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Unpopular opinion: torque wrenches don't need to be recalibrated every year
I worked on DC-9s back in the 90s at a small shop in Fort Wayne, and we used the same Snap-on torque wrench for like 8 years without sending it out once. Never had a fastener come loose or a complaint. Now guys are sending theirs in every 12 months and complaining about the $80 fee. Has anyone else actually seen a torque wrench drift off spec from normal use, or is this just the mechanics of our shop making easy money?
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rubybarnes4mo ago
On that DC-9, were you torquing critical flight control stuff or just sheet metal and brackets? Because I could see a beam-style holding up fine for basic work, but click-types on engine mounts or landing gear might tell a different story after a few hard cycles. Those old Snap-ons were built different though, so maybe that's the real variable here.
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john_sullivan24mo ago
Yeah, I gotta push back a little here @rubybarnes. I mean, if you're doing engine mount bolts or landing gear pins on a transport category bird, you're usually working off a torque chart with a special adapter setup anyway. The beam style might get you close, but without a recent calibration cert on that old Snap-on, I wouldn't bet the airplane on it. How often did you guys actually have those beams recertified compared to the click types?
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