on the Production Floor. Just invest in the more well known brands and you will be fined. Also, always remember to turn the torque setting back to ZERO once you done.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Pheonix

I work as a Manufacturing Engineer for one of the world largest Jet Engines maker and you won't find a single digital torque wrench on the Production Floor. Just invest in the more well known brands and you will be fined. Also, always remember to turn the torque setting back to ZERO once you done.

Can you elaborate a bit more on why?

[jdl1pt]

This is one I've been thinking about buying, or ask for as a gift.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

It's pretty cool as it attaches to the wrench. Sounds a bit iffy at first, but it gets great reviews, and some very good reviews at that. Here is one where the guy has tested it out extensively.

I bought this as it came up in the "Other customers looked at" section of the torque adapters that I purchased for getting at bolts that can't be reached with the socket on the torque wrench.

History:
First off a little back ground I am in the military and one of my jobs is to test torque wrench and calibrate them. So I have access to a CDI torque tester, and work with torque wrenches as part of my job.

Reasoning:
I saw this thing and thought eh for 50 dollars how good could it be. Then I read all the reviews and people kept saying how accurate it was since they compared it to a wrench they had at home, some were new others were not. I decided eh why not buy it and see just how accurate it is. If it works then I can have a tester at home and not need to bring in all my wrenches to check from time to time. If it doesn't amazon's return policy for defective items is very good.


First impressions:
When I got the unit it is much smaller than I was expecting. It does have a very nice blow molded case and adapter to put into a vise so it can be used to check your torque wrenches. Instructions are a little vague for example it doesn't tell you the difference between peak and trace settings. Which is one holds the peak torque value the other varies as torque is applied. Obviously you want to use the peak setting for checking the calibrations of the wrench, while using trace if you are using it as the torquing device. Also I didn't see it listed on Amazon's site but the range of the unit is 29.5lb-ft to 147.6lb-ft with an stated accuracy of +/- 2%

Test:
Well I took it to work and checked it on the lab tester and it is very accurate (at least the one I received). For the whole range it was about +/- 0.5 max, off of what the lab tester measured in most cases it was less. This was also true for counter clockwise direction, which is great news for Dodge guys that have left hand fasteners. Really the accuracy is better than the +/- 2% that AllTrade states. Also it is accurate below the 29.5lb-ft, when I tested it the unit started registering at about 3.4lb-ft and it was again with +/-0.2 of the lab tester, this is true of the high end I took the unit to an even 150lb-ft and it was on still. For standard testing though we only test the max of the wrench, 60% of range, and 20% of range. I did this and found that the bottom 20% of the max happens to be the 29.5lb-ft that the unit is rated at. So AllTrade is following standards when making this product.

Catch:
I have only one thing to say about the unit, with it's usable range it really can't correctly calibrate a torque wrench. As I stated above to calibrate a torque wrench you have to check it at three points the Max, 60%, and 20%. Reason is springs are not a linear acting object. As you stretch or compress them the amount of force varies. So I have seen wrenches be good at max but fail in the mid 60% but be ok at the bottom range. All of my wrenches fall out of the range of the unit at some point. If it is my large 1/2 then it goes to 250lb-ft, if it is my smaller 3/8 it goes too low as it's bottom usable is 16lb-ft.

Still:
This though however is no reason to take anything away from this unit. For the home mechanic the ability to check at the mid range of a wrench is more than enough for the job since in the case of automobiles the torque values given are usually over a range. If one was worried they could set the unit for the exact torque then check their wrench for accuracy, but then you might as well just use the unit and torque the bolt. Unless you can't get the unit on with a breaker bar because the location of the bolt is too tight.

Conclusion:
If you do not have a torque wrench simply by this and use it as it will be more than enough for the job. It will save you a ton of money and do 90% of the torque values you would need. If you already have a lot of torque wrenches then buy this to check them. I am very impressed with this unit and it will come in very handy for checking my wrenches at home, and for taking to a friend's garage instead of taking all my wrenches I only need to bring this one item. See the pictures I have uploaded showing the readings on the unit vs the lab tester.

[BookerM3]

These units are sold in Canada at Canadian tire, I bought the 3/8 and 1/2
units on sale a $39.99 and they work great to check you torque wrench
settings when doing something critical. As for using them as a Torque wrench
I found the units wobbly and prefer the click that you can hear and feel with
a conventional Torque Wrench.

