So.

You don't like the new electronic torque wrench Craftsman tools...

There are always the analog, the mechanical digital, and the new Craftsman Professional torque wrenches in the Tool Headquarters catalog to try.

So one tool makes you unhappy? Did you read the instructions? They are very sensative. Jerking them even in the least will throw an error code. They dont work like the click style by anymeans.

I have analog torque wrenches just for that reason!  I get them calibrated as close to annually as I can and they never talk back to me!

If you get any of the mechanical audible-click torque wrenches, you gotta "dial down" the torque setting between uses, to give the precision linear compression spring inside the handle a chance to "rest" between torque wrench uses.

The tool stays more accurate doing this dial down to a low torque setting procedure.

Good news.

No batteries in these tools!

Even the Digi-Tork torque wrench is a mechanical readout device.

You should also, NEVER loosen any fastener with ANY type of torque wrench.

While I am a major fan of Craftsman tools I have never liked their torque wrenches.  I worked in an environment where we had to calibrate our torque wrenches.  The Craftmans that I owned could not stay in calibration for three months let alone the 12 months required for use.

"Sacramento" Bruce Conklin

Well.

That $1000 calibrator, sold in the catalog, was always an obstacle to me.

And, who or what calibrates the calibraTOR?

Its like a scale. It is rather simple to reset to zero and check for accuracy.

Vinny Gambini: [Vinny hears a drip in the motel bathroom] Weren't you the last one to use the bathroom?
Lisa: So?
Vinny Gambini: Well, did you use the faucet?
Lisa: Yeah.
Vinny Gambini: Then why didn'tcha turn it off?
Lisa: I DID turn it off!
Vinny Gambini: Well, if you turned it off, why am I listening to it?
Lisa: Did it ever occur to you it could be turned off AND drip at the same time?
Vinny Gambini: No. Because if you'd turned it off, it wouldn't drip!
Lisa: Maybe it's broken.
Vinny Gambini: Is that what you're saying? It's broken?
Lisa: Yeah. That's it, it's broken.
Vinny Gambini: You sure?
Lisa: I'm positive.
Vinny Gambini: Maybe you didn't twist it hard enough.
Lisa: I twisted it just right.
Vinny Gambini: How could you be so sure?
Lisa: [sighs] If you will look in the manual, you will see that this particular model faucet requires a range of 10 to 16 foot-pounds of torque. I routinely twist the maximum allowable torquage.
Vinny Gambini: Well, how could you be sure you used 16 foot-pounds of torque?
Lisa: Because I used a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench. The kind used by Caltech high energy physicists. And NASA engineers.
Vinny Gambini: Well, in that case, how can you be sure THAT's accurate?
Lisa: Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state AND federal Department of Weights and Measures... to be dead on balls accurate!
[She rips a page out of a magazine and hands it to him]
Lisa: Here's the certificate of validation.
Vinny Gambini: Dead on balls accurate?
Lisa: It's an industry term.
Vinny Gambini: [tosses paper away] I guess the thing is broken.