Customer Reviews

Alltrade 940759 Powerbuilt Digital Torque Adaptor for 1/2-Inch Driver

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this as it came up in the "Other customers looked at" section of the torque adapters that I purchased for getting at bolts that can't be reached with the socket on the torque wrench.

History:
First off a little back ground I am in the military and one of my jobs is to test torque wrench and calibrate them. So I have access to a CDI torque tester, and work with torque wrenches as part of my job.

Reasoning:
I saw this thing and thought eh for 50 dollars how good could it be. Then I read all the reviews and people kept saying how accurate it was since they compared it to a wrench they had at home, some were new others were not. I decided eh why not buy it and see just how accurate it is. If it works then I can have a tester at home and not need to bring in all my wrenches to check from time to time. If it doesn't amazon's return policy for defective items is very good.

First impressions:
When I got the unit it is much smaller than I was expecting. It does have a very nice blow molded case and adapter to put into a vise so it can be used to check your torque wrenches. Instructions are a little vague for example it doesn't tell you the difference between peak and trace settings. Which is one holds the peak torque value the other varies as torque is applied. Obviously you want to use the peak setting for checking the calibrations of the wrench, while using trace if you are using it as the torquing device. Also I didn't see it listed on Amazon's site but the range of the unit is 29.5lb-ft to 147.6lb-ft with an stated accuracy of +/- 2%

Test:
Well I took it to work and checked it on the lab tester and it is very accurate (at least the one I received). For the whole range it was about +/- 0.5 max, off of what the lab tester measured in most cases it was less. This was also true for counter clockwise direction, which is great news for Dodge guys that have left hand fasteners. Really the accuracy is better than the +/- 2% that AllTrade states. Also it is accurate below the 29.5lb-ft, when I tested it the unit started registering at about 3.4lb-ft and it was again with +/-0.2 of the lab tester, this is true of the high end I took the unit to an even 150lb-ft and it was on still. For standard testing though we only test the max of the wrench, 60% of range, and 20% of range. I did this and found that the bottom 20% of the max happens to be the 29.5lb-ft that the unit is rated at. So AllTrade is following standards when making this product.

Catch:
I have only one thing to say about the unit, with it's usable range it really can't correctly calibrate a torque wrench. As I stated above to calibrate a torque wrench you have to check it at three points the Max, 60%, and 20%. Reason is springs are not a linear acting object. As you stretch or compress them the amount of force varies. So I have seen wrenches be good at max but fail in the mid 60% but be ok at the bottom range. All of my wrenches fall out of the range of the unit at some point. If it is my large 1/2 then it goes to 250lb-ft, if it is my smaller 3/8 it goes too low as it's bottom usable is 16lb-ft.

Still:
This though however is no reason to take anything away from this unit. For the home mechanic the ability to check at the mid range of a wrench is more than enough for the job since in the case of automobiles the torque values given are usually over a range. If one was worried they could set the unit for the exact torque then check their wrench for accuracy, but then you might as well just use the unit and torque the bolt. Unless you can't get the unit on with a breaker bar because the location of the bolt is too tight.

Conclusion:
If you do not have a torque wrench simply by this and use it as it will be more than enough for the job. It will save you a ton of money and do 90% of the torque values you would need. If you already have a lot of torque wrenches then buy this to check them. I am very impressed with this unit and it will come in very handy for checking my wrenches at home, and for taking to a friend's garage instead of taking all my wrenches I only need to bring this one item. See the pictures I have uploaded showing the readings on the unit vs the lab tester.

This won't replace my clicker or beam torque wrenches but if it's all you had or could afford, it'll do ya.

I placed it in a vise to check my click torque wrench at 80 ft-lbs several times and it beeped steady (the click was either bang on or very close) in the range of 80 to 80.4 on the LCD. The lowest range is at 29 to 30 ft-lbs. I don't know if the device loses accuracy if you test at lower than 29 ft-lbs, but what the heck, I gave it a try anyway for fun. Checked my other torque wrenches at even lower ranges but you won't get the beep or light indicator. You just have to coordinate or time the click with the readout. I did this at 8 ft-lbs (several times) and it was bang on. I tried the beam type torque wrench at the lower range too (7 ft-lbs - to minimize the readout bouncing around too much) and the readout matched where the needle was pointing.

The quality seems to be there and it comes in a nice protective case. It comes with an inspection certificate in the box with the date of inspection, serial number of the adapter and handwritten values for the torque and the percentage of error at those values. It is also stamped with the name of the inspector and quality manager.

I'm pleased with the tool!

I bought the torque adaptor to calibrate my torque wrenches. One wrench (250 ft #) was almost new and my 150 ft # is thirty years old and was calibrated 15 years ago. Both checked out to be within a pound at mid range.

This is a good way to test your torque wrenches to see that they're in calibration; while the advertised spec is 2%, the serialized calibration paper that came with mine indicated a much closer tolerance than the allowed error:
-0.34% at the 29.5 ft-lb low end, 0.00% at 88.6 ft-lbs, and +0.07% at 147.6 ft-lbs.

The units are easily changed by pressing the Mem and Peak/Trace buttons simultaneously, allowing display in Kg-cm, Kg-m, in-lbs, Ft-lbs, and Nt-m.

This item doesn't quite function as the item description indicates, as mentioned by others, because it doesn't flash yellow as it approaches the set point, but instead flashes red, and then going constant red at the target value.

