Just realized I was mounting my monitor arms totally wrong for years

I always tightened the clamp as hard as humanly possible, until I saw my desk start to bow after about 6 months. A guy on YouTube pointed out that you're only supposed to snug it enough to hold, not crank it like a lug nut, has anyone else made this mistake with their desk setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

amymason3d ago

Yeah, "minor detail that probably doesn't make a huge difference" - that's what my buddy Mark told himself too. He had this whole standing desk setup with a triple monitor arm, and he tightened the clamp so hard the desk surface started cracking from the pressure after about 8 months. He didn't even notice until one day he bumped the arm and heard this weird splintering sound, then saw this hairline crack running from the clamp hole. He had to buy a whole new desktop because the damage was too deep to just cover up with a mat. So from what I saw, overtightening can absolutely mess up your desk if you're not careful.

jake_dixon3d ago

Are you sure you really need to crank it that hard though? Seems like a minor detail that probably doesn't make a huge difference in the long run.