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Unread 26-01-2012, 09:55
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JamesCH95 JamesCH95 is offline
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AKA: JCH
FRC #0095 (The Grasshoppers)
Team Role: Engineer
 
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Re: Inexpensive torque wrench for power panel lugs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tsaksa View Post
Has anyone tried using the torque driver settings on an ordinary cordless drill for tightening some of these connections? Many teams already use a cordless drill with a 3/8 or 1/4 inch socket drive adapter for speedy assembly/dis-assembly work. This would not be as accurate as a real torque wrench, but if it worked it would be handy and low cost.
Decent idea in principal, terrible in execution in my experience. The clutch can't limit and torque from the kinetic energy of the chuck/bit/output shaft, so you'll wind up with different amounts of torque depending on how fast you run the drill. I.e. there is a larger torque resulting from running the drill in faster with the same clutch setting. It is also not calibrated to any known torque, so I think you'd need to verify the torque with a torque wrench anyway...
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