Torque wrenches enable engineering marvels. In automotive assembly, they allow for screws, nuts, and bolts to be tightened to exactly the right specifications to hold for several thousands of miles of driving—without being so tight that they damage the fastener or become hard to remove. In commercial refrigeration repair, they tighten valves to the tightness needed to hold pressurized gas while avoiding over-torquing that could damage threads and let gas escape. Indeed, the torque wrench was invented by a municipal water worker who was looking to ensure that flanges were tightened consistently in order to prevent leaks.
However, a torque wrench is only as good as its accuracy, and after about a year, or 5,000 cycles, it will need to be recalibrated to ensure that it is still reliable. Where to get a torque wrench calibrated is an ongoing question for most assembly lines, manufacturing shops, and factories. They have a lot of torque tools and since the reliability of their products and their reputations depend on their torque tools, accuracy is a must. A lot depends on where you get your torque wrenches calibrated and you need to be sure that you choose the best option for your business.
What is Torque Wrench Calibration?
Calibration is the comparison of the value of a device under testing versus a standard of known accuracy. In torque wrenches, the value tested is torque. The measure of radial force exerted by the torque wrench is measured and compared to its set torque value to ensure that it is actually within the torque wrench accuracy ranges allowed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In general, ISO allows 4% to 6% above or below the torque indicated by a torque wrench’s setting in testing, but anything outside of those boundaries is considered out of compliance. Assessing whether a torque tool is out of calibration requires torque analyzers and sensors.
With this equipment, it is possible to routinely check your torque wrenches against their specified values. Returning your torque wrenches back to compliance requires specialized calibration equipment. In some industrial environments, purchasing the needed equipment and planning your torque tool calibration procedure is enough to set a high standard of quality. For a medical device manufacturer that produces and rents spine surgery kits, these kits include torque wrenches, torque screwdrivers, and screws of various dimension. The kits are returned after each surgery to the service center for routine torque checks and in-house calibration.
In other industries, routine torque calibration is normal, expected, and must be conducted in strict accordance with ISO standards. This means more than just having the appropriate calibration equipment and understanding how to use it; it also means employing a technician or engineer who specializes in torque, called a metrologist, and certification from a recognized body that your company’s in-house calibration lab meets the relevant ISO standards. Unless your company is a large multinational manufacturing facility, setting up a fully capable calibration lab in-house may just not be economical. Fortunately, there are third-party labs that specialize in calibrating torque tools and one of these is likely to be the best answer to the question of where to get a torque wrench calibrated.
Where to Get a Torque Wrench Calibrated
For many companies, the best place to get a torque wrench calibrated is at a third-party calibration lab. The issue is that not every company meets every ISO standard for torque tools. Complicating the matter further, some calibration laboratories are limited in the types of torque tools they work with and the amount of torque they can test. It’s possible they won’t have equipment capable of measuring very high torque values.
Contracting with calibration labs that cannot calibrate all types of torque wrenches and tools complicates your torque calibration plans. You may need to make arrangements to ship different torque tools to different places with different lead times and different turn-around times. Having torque tools on different calibration schedules can easily lead to oversights that leave you without specific types of torque wrenches when they are needed.
The best place to get a torque wrench calibrated is at a torque calibration laboratory that is capable of handling any type of torque tool, even torque multipliers, with up to 35,000 pound-feet (lb.ft) capacities and torque transducers that can measure up to 20,000 lb.ft. of torque. If they are familiar enough with the torque wrenches and tools you use that they can repair them and calibrate them, then they are a torque calibration laboratory that can serve all of your needs.
This type of full-service torque calibration and repairs is relatively rare but some torque tool manufacturers not only offer torque tools but meet ISO 6789:2003 standards for purchase and are also ISO 9001 registered and ISO 17025 accredited. These torque tool makers are not only the best places to buy your torque wrenches but are also where you should go to get a torque wrench calibrated.
Mountz, Inc. not only makes precision torque wrenches but we also provide torque wrench calibration services. We offer calibration service for all Mountz tools with the Mountz Preferred Service Program offering fast servicing with no additional costs. To see our full range of products, shop our store. Contact us anytime to ask a question. To inquire about price, request a quote. If you’d like to see our equipment in person, schedule an appointment.
