One for Adam.

But ...

how often is the torque screwdriver calibrated?

Owain

A lot of decent electricians don't. But as time passes I guess more will feel obliged.

Probably never. However, a few years ago my wife had her car recalled to the dealer who had removed a wheel for brake disc replacement because the torque wrench used for tightening the wheel nuts failed its calibration check!

John

such devices have been on sale for a good few years

One of the items I have not got round to replacing after the van was robbed.

Really? Is that why you always need to go around sockets and retighten the screws after 6 months? Brian

The big problem is that screws and their threads can apparently increase to give the torque when they are just jammed and not actually tight on the wire. Have any of you ever taken a multiway socket bar to pieces and discovered the busbars aware only secured to the actual contacts by the plug when pushed in making them push harder against the bars?

Brian

Yes but the damage incurred due to a wheel falling off a car is a bit expensive to fix. In this case its likely just a fried socket.

Brian

You should not underestimate the tactile feedback when tightening a screw with a manual screwdriver. We never used to have all this fancy kit.

What about an indecent electrician? Brian

As neither decent nor an electrician, I was about to say that I have never used a torque screwdriver in my life. However, I did once dethread a screw and damaged a socket that had to be replaced by MK who had no stock in the UK and had to bring one in from Malaysia.

I think that's right. There is a moment before the screw starts to become easier to turn. That is the point to stop.

I wondered that too. I'm an indecent non-electrician.

As if all cars are supplied with torque wrenches to change the wheels. They just have ones with very short levers so he-men don't over tighten them. Maybe lady drivers should get longer ones.

Even for men, the extendible ones are very good - extend it to undo overtightened wheelnuts that the garage gorilla has put on and retract it again to re-tighten - saves jumping up and down on the supplied wrench, with the danger of slipping or the wrench popping off and injuring yourself.

it all depends on how the wheel was fitted. The Range Rovere came with quite a short wheeel wrench. Adding a pipe over the end to undo the nuts simply resulted in a bent wrench!

Who says you 'need' to do that?

Not just women drivers. I have had a hell of a job getting the wheel off with a flat tire because I let the place flogging tires replace the tire when it doesnt have enough tread left.

So I got an extending bar from aliexpress which makes things much easier.

It's safer to position the wrench appropriately and use the car jack to raise the far end. A quarter of a car weighs a lot more than I can exert in terms of force. In my younger days, I could lift a hundredweight, but very few cars weigh in at under 4cwt.

Garage air-powered wrenches left on maximum...

I waited just outside a tyre place while a puncture was repaired and observed three different fitters tightening the wheel nuts. First with a rattle gun and then with a torque wrench. And leaning on it long after it clicked. And then the next one just used it on a different make.

That will work with a scissor jack or a half-scissor version, but not if you have the type that has a single-sided arm that slots into a hole or bracket on the car and relies on that to prevent the arm from folding up.

It is also a lot slower - which may be a consideration if you are running late, in a dangerous location or causing an obstruction.