Torque screwdriver !!!!!

[BruvDunk]

Anyone ever feel the need for one?
Or been required to purchase one for an inspection....

Is it a world gone mad or are they worth it.

 

[telectrix]

waste of good beer funds.

 

[Andy78]

I've never had one and not been asked if I have. Lots more to a good termination that torque alone.

If you are buying, my mate has a Wiha set and that seems good when I've used it. Have heard lots of bad reports of the Armeg ones for snapped bits under torque.

 

[BruvDunk]

Just curious as I've never needed one as feel becomes second nature after time.

Just wondered if anyone had been asked to produce one for any reason as I've heard them being mentioned by the ole house bashers for being part of Elecsa / NICEIC etc.

 

[telectrix]

wondering when niceic will offer a 1 day course @ £????? on how to use a torque driver.

 

[FatAlan]

I've never had one and not been asked if I have. Lots more to a good termination that torque alone.

If you are buying, my mate has a Wiha set and that seems good when I've used it. Have heard lots of bad reports of the Armeg ones for snapped bits under torque.

Must admit that I’ve bought an Armeg set. One CU installation and so far, one of the blades has broken already with hardly any use. Shame really as I’d like to buy British if I can...assuming these particular blades are made of Sheffield’s finest!

 

[telectrix]

more likely beijing;s finest.

 

[Flanders]

I have looked at them several time but the cost puts me off , We get inspected every year and never been ask to produce one or been ask about them. I Just tighten up the connection with the correct bladed screw driver its not hard.

 

[Deleted account]

Nic advised it. So I got one. Never use it.

Everytime I used to use it I checked after with normal screwdriver.
I've cut out the middle man.

 

[The Ghost]

The Armeg I bought lost the dial at the bottom and blades snapped. At the Elex show I spoke to the guy from Armeg and he suggested it was because we are all using the wrong size of blade! I said yes very likely I have only had forty years experience still working out how to use my battery drill! So to be fair they did send me a new handle with dial on anyway. Got the Wiha one much better for setting torques and so on. Never use them though, maybe sometimes...if someone is looking or I want to impress the young ladies.

 

[FatAlan]

I can never find the manufacturers instructions with the torque settings.

 

[Wilko]

I have a set (where's my tin hat?). I was surprised at the lack of torque suggested for clamping tails into isolators. For example, BG state 2.5 Nm for their isolators and 3.5 Nm for their RCDs. It turns out one Wilko Twist is about 4 Nm

 

[BruvDunk]

I have looked at them several time but the cost puts me off , We get inspected every year and never been ask to produce one or been ask about them. I Just tighten up the connection with the correct bladed screw driver its not hard.

No-one was saying it was hard! Just wondering if people have been asked to show them for inspections. After 30 odd years Ive never had any issues and played with all sorts of switching gear up to and including 33KV.

 

[Midwest]

I got a wiha torque screwdriver and spoke about at my assessments, that made the assessor forget the question he was about to ask me, so it has been worth the £100 I paid for it 4 years ago. Use that cunning plan every year

Needs calibrating, and has teeny weeny figures, which I can't read without a magnify glass & night sun torch.

 

[FatAlan]

The Armeg I bought lost the dial at the bottom and blades snapped. At the Elex show I spoke to the guy from Armeg and he suggested it was because we are all using the wrong size of blade! I said yes very likely I have only had forty years experience still working out how to use my battery drill! So to be fair they did send me a new handle with dial on anyway. Got the Wiha one much better for setting torques and so on. Never use them though, maybe sometimes...if someone is looking or I want to impress the young ladies.

I would counter Armeg’s argument that normally if you use the wrong size screw driver you either can’t get the torque to do the job, it doesn’t fit or it chews the head. The driver shouldn’t break.