I checked it against my 1/2" clicker torque wrench, and it revealed the settings on my wrench read a bit higher than the actual torque, but not too bad. However, checking my 3/8" beam type showed it to be significantly off, with the 300 in-lb indication actually being 350 in-lbs. With this DTA gizmo, I can apply a scale correction factor to the wrench to effectively calibrate it.

It retains your setting for the torque value after powering it off and back on, so if you usually need the same value, it's fine. Otherwise, you'll need to do a bit of fiddling with the two set buttons to change it every time you go to a different value.
There's a 50 reading memory that allows you to recall the last 50 measurements, but it would have been better if they used that memory to store settings, to allow you to switch values quickly without furiously tapping away on the set buttons.

Whie this is very useful for the purpose of checking your torque wrenches, it's not very practical for regular use as a torque wrench, because the indicator LEDs only work if the torque value is approached very slowly; if the torque is applied rapidly, the reading will go right past the set point, and the LED won't even light up or beep. If you had it in the peak hold mode, you can then see in the display just how far you just overtorqued your nuts.

You could use it in a slow, deliberate fashion, watching the torque display as you go, but then it's difficult to apply the torque in a single smooth motion, which is how it should be done. If you pause short of the setpoint, and then continue, the static friction will result in a misleading reading as you slowly torque it further up to the target, because the fastener won't move at all for the last bit of remaining torque. With a clicker type wrench, it can be done in one motion until the click is felt.

Mine arrived looking less than brand new, with the adapter showing gouges from apparent use in a vise, likely from the vendor shipping out a return. Operationally it appears fine, so it'll take its place among the tools-
Get an 3/8" female to 1/2" male adapter if you need to check a 3/8" drive torque wrench.

Used for its intended purpose, it's definitely a handy item, coming with a nice blow molded case.

Being a skeptic, I took the device to our (DoD Certified) Precision Equipment Measuring Lab (PMEL)for assessment. Their tests indicate the device is accurate to with in .2 ft lbs throughout it's entire certified torque range.

Bottom line, if you need a good torque wrench, this is the 'good deal'. The only drawback is the display could be a little bigger.... but for the price and capability, this is a good deal.

Mike Allen, a syndicated "fix your car guy" columnist, put me onto this tool. I had a sneaky suspicion that my click-torque wrenches were releasing at less than the prescribed torque. They were out of the box new and warranteed for 4% accuracy. Well, I readjusted them to within .1% using this tool!!
And I'm confident with my current readings.
I cannot believe that in the last 50 years (I'm 65 years old) I did not find this tool earlier!! I used the wand type torque wrench from my youthful age of 14 to the age of 63 (shame on me, huh?).

I gave my old torque wrench to a relative, and I got this as a replacement. If you're thinking of buying this to use as a torque wrench for working on your vehicle, my recommendation is: don't. It's really not practical. Firstly, it's quite bulky so you'll have problems getting into places where clearance is a problem.

Secondly, you can only make a quarter turn or so before you can't see the LCD readout anymore. I want to be safe, so I have to remove the socket and re-adjust the position so I can see the numbers. This is really slow and inconvenient for working on a vehicle.

Third, you have to pull really slow to be able to hear the beeps progress. If you pull fast, it'll go over your torque setting before you know it. Maybe folks who grew up using pointer type torque wrenches will be fine with this, but I grew up with click type wrenches, so I'm really not used to this. I find it very slow and inconvenient compared to click type wrenches.

Fourth, physical feedback on a torque wrench is much more practical than audio or visual feedback. Using click type wrenches are much easier and more reassuring in this regard because of the slight "give" once your torque setting is reached.

Lastly, there're only 2 buttons to set torque, "+" and "-". If you press and hold, it'll increase/decrease slowly at first. But if you hold it for longer than a few seconds, the numbers will run very quickly. So it's pretty tricky to nail down the torque you want. I wasted a LOT of time just doing this alone.

So if you want a device to calibrate your wrenches, this product is great. If you're buying it to use as a torque wrench, get a proper wrench.

This Digital Torque Adapter functions both as a Torque Wrench and a Torque Wrench Calibrator. Keep in mind that for $50 you are not going to get a Lab Quality calibrator. This Adapter is meant for mechanics and do-it-yourselfers. For the money, this is a bargain, you get a torque wrench that can be used with any type of ratchet or breaker bar. You also get a device that you can use to check your conventional torque wrenches and recalibrate them as needed. I have checked this Adapter against brand new and old torque wrenches and the results seemed accurate and reasonable. I use this Digital Torque Adapter mainly for critical assemblies like head bolts or rod bolts or similar. I also use it to frequently check my conventional torque wrenches on a regular (audit) basis to ensure everything I build is to specs. I have needed a product like this for quite awhile and bought it as soon as it was available and have not been disappointed.

this is a valuable tool to have in your shop. i found that both of my vintage wrenches were out of specs. that is now corrected and i feel confident using them.
thank you.
mario

I bought this product after reading about it in Popular Mechanics. My torque wrenches are several years old and I've always wondered about their accuracy. Unfortunately, I'm not much better off now than before and here's why. I checked several torque wrenches against the P-bilt DTA. All were high and by about the same amount. So either this DTA's calibration was off (despite the paperwork included) or all 3 torque wrenches (I borrowed one from a neighbor too) calibration drifted off by the same amount in the same direction (all plus).