Craftsman Torque Wrench rebuild/recalibration

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J

jarvitron

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Well, my Craftsman torque wrench has stopped reliably tightening fasteners to pre-determined tightness. A tap on the head and a spritz of penetration oil got the pawls engaging again but there is nothing about the performance of the torque-setting part that separates it from using a breaker bar at this point, there's no setting low enough to get it to click on a bolt in my vise.

The Craftsman warranty is up, and while they talk about recalibration on their site, there's no information about it, and a phone call to their support number yielded no real guarantees. "I think we do that, let me find out if there's a place to ship it and uhhhh call you back" isn't exactly confindence inspiring. Now, I could take the thing apart myself and clean it up and lube it, but lacking any kind of calibration equipment it'd still be guesswork and I'd probably end up screwing up my head gaskets before I even get around the block. Anybody ever had a torque wrench restored? Who did it local/internet business? I think for this particular project I'm going to buy a new wrench but if I can get mine restored I'll go for a pointer style one in the short term, if not maybe I'll just go splash for a new nice one (and some fuggin' mothballs and WD for my tool chest drawers).

Any advice appreciated, thanks!
 
I would guess if it doesn't click at ALL at any setting, it's probably screwed up enough that it's probably not worth the cost.

I have NO use for Sears anymore, and in fact, may never buy anything there again

Remember, though, Sears did not built your wrench. If you could discover who actually did, you might have better luck.

At this point I"d be tempted to take it apart and have a look. Remember, a torque wrench simply measures "torque," which is the product of the length of a lever with so much weight (mass)

In other words, a 1 ft long lever with a 30 lb weight is 30 ft-lbs.
 
Yeah, Craftsman's support used to be great, back when you could just walk up to the counter and throw the stupid thing down, this tag team Lithuanian phone support routine is laaame. If nothing else will probably try to rebuild it myself but I have low expectations. Maybe I can find a place locally that has a calibration machine or I'll just do a maths-n-weights calibration on it when I'm done.
 
Lost my faith in craftsman tools when they quit making them in america but couldnt afford snap on so I went with Kobalt still not made in America but less run around with warranty issues.
 
64drtGt said:
Lost my faith in craftsman tools when they quit making them in america but couldnt afford snap on so I went with Kobalt still not made in America but less run around with warranty issues.
Click to expand...

I ruled out "Snap-on" when It took a year to get my ratchet fixed. I couldn't get anybody to respond to my phone calls and when I finally tracked down a Snap-on truck the guy was very reluctant to help me cause he said I didn't buy the ratchet from him. I still reluctantly use Craftsman but not their electric tools.
 
$94 for a lifetime warranty is pretty alright, but I think after reading this GarageJournal HF tools thread I'm gonna pop for a $25 one and a spare and like... throw it away when it stops working right.
 
Here goes...
Look up TeamTorque, only one I've come across lately.
about $50 just to clean, lube and calibrate. Any actual repairs extra...
So what Is your wrench worth!
Is it a Micro-Tork? I'd dis-assemble the head myself, clean and re-assemble.
Digi-Tork? I'd still do that before sending out for calibration.
Here's what I've seen on these.
Back the setting down below the scale.
You have a pin just below the head of the wrench, held with a tiny circlip.
Remove it and the head will come off.
Below that is a tiny piece of bar stock...A chip if you will...
It is probably dislodged, rendering you "clickless".
It will be somewhat self explanatory here, as there is a slight depression or groove it needs to sit in.
(Just for reference, IIRC, there ar only two more pieces that can fall out.
the little disc or plate with said depression and the spring).
Relocate the chip and re-assemble and see if you haven't cured it.
You've done nothing to change the calibration (that's done at the other end).
What happens is somebody backs the setting well below scale and that piece get dislodged.
Reason I say have at it is those wrenches aren't much more new than possible repair costs, and you can check calibration against known "good" wrenches afterward...
 
Yep, that's what it looks like, pin under the head. I am gonna pull it apart and see if its fixable (after I hit the ChinaMart and get my car back on the road).

Thanks for all the replies, this forum is basically the best.
 
Baxter61 said:
you could try these guys:http://www.transcat.com/calibration-services/lab-portland.aspx

Ive never used them, just did a quick search. also, if you just need to torque a couple things I could bring by my s&m while you give it a few clicks to get through your project.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer! I live out in BFE and I have other folks I can borrow tools from if it comes to that (I can probably catch circle track guy across the street, it's easy to tell when he's in there, just wait for the dog-maddening sound of open headers at WOT). Again, this forum rules.
 
I'm a little late to the table on this one but I haven't been logged in for a while. I also have the Craftsman torque wrenches and use them on my bike as well so calibration was a concern. I am lucky enough to have a friend at a GE aircraft engine shop so she was able to take mine in when they were new to be checked at their in house lab. If you know any local manufacturers find out what they use as far as tools and service. They can be a great review source. I also back my wrenches down to the lowest setting after each use to preserve the calibration/internals. Good Luck.
 
I have a local company that repairs/calibrates all my non Mac Tools torque wrenches. They charge $50+ for calibration and add for repairs. You will need to decide whether the wrench is worth a $75+ repair. Let me know if I can help. toolmanmike
 
I should check with small tool repair in the plant here & see if they could check mine.
 
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