Loosey Goosey : Tight Connections
#1
05-02-17, 04:17 PM
Loosey Goosey : Tight Connections
just blurbing.....tonight, I just hand tight a 90 degree flat plate ontop of unistrut with a 3/8 ratchet. Just eyeballing what I would consider tight. Then I just put the socket on the torque wrench and gave it another quarter turn. The handle on my torque wrench is about 18-20 inches as a wild guesstimate.
Specs call for 50 ft lbs on a 1/2 nut , and what I thought was tight enough was reading 20 lbs on my CDI digital torque wrench...
Unless my torque wrench is way off calibration.....how tight is tight ~enough~ ;-)
Kinda interesting nothing what I perceived was tight was not even at half the recommended torque spec.
Specs call for 50 ft lbs on a 1/2 nut , and what I thought was tight enough was reading 20 lbs on my CDI digital torque wrench...
Unless my torque wrench is way off calibration.....how tight is tight ~enough~ ;-)
Kinda interesting nothing what I perceived was tight was not even at half the recommended torque spec.
#2
05-02-17, 05:17 PM
Super Moderator
I'm guessing the 3/8" ratchet is what threw you off. Way easier to get 50 ft/lbs with a 1/2" ratchet. It's basically a type of lever and doubling the length of the handle reduces the force needed by quite a bit.
#3
05-02-17, 05:42 PM
I just repeated the test again. 1/2 ratchet. I have 1/4 and 3/8 digital torques but only 1/2 in clickers..
Due to the longer length on the torque, I snugged it a bit more but I swear, 20 seems to be my sweet spot before I feel like I should back off, just short of putting shearing forces on the bolt.
Then again, I'm putting a 1/2 bolt into a channel nut that is probably a smigen more than 1/4" thick.
When I use polaris connectors, I always use a torque on that.
Nary to nil on anything else in the electrical world...
What am I amiss. I doubled checked Unistruts catalog as that is where I got the torque spec info from, and indeed confirmed they are recommend 50 ft lbs.
Due to the longer length on the torque, I snugged it a bit more but I swear, 20 seems to be my sweet spot before I feel like I should back off, just short of putting shearing forces on the bolt.
Then again, I'm putting a 1/2 bolt into a channel nut that is probably a smigen more than 1/4" thick.
When I use polaris connectors, I always use a torque on that.
Nary to nil on anything else in the electrical world...
What am I amiss. I doubled checked Unistruts catalog as that is where I got the torque spec info from, and indeed confirmed they are recommend 50 ft lbs.
#4
05-03-17, 07:42 AM
I don't know what a "unistrut" is...
But if it is an electrical connection, the typical specifications for tightness for electrical connections are in INCH POUNDS... not foot pounds. And there are 12 inch pounds to one foot pound.
But if it is an electrical connection, the typical specifications for tightness for electrical connections are in INCH POUNDS... not foot pounds. And there are 12 inch pounds to one foot pound.
#5
05-03-17, 12:54 PM
Super Moderator
Bill... Unistrut is perforated steel channel for attaching cables or making exposed cable runs (and probably other stuff). Heavy strong stuff. Ft/Lbs is the correct measure for their connections.
