Got told I was using my torque wrench wrong on a Cummins job

An old mechanic at a shop in Salt Lake City saw me clicking my torque wrench past the setting and told me to always reset it to zero after use. I never thought about it before, but apparently leaving it under tension messes up the calibration over time. Anyone else had a torque wrench go bad from this?

3 comments

3 Comments

wood.eric29d ago

Totally man, I wrecked a cheap torque wrench leaving it set at 80 ft lbs for like a month. Came back and it was clicking way early, had to toss it.

kimmurphy29d ago

Yeah @wood.eric, that's more about leaving it loaded than the brand. Storing them with the tension released is the big thing. A $300 wrench will drift too if you leave it cranked down for weeks.

seth_singh2029d ago

Yeah you're spot on about the tension being the real killer. I actually did the same thing with a decent brand name wrench, left it cranked to 55 ft lbs for a couple months while I was working on a project that kept getting delayed. When I finally needed it again, I grabbed it to check a lug nut and it was clicking at like 40 ft lbs or something, totally off. I think even the good ones just can't hold that tension without drifting over time.