Digital Torque Wrench Special

Digital Torque Wrench - Holiday Special



Re-running this special through the upcoming Holiday Season (until Dec 31st). Our wrenches make great gifts - so don't miss out !!

As a new vendor of this forum, we are offering an introductory special: our Digital Torque Wrench w/ Blow Molded Case for $99 - including shipping. Just go to our website: Brown Line Metalworks, LLC | Professional Grade Digital Torque Wrench and click on the "Buy Now" button. At checkout, enter the coupon code: TDI


You can see the torque wrench in action in the following video:


Brown Line Torque Wrench in Action


Product Specifications:


Patented Double Gear Sensing System
Designed, engineered, and tested by Brown Line Metal Works, the patented* D.G.S.S. technology ensures repeatable accuracy of +/- 3.5% both clockwise & counter-clockwise
Accurate from 20 – 100% of full scale (7% accuracy from 10 – 20% of full scale)


Microprocessor Controlled
8-bit electronics ensures accurate readings and simplicity of use
Allows for both Peak and Track mode
Individually calibrates each wrench
Supplies unique serial number for each wrench


Ratchet Head
1/2" drive reversible ratchet
32-tooth gear provides an 11.25º arc while handling high torque loads
Forged from Chromium Vanadium alloy to ensure strength
Conforms to ASME B107.10 2005 standards


Range
15 – 150 ft/lbs
180 – 1,800 in/lbs
20.3 – 203 Nm


Digital Control
Large backlit digital display shows both target torque and current read-out
Intuitive button design makes operating torque wrench simple
LEDs and digital display provide visual feedback when operating wrench
Buzzer creates audible feedback when target torque is reached
Easily switch between ft/lbs, in/lbs, and Nm
Automatically powers off when not in use for 2 minutes
Low battery indicator


Handle
Soft-touch overmold provides comfortable non-slip grip
Engineered plastics ensure an impact resistant housing



The offer is valid till Sept. 15th, and is only for the lower 48 states. Extended until Dec 31st

Looks like a great deal!
Good luck!

Nice looking tw. Good price, too.

Where is it made...? China...Mexico...USA...?

Thanks,

df

TDI club really does not have sponsors... We have QUALITY vendors that keep this site alive.

So might you folks be at the TDIfest in Lex. KY. If you folks do come I have some $$$ to join my Snap on units.

PeterV said:

TDI club really does not have sponsors... We have QUALITY vendors that keep this site alive.

So might you folks be at the TDIfest in Lex. KY. If you folks do come I have some $$$ to join my Snap on units.

Click to expand...

Better yet, send me one for the benefit auction. This will get the tool in the public eye, and raise money to support the TDIClub website.

Cheap way to get large-scale exposure.........

Bruce

How long before Brussels or Tomo comments on PeterV's "snap on unit"? lol

Nice wrench! Good deal! Torque nuts long time!

Warranty?

Wrench

dieselfuel said:

Nice looking tw. Good price, too.
Where is it made...? China...Mexico...USA...?
Thanks,
df

Click to expand...

The ratchet / steel components of the wrench are manufactured in Taiwan, and the electronics / assembly are done in Malaysia. We have a repair / calibration facility in Chicago in case anything ever needs to be done to the wrench.
Our wrench uses a patented technology that is inherently much less expensive to manufacture than our competitors. That is why we are able to offer the wrench at such an attractive retail price.
BLMW

Warranty

jptbay said:

Warranty?

Click to expand...

Our warranty is industry standard: 1 year from date of purchase, 90 days for calibration. As noted above, we have a repair / calibration facility in Chicago.

BLMW

Auction

paramedick said:

Better yet, send me one for the benefit auction. This will get the tool in the public eye, and raise money to support the TDIClub website.

Cheap way to get large-scale exposure.........

Bruce

Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. Why don't you PM me with the address to send it to, and I will get one out to you.

BLMW

I see that brand around on Ebay. The pricing is hundreds of $$ less than some of the top name brands.

I'd like to see one at the Fest. If you do offer one up for bidding at the Banquet Auction or Silent Bid, that will get your item in front of people and you'll be doing the Club some good.

What is the advantage of a digital wrench?

I use and am used to click-type wrenches, and perhaps the best "feature" is the click, because I find (presuming a properly calibrated wrench to begin with) it really prevents you from over-torquing.

Ordered one, looks like a good deal.

Watch the video!

Brown Line Metalworks Digital Torque Wrench: said:

Within 3.5% both clockwise and counter-clockwise

With the press of a button, easily switch between foot-pounds, inch-pounds, and newton-meters

Don't worry about leaving it on, it automatically powers off when not in use for 2 minutes.

Click to expand...

/me wants!!

It's the best of both worlds:

1. Readout shows a constant, exact value during torque sequence, like a beam-type but easier to use. (Beam type needle often drags on gauge, causing friction and requiring more attention to detail)

2. Set the wrench down and forget about it when you're done with a torque! Nothing is worse than going back to your click-type torque wrench after an hour/day/week and finding that you left the darn thing set at 100ft/lbs!

