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My wake-up call about torque wrenches came from a flickering light

I always tightened connections until they seemed good enough. While fixing a flickering light in an old home, I checked the panel. A neutral connection felt tight, but I used a torque wrench anyway. It was way under the proper setting. After tightening to spec, the flickering stopped completely. This made me realize how crucial exact torque is for safety and performance. I'm curious if others have had this kind of eye-opening moment.
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2 Comments
dakota379
dakota3794d ago
Reading this reminds me of stripping the threads on a crankcase bolt by just guessing the tightness. It felt secure until the oil started leaking all over my driveway. That was a messy and expensive lesson. @robin874 calling it a safety hazard is spot on, because my cheap fix almost wrecked the engine. Now I borrow a torque wrench for anything critical on my bike. You really don't know what's loose until it fails.
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robin874
robin8744d ago
My whole "good enough" phase was a safety hazard.
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