Dropped a torque wrench on a hangar floor and now my readings are all off

I was working on a Cessna 172 at the shop in Phoenix yesterday and my Snap-on torque wrench slipped off the cowling and hit the concrete. Ever since then I've been getting inconsistent readings on the fastener checks and I'm worried I might have messed up the calibration on a $400 tool. Has anyone had any luck getting a torque wrench recalibrated locally or am I just looking at sending it back to the manufacturer?

3 comments

3 Comments

west.casey1mo agoMost Upvoted

Did you check if the impact actually cracked the internal beam?

sethfoster1mo ago

Snap-on's warranty actually covers accidental drops for the first year on their torque wrenches, so if yours is still within that window you might be able to get a free recalibration through their mobile truck that comes around here every other Tuesday. I had the same thing happen with my 3/8" drive model a few years back and @west.casey is right that you should check the internal beam first because sometimes it's just a hairline crack throwing everything off... I ended up just mailing mine to their service center in California and it was back in about two weeks and cost me $35 for the recalibration plus shipping. Better to spend a little on that than keep guessing on fastener torque and risk a bird strike or worse later on.

claire_grant341mo agoMost Upvoted

Check the internal beam like @west.casey said, because even a tiny crack there will throw your readings off by a LOT and it's an easy fix if that's the problem. Beyond that, give the Snap-on truck a call first since they usually have loaner wrenches you can borrow while they ship yours out to California for the recalibration. Getting it done through them is the safest bet since they know the specific tolerances for that model and won't mess up the internal mechanism.