Torque wrench setting

[onthemove]

I'm not a DIY expert by a long shot, but just bought a torque wrench for a few jobs I (maybe) have in mind.

It's one of these... https://www.silverlinetools.com/en-GB/P ... ame=962219

I've just taken it out of the box to check it's OK, but I've never used one before so, to be honest, I don't really know what OK looks like.

I figured as a minimum I should at least check I can set it through all settings on the scale.

I'm slightly surprised / a little concerned perhaps, at how much force it is taking to just set the torque on the scale. It's OK at the low torque end, but trying to set it to the 105Nm was barely achievable - in fact on first attempt I had to wind it back down the scale a couple of times, then back up to get it t just about reach the max setting. It took a lot of perspiration and a towel to dry my hands to be able to grip it tight enough to be able turn the adjustment. (I did double check I had unscrewed the locking screw)

So my DAK question ... Is it normal for it to take so much force just to set the torque setting?

I can't see any heads up in the instructions warning that it might be stiff to adjust, and google doesn't seem to throw up any such warnings either.

On the other hand I notice it has a hex nut on the handle that looks like you could use a spanner to rotate the adjuster barrel. Perhaps that's telling me something.

Thanks

[supremetwo]

I'm not a DIY expert by a long shot, but just bought a torque wrench for a few jobs I (maybe) have in mind.

It's one of these... https://www.silverlinetools.com/en-GB/P ... ame=962219

I've just taken it out of the box to check it's OK, but I've never used one before so, to be honest, I don't really know what OK looks like.

I figured as a minimum I should at least check I can set it through all settings on the scale.

I'm slightly surprised / a little concerned perhaps, at how much force it is taking to just set the torque on the scale. It's OK at the low torque end, but trying to set it to the 105Nm was barely achievable - in fact on first attempt I had to wind it back down the scale a couple of times, then back up to get it t just about reach the max setting. It took a lot of perspiration and a towel to dry my hands to be able to grip it tight enough to be able turn the adjustment. (I did double check I had unscrewed the locking screw)

So my DAK question ... Is it normal for it to take so much force just to set the torque setting?

I can't see any heads up in the instructions warning that it might be stiff to adjust, and google doesn't seem to throw up any such warnings either.

On the other hand I notice it has a hex nut on the handle that looks like you could use a spanner to rotate the adjuster barrel. Perhaps that's telling me something.

Thanks

105nm - 77.5 lb ft - a large torque and would be safe only for the largest size of fastenings that a 3/8 in drive socket is likely to be used for.

Check out typical torque values for the work you intend.

[Itsallaguess]

I'm slightly surprised / a little concerned perhaps, at how much force it is taking to just set the torque on the scale.

It's OK at the low torque end, but trying to set it to the 105Nm was barely achievable - in fact on first attempt I had to wind it back down the scale a couple of times, then back up to get it t just about reach the max setting. It took a lot of perspiration and a towel to dry my hands to be able to grip it tight enough to be able turn the adjustment. (I did double check I had unscrewed the locking screw)

So my DAK question ... Is it normal for it to take so much force just to set the torque setting?

I'm not a torque-wrench expert either, but I don't think it should be that hard to set at the upper range.

Interestingly, if we use Google to search for the phrases "Torque Wrench", "Easy to set", and "Full Scale", then there are many, many results returned, which seems to suggest that you might either be trying to set it wrong (perhaps not releasing any appropriate 'locking mechanism' fully?), or that you might have a faulty wrench -

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp ... l+scale%22

If it's still within the period where you might return it, and to try to dampen your concern, I'd take it into a local garage and ask one of the mechanics there - they'll be able to tell you straight away and I'm sure they'll be happy to help you out.

As an aside, just in case it's not clear in the manual, torque wrenches are supposed to be stored in the 'wound right back' state, on their lowest setting (but not below it..), so make sure you take note of that if this is going to be a tool that's quite infrequently used.

Of course we'd be interested to hear how you get on if you get a chance to show it to a local car-mechanic.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Itsallaguess]

It's one of these... https://www.silverlinetools.com/en-GB/P ... ame=962219

I notice it has a hex nut on the handle that looks like you could use a spanner to rotate the adjuster barrel. Perhaps that's telling me something.

Having just taken a quick look at the PDF manual via the Silverline link above, there is nothing at all about the hex-nut, which I think will be used to access the inner-workings of the wrench for repair or maintenance processes, so that's something I'd avoid completely to be honest.

