Torque wrench care/calibration

Hey, just was wondering what everyone does to care for their torque wrenches and how often and where do you get it's calibration checked?

I have a Craftsman lbft torque wrench that I have had calibrated once in ten years I have owned it. I mainly use it to torque lug nuts when I rotate my tires. I have used it for the head bolt torque on my Jetta when I replaced the head on it.

Unless it is dropped or I used it more I don't see a need to have it done any more. I know in the Air Force ours were done every 180 days but they were used every day and most cases they got bumped or dropped often.

I used Team Torque in the past. Good prices for what they did at least from what I can find. Nothing close to me does calibrations far short of finding a SnapOn, MacTools van around.

I did a search on here thinking this was asked already but didn't find anything.

I always use extreme caution not to drop my torque wrench. I too have a craftsman ft lb torque wrench. After every time I use it I make sure to take the load off of it and bring it back down to to where it says "stop". I only use it once or twice a month and usually get it calibrated every few years through Sears. I'm so used to working on cars that most times I don't need a torque wrench

I have one, didn't know you needed to get them calibrated.

Yeah it's always good to get it calibrated every once and a while. If you drop it, it can mess up the calibration.

I have a Kobalt 50-250 ft lb torque wrench that I keep in my Commander year round. I've wondered if extreme temperature changes will affect it?

Mine is in my Commander year round. I don't think it effects it

The most important thing is to return the torque wrench to its lowest (or zero) setting.

Ive never had mine calibrated but its not a bad idea if your wrench is getting old or see's a lot of use.

I guess since we are not torquing anything major how it is stored is not so important. However the ones we used in the Air Force working on the Pratt & Whitney F100-220 jet engines they had to be calibrated every 180 days and stored in a climate controlled environment, basically like inside your house and not out in an un AC/heated garage, or Commander. LOL

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Originally Posted by Synthetic Advantage

I guess since we are not torquing anything major how it is stored is not so important. However the ones we used in the Air Force working on the Pratt & Whitney F100-220 jet engines they had to be calibrated every 180 days and stored in a climate controlled environment, basically like inside your house and not out in an un AC/heated garage, or Commander. LOL

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That holds true for most "non-critical" manufacturing plants that want to meet ISO quality assurance standards as well. In any industrial environment there are specifications for QA certifications..... lol most of our "garages" don't fall under such QA requirements.

It's funny Matt that you say QA requirements. I'm actually a QA Manager at a food processing facility and we do NUMEROUS Calibrations on different equipment/tools. Some are done daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. If you are running an automotive business, I think getting your torque wrench calibrated at least once per year (I'd do it every month) should be sufficient AND you should have the factory spec sheet from the torque wrench manufacture stating that the wrench was calibrated correctly before shipping to your business. Also, if you run an automotive business, you should keep ALL your calibration sheets on file because if one of your customers crashes, gets injured, and sues because of a lug nut fell off after leaving your shop, you have proof that you have taken measures to ensure the accuracy of your tools.

Sorry for the lenghty discussion