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Is my torque wrench trash?

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My brother wanted to borrow my torque wrench. I told him to set it back down to 30 ft lbs when he was done. This was about 3 weeks ago. I find it today and it was set on 94 ft lbs and there is oil that appears to be leaking from the end of it. It was a clean job that he was working on.

Did leaving it set on 94 ft lbs for 3 weeks hurt it?

Where did the oil come from? Do torque wrenches have oil in them?

Here is the one I have http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00944597000P

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Most torque wrenchs must be set back to their lowest setting otherwise the tension devise inside the torque wrench will lose its ability to keep proper torque. It's doubtful that it is damaged but you could always have it recalibrated and have your brother pay for it. Around here they charge about $75.00 to recalibrate one and more if it needs any parts. I don't loan tools to anyone and especially any kind of precise tool as such.
 
I know some places require periodic (annually?) calibration of torque wrenches, or if dropped/potentially damaged, immediately.

I inherited a torque wrench awhile back, and not knowing it's condition, got my hands on two others. Tested all of them "back to back" on a few different torque settings, and all seemed to be within a couple of ft-lbs. One beam-type, the others the type you set to X ft-lbs.

I know neither of the clicker-types have been stored "properly" (never set to lowest setting).
 
i heard a nascar engine tech once say that clicker types aren't as good as the beam type. he said when a clicker type ''clicks'' it could put 3-4/possibly up to 5-6 lbs more torque on the bolt. and i see people w/ clickers,..clicking it 3-4 times...engine guru said that's bad mojo & he said he can be more precise w/ a pointer type tq wrench...thats how close of tolerances they maintane...now that's getting down into the nitty gritty...just thought i'd throw that out there.....oh yea always set wrench back to 0ft lbs before it gets stored away, same principle as leaving a magazine loaded for long periods of time, it will weaken the spring and not feed shells correctly b/c spring is weakened from being under compression for loong periods of time.
 
A click-type torque wrench isn't hydraulic, but the insides are usually lubricated. Are you sure the grease isn't from somewhere else?

I have old one that has been set to like 150 ft-lbs for the past 10 years and I've never seen any oil from it.
 
Torque wrenches, like all gauges are only accurate at the middle of their range. 150lb wrench works best at 75lbs, etc. That is why you see 150 mph speedo's on a car that can only go 90.

Click type wrenches should not be used on crucial engine parts other than when using them to torque in phases. Example would be a bolt that needs to be torqued to 90. Use the click type wrench for the 1st phase=30lbs, and 2nd phase=60lbs and then use a cheap beam type or an expensive dial to get to 90lbs. The beam and dial are most accurate. Click type are good for lugnuts and not much else.

That being said:
You can calibrate your click type wrench yourself. Put a socket on the end of a beam or dial type that corresponds to the drive of the other wrench and adjust the nut on the end of the click type until they match at the desired torque. Most machine shops that I have worked with always had a calibration unit handy and had no problem calibrating wrenches for customers. I would be suspect of a shop that didn't have one or couldn't provide details of when/ how they calibrate.
 
How is life in fairly tale land?

Martin
Click to expand...

What do you mean? I use a quality beam type on engine parts when the dial type is not available. They're half the price of a click type.
 
89yimmiJ said:
Torque wrenches, like all gauges are only accurate at the middle of their range. 150lb wrench works best at 75lbs, etc. That is why you see 150 mph speedo's on a car that can only go 90.

Click type wrenches should not be used on crucial engine parts other than when using them to torque in phases. Example would be a bolt that needs to be torqued to 90. Use the click type wrench for the 1st phase=30lbs, and 2nd phase=60lbs and then use a cheap beam type or an expensive dial to get to 90lbs. The beam and dial are most accurate. Click type are good for lugnuts and not much else.

That being said:
You can calibrate your click type wrench yourself. Put a socket on the end of a beam or dial type that corresponds to the drive of the other wrench and adjust the nut on the end of the click type until they match at the desired torque. Most machine shops that I have worked with always had a calibration unit handy and had no problem calibrating wrenches for customers. I would be suspect of a shop that didn't have one or couldn't provide details of when/ how they calibrate.
Click to expand...

Sh!t, no wonder I keep blowing engines, I used a clicker torque wrench.:D
 
oh yea always set wrench back to 0ft lbs before it gets stored away, same principle as leaving a magazine loaded for long periods of time, it will weaken the spring and not feed shells correctly b/c spring is weakened from being under compression for loong periods of time.
Click to expand...
That is incorrect. Steel springs lose their "springiness" due to the number of cycles they experience (called fatigue), NOT from being compressed and held for long periods. The exception to this is if the spring is stretched/compressed past its yield limit (which won't likely happen in a torque wrench or a gun magazine due to being physically constrained).

Your truck springs wear out from driving it around on bumps with loads...not from sitting in your driveway.

There may be other reasons for unloading torque wrenches and ammo, but they ahve nothing to do with wearing out the spring. In the case of a torque wrench, perhaps it's because you wouldn't want to induce a little bit of corrosion at the steel-to-steel contact point, thus forming a "dirty" spot in the middle of the torque curve.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 89yimmiJ
Click type wrenches should not be used on crucial engine parts other than when using them to torque in phases.


Quote:
How is life in fairly tale land?


89yimmiJ said:
What do you mean? I use a quality beam type on engine parts when the dial type is not available. They're half the price of a click type.
Click to expand...

I mean the statement you wrote that I quoted is pure stupidity, and you are living in fairly tale land if you think otherwise.

Martin
 
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