new torque wrench failing to click soon enough I think

ben-----

I used this budget Topeak torque wrench



for the nuts which attach the stem to the handlebars. Did them up to 6Nm (according to the Topeak wrench).

I've just got an M Part torque wrench ( http://www.tredz.co.uk/.M-Part-Torque-Wrench_45214.htm ) and tested it on the nuts I just described. While it's set to 2Nm the M Part wrench fails to click on those nuts, even though they're done up to 6 -- more now because the M Part started to tighten them more.

I know that Topeak one isn't going to be super accurate but surely it's not that out. I'm inclined to think there's something wrong with the M Part one. I'm going to try and return the M Part one to Tredz and get a full refund, including return postage hopefully. Or am I making a mistake do you think?

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Well I would trust the Park one more than the cheapo one, but no guarantee that its not faulty. To be honest I would rather trust my own ¨feel¨ and do stem bolts etc up by hand rather than using a torque wrench. The only time I ever use a torque wrench on a bike is to do up the main bolt on a BB30 chainset.

brettjmcc

Be careful, at very low settings you may hardly feel/hear the click on torque wrenches.

If you tighten it more is the click more positive? If it is then you just have to be ultra slow and listen/feel for the very very slight click

ben-----

> If you tighten it more is the click more positive?

I tried it on something else. It does click, just at a much stronger, higher value than 2Nm I reckon. Although I've only got this M Parts and Topeak ones to go from and I don't know what right, I don't have any previous experience.


After experiencing what I said in the above post I saw a couple of reviews on Amazon of the M Parts torque wrench which expressed distrust at lower Nm values.

My instinct is saying the Topeak one is more right in this case. The Topeak one is very visual, transparent, as it were. It may not be that accurate but at least it's obvious that it's kind of working. I'm not trusting the M Parts one at all. It's going back. I don't think it's much good.

bockers

I no longer trust click torque wrenches at levels below 20nm. Click seems almost impossible to detect especially as you are tightening the bolt so slowly. Deflection type would be better in these instances.

desweller

When we use torque wrenches at the factory they require recalibration at least every 6 months. So you can expect quite a bit of difference between two wrenches from two different manufacturers.

plowmar

This thing about hearing/feeling the click, isn't the point about the torque wrench is that once it reaches the setting then it stops tightening further ?

Therefore if it is still tightening theneither it or the previous wrench is faulty, oops returned to op
Would def. support use of deflection type; but being old school would tend to tighten less than critical bolts tight then see if there is any movement, if so give an extra small tighten until solid.

This does npt apply to more critical areas such as BB's and headsets, etc.

pippi_langsamer-2

Bin it and use the Force...

barrie h

DesWeller wrote:

When we use torque wrenches at the factory they require recalibration at least every 6 months. So you can expect quite a bit of difference between two wrenches from two different manufacturers.

The firm I used to work for had a man who`s full time job was to go round and test every torque wrench every week and log it on a computer and about 5% had to be adjusted
I took mine it to test and they where always out a little
I was taught when I was an apprentice always crack a torque wrench a few times before you use it to settle the spring

Barrie

dennisn

This post is really strange. You buy a torque wrench because you don't trust yourself tightening things up. Then you write in that you don't trust the torque wrench. Me thinks you're out of options.