3. Unlike a "click" type, the torque will be transferred to the fastener as long as you want. "Click" types make me nervous because of the way they pop/cam over the desired torque spec.

Click-Style

fitzski said:

What is the advantage of a digital wrench?

I use and am used to click-type wrenches, and perhaps the best "feature" is the click, because I find (presuming a properly calibrated wrench to begin with) it really prevents you from over-torquing.

Click to expand...

Have to agree with the post above, but I wanted to add the following:

1) Even though you feel the "click" in the wrench, if you keep pulling you will still be applying torque. It does not stop once it clicks. Because of this, it is very easy to over-torque using a "click" wrench.

2) One of the reasons it is easy to over-torque using a "click" style wrench is because you have no warning when you are getting close to your target torque. With our Digital version, you get the warning yellow light and you can also watch the LCD screen. When you get close, you can slow down and ensure that you don't over-torque.

3) With a "click" style, you have no way of knowing how much torque was ultimately applied to the fastener. With a Digital version it will show you the exact amount of torque that was applied.

4) If you forget to turn a "click" wrench down to its lowest setting after use, the internal spring will deform and throw the wrench out of calibration. Unfortunately, it is very easy to forget to do this. This is not an issue with a digital wrench.

I think that covers it.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

BLMW

I do have questions. How often does it eat batteries? What kind of batteries does it use? Is it available in flex head? Do you offer one which also does torque angle afterward?

I also have a comment. My snap on which eats batteries had a full 1 year warranty even on calibration. It was also accurate to 2%. I don't currently use it because it eats batteries too damn fast which is the main complaint I have with this style.

It looks huge as compared to my often used Snap On Tqfr100 Flex Head. Some of the bolts, i.e. horizontal bolts on the engine mount bracket, you can't see the display anyway so it's all in the beep or click at the end anyway.

Thanks for the feedback; good answers, though I'm not sure I agree in my experience, re: over-torquing. While you're technically correct, of course, that you can still apply torque after the "click", you'd have to be really not paying attention for that to occur. Or maybe I just have a half-decent built-in torque meter? ;-)

A specific scenario I'm thinking is checking torque. One of the last things I do before buttoning things up is double check that things are properly torqued - that nothing was missed. I can do this easily with a click type wrench, w/o applying additional torque (at least, I find that I can do it easily). But how do I do this with a digital wrench - the only way to determine the torque, would be to exceed it?

I take care of all my tools, so winding down a "click" style - though tedious and nice to be able to dispense with on a digital - is not a concern that I have, any more than leaving greasy fingerprints on a screwdriver. However, I don't have sufficient exposure or experience to comment on the general accuracy of the various styles of torque wrench. Would it be safe to say that the "click" type - even with the highest level of care - would lose accuracy either faster or to a greater degree than a digital?

I am surprised you didn't mention the one major benefit I see with digital - switching units (N-m, ft-lbs, inch-lbs) at the push of a button!
[edit... sry... I see that it was mentioned above... well done.]

brownlinemetalworks.com said:

Have to agree with the post above, but I wanted to add the following:

1) Even though you feel the "click" in the wrench, if you keep pulling you will still be applying torque. It does not stop once it clicks. Because of this, it is very easy to over-torque using a "click" wrench.

2) One of the reasons it is easy to over-torque using a "click" style wrench is because you have no warning when you are getting close to your target torque. With our Digital version, you get the warning yellow light and you can also watch the LCD screen. When you get close, you can slow down and ensure that you don't over-torque.

3) With a "click" style, you have no way of knowing how much torque was ultimately applied to the fastener. With a Digital version it will show you the exact amount of torque that was applied.

4) If you forget to turn a "click" wrench down to its lowest setting after use, the internal spring will deform and throw the wrench out of calibration. Unfortunately, it is very easy to forget to do this. This is not an issue with a digital wrench.
I think that covers it.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
BLMW

Click to expand...

Questions

hevster1 said:

I do have questions. How often does it eat batteries? What kind of batteries does it use? Is it available in flex head? Do you offer one which also does torque angle afterward?

I also have a comment. My snap on which eats batteries had a full 1 year warranty even on calibration. It was also accurate to 2%. I don't currently use it because it eats batteries too damn fast which is the main complaint I have with this style.

Click to expand...

Our wrench takes 3AA batteries. It is not currently available in a Flex Head version, but we are working on an angle version (which will be available mid-next year). In our testing / calculations, we figured you would get about 132 hours of use of the set of batteries. There is a tiny drain on the batteries when the wrench is off, so we recommend that you take them out when storing it for a long period of time (this will also prevent the wrench from being ruined if the batteries corrode).

The Snap-On wrench is more accurate than our wrench (2% vs 3.5%), but we felt that the 3.5% was more than accurate for most users. In regards to the warranty, I had thought that the Calibration was warrantied for 90 days. I was unable to confirm this either way on their website or by calling their customer support, but I will keep trying and post the information when I find it.