I don't have the experience of the previous poster, however; I have both low
cost and Snap on Torque wrenches and found there accuracy in the middle
of the range of both be spot on, the cheaper units seem to have more error
at the top and bottom of their ranges. This said you need to calibrate your
torque wrenches regularly and this ends up costing more than buying a new
cheap unit which is already calibrated.

[CFoote]

I believe it has to do with the coils/springs inside the wrench that can become stretched if left for a long period of time. I too was always told to reset your wrench back to 0 when putting it away.

FYI, I agree with the others, a good mechanical wrench will do fine, just buy from a reputable brand and you'll be good (Harbor Freight is good for some stuff but not sensitive tools like torque wrenches).

Chris

[JCz04Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

I tried using a mechanical click wrench to tighten a spark plug, from harbor freight, and I was NOT happy when it didn't click when it should have

Want to buy my BrownLine wrench for $75 shipped?

It works perfectly and is in fine condition. I just don't like the audible alert approach to getting to the proper torque spec. Personal preference, I guess. And when you're track side it's super loud and sometimes you can't hear it. For the garage, though, it's great. Arguably the best bang for your buck out there.

And my understanding is that this wrench uses gears instead of springs and therefore will remain accurate for a longer period of time.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Can you elaborate a bit more on why?

There are internal springs.
You back it off to zero to take the tension off & keep it calibrated longer.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

There are internal springs.
You back it off to zero to take the tension off & keep it calibrated longer.

Thanks!

John, thanks for posting that product. I'm going to order one. I have some calibration to do.

[BTM]

Why complicate things?

[BTM]

FWIW, just read this on wikipedia:

"For the click type, when not in use, the force acting on the spring should be removed by setting the scale to 20% of full scale in order to maintain the spring's strength. Never set a micrometer style torque wrench to zero as the internal mechanism requires a small amount of tension in order to prevent tool failure due to unwarranted tip block rotation. If a micrometer tool has been stored with the setting above 20% the tool should be set to 50% of full scale and exercised at least FIVE times before being used. In the case of the beam type, there is no strain on the component that provides the reference force except when it is in use, therefore, accuracy is inherent."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_wrench

[beta]

I really love my click wrench, I have a split beam click wrench from precision instruments. A little more pricey but worth it to avoid the situation you found yourself in. Oh and these you don't have to reset because nothing is under tension.

http://www.torqwrench.com/

[The HACK]

I have 3 torque wrenches (I may have mentioned this before). A 1/2" drive that reads from 20 ft-lbs to 250 ft-lbs, a 3/8" drive that reads from 18 ft-lbs to 120 ft-lbs, and a 3/8" drive "shorty" that reads in inch-lbs up to the equivalent of about 30 ft-lbs. Anything requiring PRECISE torque reading that's less than 25 ft-lbs I use the shorty "micro" torque wrench.

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by The HACK

I have 3 torque wrenches (I may have mentioned this before). A 1/2" drive that reads from 20 ft-lbs to 250 ft-lbs, a 3/8" drive that reads from 18 ft-lbs to 120 ft-lbs, and a 3/8" drive "shorty" that reads in inch-lbs up to the equivalent of about 30 ft-lbs. Anything requiring PRECISE torque reading that's less than 25 ft-lbs I use the shorty "micro" torque wrench.

Perfect plug wrench.

[imom]

For Roffle and Finn, I recommend this type of torque wrench. I've been meaning to get one for myself...I may have to in the near future since my warranty ran out.

http://www.amazon.com/Precision-Inst.../dp/B002XMSFIM

These type of slide torque wrench do not required you to set it back to zero to use it. Craftsmen and harbor freight and such will do the job, but if you want nice tools, you can check out this forum.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4

These are tool heads... I learned that snap on is not the only top brand you can buy from. I try to get either American, German, or Japanese made tools. Some times Taiwan made tools are okay too. I bought a lot of Koken tools as example. I heard some good things about Precision and for $100 to $200, it's not bad. If not, you can get Armstrong or Proto torque wrenches...they should last you a long time.

I'm not so hot on digital torque wrenches... It requires a battery...how often are you going to use your torque wrench?

[imom]

Originally Posted by jdl1pt

This is one I've been thinking about buying, or ask for as a gift.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Interesting...didn't see this one...have to research this one. Thanks for the link.

[Serious]

I have the snap on digital one. To be honest I hate it. It constantly eats batteries which is irritating when you just want to torque 20 lugbolts and go drive the car.

[crfine88]

Not a fan of digital.
IMHO you should put your money into good mechanical torque wrenches. I trust and invested in Snap-on torque wrenches.
Hard to swallow the price, but they have not let me down. Not the only good wrench out there though.