Bicycle Mechanics - New Digital Torque Wrench

http://www.amazon.com/Alltrade-940759-Powerbuilt-Digital-Adaptor/dp/B0031QPJZG


I just read about these Powerbuilts. I've been looking for a decent t-wrench for a couple of weeks. This toy might be better. Anybody got one?

They got a video as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EeQeH5YAcA

I work at an auto store, and we have these on the shelf. I do not recommend them.

I think I'll stick with my harbour freight ones. this one looks like too much to go astray while using it. plus you need a 1/2 drive ratchet (overkill for a bike) and this just add one more thing to try and balance while using the wrench.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41OKhseC0wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0031QPJZG/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi)

gear wrench branded torque wrenchs are made in usa and pretty cheap on ebay. standard micrometer click and electronic ones

It's impossible to beat the beam type for cost, accuracy and durabillity.

I guess I'll stick to the old school KISS wrench. Thanks for the educated advice.

I think I'll stick with my harbour freight ones. this one looks like too much to go astray while using it. plus you need a 1/2 drive ratchet (overkill for a bike) and this just add one more thing to try and balance while using the wrench.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41OKhseC0wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0031QPJZG/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi)

Plus 1 for this. I just got my harbour freight clicker, and it works like a charm.

For home use,beam or dial are the best.You can see if the calibration is off and compensate for it.With digital or clickers,you have no idea what you are doing unless you have it calibrated on a regular basis.

A reasonable 3/8 digital with 2% accuracy will cost about $200-$300.A real 3/8 digital with .5% accuracy will run about $1200-$1500.

Then if you really want to be accurite,you throw the torque wrenches in the trash and measure bolt stretch with sound waves.If you have to ask the cost,you don't need one.

Measuring by stretch eliminates the friction cause by using different lubes/loctite/antisieze and such that will give you different clamping forces with the same setting on the torque wrench.

I use a beam type at home on my bike when needed.Cheap,reliable,accurite enough for bicycles.

Strain gauge technology is well established and capable of good accuracy. All that is required is for the material under strain to be correctly dimensioned, and with modern manufacturing methods that's quite easy to accomplish. All things being equal i.e. manufacturing quality, this technology should surpass that of conventional torque wrenches.

When it comes to having to recalibrate, should that be an issue, (which I don't know), it can easily be done at home by putting the socket end of the device in a vice, attaching a handle and and hanging a known weight (any weight as long as you always use the same one) from the end of the handle. By comparing the readings over time, you can track any drift. You can't do that with a click type torque wrench....

For any measurement tool used in a HOME workshop I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that anything with a battery will be dead when I need it. Stick to the clicker or beam style so it works when you want it. My own preference is the clicker type since the beam style needs to be used where your eye is dead on over the needle or paralax will result in a mistaken reading. Also it's hard to use it in all cases if you need to use it on a vehicle other than a bicycle where moving your head around isn't a big deal.


For the same reason given here I only try to keep operational batteries in one of the two digital calipers I have. For the rest I choose to spend a couple of more bucks and get the dial calipers so I don't need to worry about what seems like a perpetually dead battery.

Yeah good point, although batteries also seem to be quite reliable these days, and microcontroller design has resulted in much longer battery life. The batteries used in speedometers last for up to 5 years, I have some older than that I've never changed.

Bike speedos is one thing but the batteries they use in those darn calipers just don't last. I install one, use it for an evening or two then put it away in the box. If I don't remove the battery and put it in the spot of the case then in 5 to 6 months its guaranteed to be dead.

What's the flaw in this design? Seems nifty to me.