BLMW

Now if there was a wrench for the smaller values. I have two click style ones. One for suspension things (axle nuts, lug bolts, other larger bolts up to 250 lbs). Then I have a smaller one for engine bolts but the smaller bolts (like the valve cover bolts) my torque wrench is just a bit to big still.

fitzski said:

Thanks for the feedback; good answers, though I'm not sure I agree in my experience, re: over-torquing. While you're technically correct, of course, that you can still apply torque after the "click", you'd have to be really not paying attention for that to occur. Or maybe I just have a half-decent built-in torque meter? ;-)

A specific scenario I'm thinking is checking torque. One of the last things I do before buttoning things up is double check that things are properly torqued - that nothing was missed. I can do this easily with a click type wrench, w/o applying additional torque (at least, I find that I can do it easily). But how do I do this with a digital wrench - the only way to determine the torque, would be to exceed it?

I take care of all my tools, so winding down a "click" style - though tedious and nice to be able to dispense with on a digital - is not a concern that I have, any more than leaving greasy fingerprints on a screwdriver. However, I don't have sufficient exposure or experience to comment on the general accuracy of the various styles of torque wrench. Would it be safe to say that the "click" type - even with the highest level of care - would lose accuracy either faster or to a greater degree than a digital?

I am surprised you didn't mention the one major benefit I see with digital - switching units (N-m, ft-lbs, inch-lbs) at the push of a button!
[edit... sry... I see that it was mentioned above... well done.]

Click to expand...

fitzski:

In regards to over-torquing, I think you would be surprised how much torque can be quickly applied even after the wrench clicks. This is especially true if you are pulling the wrench very fast. Of course you can apply to much torque with a Digital wrench as well, but the difference is that with a digital version you have a way of monitoring this. That being said, a properly used "click" style wrench is still a very accurate tool.

In regards to checking torque, I need to think through the scenario. You are essentially re-torquing all of the fasteners. If you originally torqued something to 80 ft.lbs, when you "check" it, you are still going to have to apply 80 ft.lbs to get the wrench to "click". With ours, you would also have to apply the 80 ft.lbs to get the buzzer / lights to go off. So I am not sure I see a huge difference (but maybe I am missing something). I think , like a lot of things, it is a slightly different way of doing something which sometimes takes a little getting used to.

In regards to the calibration / accuracy, that is a hard question to answer. The main reason a "click" wrench would go out of calibration would be if you forgot to turn it down after user (especially if you then did not use it for a long time). I have personally found that it is pretty easy to forget to do this. You sound like you are on top of this, and treat your tools with a lot of care, so this does not seem to be a huge issue for you (but I really do believe it is a big problem with the majority of users).

BLMW

brownlinemetalworks.com said:

fitzski:

In regards to over-torquing, I think you would be surprised how much torque can be quickly applied even after the wrench clicks. This is especially true if you are pulling the wrench very fast. Of course you can apply to much torque with a Digital wrench as well, but the difference is that with a digital version you have a way of monitoring this. That being said, a properly used "click" style wrench is still a very accurate tool.

In regards to checking torque, I need to think through the scenario. You are essentially re-torquing all of the fasteners. If you originally torqued something to 80 ft.lbs, when you "check" it, you are still going to have to apply 80 ft.lbs to get the wrench to "click". With ours, you would also have to apply the 80 ft.lbs to get the buzzer / lights to go off. So I am not sure I see a huge difference (but maybe I am missing something). I think , like a lot of things, it is a slightly different way of doing something which sometimes takes a little getting used to.

In regards to the calibration / accuracy, that is a hard question to answer. The main reason a "click" wrench would go out of calibration would be if you forgot to turn it down after user (especially if you then did not use it for a long time). I have personally found that it is pretty easy to forget to do this. You sound like you are on top of this, and treat your tools with a lot of care, so this does not seem to be a huge issue for you (but I really do believe it is a big problem with the majority of users).

BLMW

Click to expand...

With any style torque wrench torque should be applied slowly and steadily until the target value is reached. Jerking a torque wrench until the "click" is heard just shows how uneducated the user is. I see this all the time at the tire places-one of the many reasons I never trust their torque, and verify everything myself.



..

in defense to the digital

when "re-torquing" a lug bolt, for example, to the desired 89ft-lbs.

as you approach the target torque, the wrench would read out 85, 86, 87, 88... good no "additional" torque has been applied...

So did one of these make it to the tdifest? I'm curious to hear unbiased opinions on its operation.

did not see one at fest.

johnboy00 said:

So did one of these make it to the tdifest? I'm curious to hear unbiased opinions on its operation.

Click to expand...

No, it did not arrive. Pity, folks were asking about it.

Mine arrived today. I'll post some feedback after I torque something.

Mine came yesterday. Very nice.

btw, despite the Sept. 15th cut off date mentioned in the OP, the coupon code "TDI" is still active. $99 with moulded case, and free UPS shipping.

Any feedback yet on these wrenches?

There are some reviews for them on amazon.com