11
PSA: I've been stripping coax connectors for years and just found out my torque wrench was off
Had a bird come back with intermittent comms, traced it to a loose BNC. My old wrench was reading 25 inch-pounds but my buddy's digital gauge showed it was actually putting out 18. How often do you guys actually check your torque tools?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
hill.christopher2mo ago
That "torque wrench was off" thing hits home. I had a batch of SMA connectors last year that kept failing vibration tests. Drove me nuts until I checked my click-type wrench against a calibrator. It was barely clicking at 15 in-lbs when it should have been 20. Now I stick a torque analyzer on my go-to wrenches every quarter, just to sleep better at night.
4
thea_chen2mo ago
@hill.christopher What kind of torque analyzer do you use for that check?
3
henry7631mo ago
Man, that's smart to check them every quarter. But here's a thing I never see people talk about. The adapters and extensions you put on the wrench. If your analyzer checks the wrench head but you always use a 3 inch extension in the real job, you're not checking the whole system. That slop or flex in the extension changes the actual torque at the fastener. So your wrench might be perfect but the final output is still wrong.
7