I have a couple of Sears Digitork torque wrenchs that don't seem to function correctly. When you shake one of them, you hear the internals rattlin' around and it doesn't seem to want to set the torque.



They also probably need calibrating. I have to take them to the Sears repair facility to get repaired/calibrated. Anyone ever have this done? I was wondering about the cost. One cost about $90 the other about $80 new. They are Craftsman but not warrantied for life (I used to work in the Sears tool depart, lots of people assume that just because it says Craftsman on it, it is warrantied for life, not true.)

~nottorquedrightRob

 

I'd relegate the old one to large ratchet duty, and just purchase a new one for torquing fasteners.

 

Rob - not real fond of the "technology" applied to a simple torque wrench. I have had those not "function" properly also. I gave up and it looks as if they stil haven't gotten it right.

I prefer the elcheapo standard with the swing dial on it. Easy to see the bolts stretch with these.

Never had one calibrated. - JKE

 

I have a digitork and it works great. I would just take yours into sears and get a replacement. It should have a lifetime warranty and with something rattling around inside it's probably broke.

 

If I'm correct, any electric tool does not have a life time warranty. Since this thing has electronics in it, I guess they'd say the same thing. Speaking of sears, I need to take my 1/2 ratchet in so they can repair the little ball that holds the socket on. Nothing like having a 12" extension with a huge socket fall on your face cause the little ball won't hold the extension.

 

You are correct, that anything that is electric does not have a lifetime warranty (basically, if it plugs into the wall, it has a limited warranty, even if it says "Craftsman"). These wrenches have no electronics on them though. However, they are not warrantied for life. Craftsman wrenches (non torqure), screwdrivers, pliers, sockets, ratchets and things classified as "hand tools" are warrantied for life by Sears. Trust me on this, like i said, I worked in the tool department there for a while in college and replaced many items for free for customers but many (as noted above) are not warrantied for life.
For ratchets, those can be fixed on the spot. The employee will attempt to fix the returned item first with a repair kit before issuing a brand new one off the shelf. Sometimes, there are a ton of returned ones that have been fixed, sitting somewhere out of site of the customer that the employee will go grab and do the replacement with that one.

~Rob

 

$70+tax to fix a the torque wrenches. Won't buy those again from Sears and not going to fix what I have. The Husky ones from Home depot are guaranteed for life, according to the Home Depot website. A 1/2" drive one from Home Depot is about $60. I can't get the Lowes website to tell me anything about the Cobalt brand of torque wrenches.

~Rob

 

i think when i bought my last torque wrench from sears , the salesman informed me that it only has like a 1 year warranty - even though it says craftsman on it. i was mad because this is the second one i had to buy within like 5 years from them. you can tell when they are going bad. when you attempt to torque down something, you hear a strange noise inside like they are not engaging or something. my new one is already starting to act up after torqing about 20 wheels and changing out a clutch.

 

You have to torque wheels?

I got an old Proto from somewhere... Nicest tool I got. It's a 3/8, goes down to 5 foot-pounds, seems to be calibrated well.

I have good experience with my Husky tools. The Taiwan-made wrenches, sockets and ratchets are top of the line in my opinion, just as good as any American made Stanley ones, but the pliers are made in China and are utter pieces of crap. I got over a dozen pliers from Home Depot, every single one has split open or sliding hand grips. You grip them tight, and the handgrip rotates. So nice...

Wait until they start making the pliers someplace else before you get Huskies.
I've also seen Craftsmens that say China on them, though. Little "precision" pliers that my Uncle has.

This wouldn't have anything to do with that K-Mart thing, would it?

 

Not sure about how the rest do it, but I never store mine without adjusting it back to its lowest setting first.
Keeps the spring from taking a set.

 

 

It's called a digitork but it isn't electric. They call it " digital" because you can read the numbers through a window. It's not truely digital.

 

The numbers run off of electricity in some way/shape/form. That means it's electric.

 

The numbers are printed on a rotating cylinder. No electricity.

~Rob

 

Ahhh. Learn something new everyday. I like my o'reilly's torque wrench. Little devil works great.