The manual does, however, say this -

Before Use

Torque setting

1. Hold the wrench with the appropriate scale facing you, and unlock the handle by rotating the knurled
locking screw anti-clockwise

You've said that you've unscrewed that, before trying to set the wrench, so if that process has been done correctly and you're still struggling to set it, then it does suggest that a quick look by a local mechanic might give you a better insight into what's happening at the upper end of the range.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[doug2500]

It doesn't sound right to me but I would also point out that it is not an expensive wrench and maybe that's the trade off?

It's worth looking into at least. Why don't you pop down to where you bought it or halfords etc and compare.

[scottnsilky]

I used to have a torque wrench when I worked in the motor trade, now stolen unfortunately so can't try it, but I remember the adjustment right up to maximum was an easy finger twirling job. Of course, different makes will vary.
It doesn't sound right to me, but it might just be the newness!

dp

[moorfield]

105nm sounds quite a lot. I've only ever used a torque wrench upto 40nm doing bike stuff.

[bionichamster]

I have a couple of these type of torque wrenches ( probably all made in same Chinese factory). They both get progressively tighter as you approach the top of the scale, I guess it depends on your wrist strength hw difficult that is. If the knurled nut at the end under handle is not fully loosened off then the grip may not get to the top of the scale but will get some of the way.

Another possibility is that perhaps you aren’t reading the scale properly and have reached the end. Hard to explain but on my smaller wrench there isn’t room for all the numbers to be sat next to the marker lines so they extend beyond the range and the marker lines extend up to each number. The result of this is that when at the maximum setting you can still see several numbers further up. it might at a glance look like there is further to travel, but there isn’t.
Bh

[onthemove]

Thanks for all the replies

Here's a follow up for anyone interested...

In answer to where bought from - Amazon.co.uk - so not possible to just go back and compare.

As to why I might need the higher torques, well, in part I just want to make sure my purchase does what it's supposed to do, but that said, my car road wheel bolts are 100Nm according to Haynes . And changing the wheels is probably just about within my DIY skills should the need arise.

The main thing I had in mind when purchasing it was changing the spark plugs on my car (25Nm according to Haynes) at some point in the future. The garage was supposed to have done them at the last service, but the power is still a little less than I'd anticipated when I bought the car (I'd had a similar size engine before in a previous car, and I don't remember it struggling quite so much on the moderate inclines), so I'm not completely convinced the garage bothered to do them (as part of a major service, which supposedly included a spark plug change). Spark plugs are cheap enough, and the Haynes manual says it's only a 2 spanner difficulty, so I'm just prepping for doing it myself at some future point.

Admittedly most other uses I might have are likely to be around 40Nm or less as well, so not needing the higher range.

Anyway, I digress...

After posting I also realised I could try the 'ask an owner' on Amazon - interestingly over half the responses were from owners who've never used theirs, but there were also a couple of more positive responses from owners and they didn't feel their's exhibited quite the same characteristics.

I also took the advice on this thread to ask someone more experienced, so I took it in to work and asked a collegue who'd used such things in the past - and he couldn't set it to the higher settings either. He agreed it seemed to be faulty - or not fit for purpose if you can't set the range you're supposed to have.

So I arranged for Amazon to replace...

Today the replacement arrived and.... drum roll...

It's better, definitely. Not great - certainly not as easy as simply twiddling a dial, but at least now possible to set all the values by hand. Not easy, but do-able. This I can accept is probably the trade off for a cheap unit with quite a wide range of torques. I now understand a little better how they work, and basically as you turn the handle, it compresses a spring, so with such a range, it's probably not unexpected for some additional force at the higher settings, and for a cheap one, I guess I shouldn't expect sleek, smooth operation.

And finally (or not)...
I made, with hindsight, the big mistake of choosing Doddle to send the faulty one back

I didn't realise that they don't give you a receipt when you hand over the item. And guess what ... I handed it over to the Doddle desk in the shop on Monday, and < tumble weed > my Amazon account is still not showing any record that the Doddle collection/return point have even accepted it, let alone it getting anywhere near Amazon . I've now got to take it on complete faith, with fingers crossed, that Amazon will receive the returned unit, otherwise I'm going to be charged twice. I definitely won't make this mistake again.

[onthemove]

Wierd, just tried to edit my post - seemed to allow me at first, but then now seems blocked. Oh well.

Was just going to add a foot note on Doddle - I just installed a QR reader on my phone which has just managed to decode Amazon's return QR code.

Thankfully it had the tracking number in it which I put it into Doddle's website, and all is recognised, item recorded as handed over and in transit to Amazon.

< phew >

[Tempi]

Wierd, just tried to edit my post - seemed to allow me at first, but then now seems blocked. Oh well.

The L F has a limited editing time for posts, to stop financial information being edited in the future, should anyone be relying on the information....