 

[MJPD29]

I bought an armeg one out of impulse after saying they are pointless and I can now confirm that the are pointless rarely ever comes out of the van

 

[mhar]

I have a wera one. There interchangeable bit set works well on Hagar and SBS, slips on BG though when approaching the required torque but thinking about it most drivers slip on the BG screw heads

 

[davesparks]

I’ve got a torque screwdriver and two torque wrenches. All of them bought for doing various mechanical jobs on the landrover.
I’ve used a torque wrench for bolted connections in a panel board a couple of times, but never for small connections at a DB or CU.

There are times when correctly set specific torque is important, but not in the work most of us are doing on a daily basis.

My big objection to the use of torque screwdrivers is the lack of knowledge of how to use and look after them correctly.

 

[BruvDunk]

I’ve got a torque screwdriver and two torque wrenches. All of them bought for doing various mechanical jobs on the landrover.
I’ve used a torque wrench for bolted connections in a panel board a couple of times, but never for small connections at a DB or CU.

There are times when correctly set specific torque is important, but not in the work most of us are doing on a daily basis.

My big objection to the use of torque screwdrivers is the lack of knowledge of how to use and look after them correctly.

Nice... Only time I use my torque wrenches is on me Motorbike as I'm delving into mechanical territory

 

[FatAlan]

Just bunged an email to Armeg to see if they are aware of this thread. In general I love their kit, been using their wood beavers which are very effective for going through joists.

 

[Flanders]

No-one was saying it was hard! Just wondering if people have been asked to show them for inspections. After 30 odd years Ive never had any issues and played with all sorts of switching gear up to and including 33KV.

Sorry never ment to come across as a dig ☺I was having ago at the silly regulation
We are registured with NIC and its never come up during their inspections

 

[Midwest]

My big objection to the use of torque screwdrivers is the lack of knowledge of how to use and look after them correctly.

This is a learning place, so don't keep all yourself.

 

[rolyberkin]

I always use a torque driver, have an armeg and an wiha set, if the manufacturers of DB's state that a torque driver should be used then surely that is what we should do, I have wrecked many an armeg blade and the wiha one normally rips ---- out of terminal screws but hey ho!

 

[Andy78]

I always use a torque driver, have an armeg and an wiha set, if the manufacturers of DB's state that a torque driver should be used then surely that is what we should do, I have wrecked many an armeg blade and the wiha one normally rips **** out of terminal screws but hey ho!

Do any manufacturer's instructions state that a torque driver must be used ? I have seen lots that state recommended torque values but not how they are to be achieved.

 

[rolyberkin]

Yes they all say it, just read the blurb.

 

[rolyberkin]

Okay they don't say you are to use a torque driver but how else are you going to achieve it, being devil's advocate here we all bang on about how you mustn't mix manufacturers mcb's, what is the difference between torque settings and pick and mix mcb selection, is one worse than the other?

 

[Andy78]

Okay they don't say you are to use a torque driver but how else are you going to achieve it, being devil's advocate here we all bang on about how you mustn't mix manufacturers mcb's, what is the difference between torque settings and pick and mix mcb selection, is one worse than the other?

I'm sure I'm capable of tightening something up without a device to tell me I'm there. I have measured my usual connections against a torque driver many times and my wrist seems to be calibrated ok. I'll keep checking at regular intervals though.

Cards on the table, I'm not against torque drivers on principle, but I am against the way they are being advocated as the be all and end all of cable termination these days.
It seems that the use of torque drivers is being brought up regularly, but they are only any use if the basic techniques and skills of cable dressing, prepping, terminating and checking are adhered to. Try it yourself. A badly terminated cable is easily pulled out even if tightened with a torque driver.
It all seems a bit like non combustible consumer units to me, a method to try and patch over falling standards without addressing the system that is producing the hazards that necessitate these patches.

 

[sparkdog]

Don't think I could trust one to make sure the terminals were tight.

 

[ipf]

It all seems a bit like non combustible consumer units to me, a method to try and patch over falling standards without addressing the system that is producing the hazards that necessitate these patches.

…...and another money making method, jumping on the bandwagon of said 'falling standards'...…...of both quality of work and materials.

 

[FatAlan]

Perhaps someone should tell the colleges and training centres. All the screw heads and treads on their kit always seem stripped to bits.