Torque Wrench

[illflem]

Originally posted by rweis

I am having a problem finding the needle valve that will fit a 1/8" pipe thread. I have looked in Home Depot, Lowes, ACE hardware, local plumbing shops, other hardware stores, auto parts stores. Found all kinds of 1/8" elbows, couplings, male/male couplers, but NO needle valves.



Ideas?



Thanks in advance!

Here's the one I use http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/pr...emId=1612835462



Grainger mail orders to businesses. If you don't have one or work for one make one up. Either that or find a place that will order from Grainger for you. My local Ace Hardware does it, not sure if that means they all do.

 

[JSmith]

In my neck of the woods you can walk into Graingers and buy what you want.

 

[M Barnett]

I always use antiseze on just about everything, but one place it always agervates me is on the wheel lugs. Everytime I wash my truck it bleeds out and then the wheels are a mess.

Michael

 

[me4osu]

Originally posted by barryg41

Where I work at, we don’t use torque wrenches on our compressors or extruders. At least not on the bigger bolts. We stretch the bolts with tensioners. Over 13000 hydraulic pounds of pressure. The bolts are Teflon coated and do not use any lubrication. The compressors have to hold together at 41000 lbs of pressure. The screw pumps 65000 lbs of plastic an hour. We also stand back when we pressure up the tensioners.



Does anyone know how to convert hyd to ft lbs?

We always have to use those stud strechers on 3600 Cats and 2400 Superiors, but I'm sure we are setting a lot lower pre-load than you are.



Here is a link to a good page that describes the relationship between pre-load force and torque and provides a conversion calculation.



Torque specification page



You might want to get your plant maintenance engineer to do the calculation, it has a lot of gozintas, squares and pis.

 

[Mel Fuelling]

A helicopter mechanic gave me a pint can of anti-seize in 1966 and I've never been without a can of it since.



I didn't realize that there were so many varieties.



Silicone sealant seems to have anti-seize properties in some

instances plus it keeps fasteners from loosening.



NAPA has anti-seize in a spray can. It doesn't cover as many

fasteners/dollar of purchase price, but can be sprayed on very

sparingly(is that a word?) and isn't nearly as messy to use.



We had some high dollar dial torque wrenches in the Army that

had a pointer to show highest torque reached on each pull. They

were supposed to be very accurate and to stay accurate, but on

higher torque requirements, its hard to pull and watch too, much

like the beam is.

 

[FDziurda]

Conversions

"Does anyone know how to convert hyd to ft lbs?"



Download this small free Windows program and you will be able to convert just about anything to anything. I have been using it for quite awhile and it is VER handy!



Frank Dz





http://www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/

 

[Deezul1]

Not sure what type of needle valve you need but look at ice maker install kits. I use one of those for my oil sampling valve on the bypass filter system. Every Graingers I have ever been in will sell to anybody off the street.

 

[CumminsPower98]

FDziurda, thanks a lot for that convert link. I used to use an older version of that neat little program all the time and then some how lost it when I formatted once. The link I had to it stopped working so I searched and searched but never found it again so thanks again.



Mark

 

[Reddog1]

rweis – Like Deezul 1, I too see the ¼ inch needle valves in icemaker install kits. It is also very common with evaporative coolers (water cooler). I do not remember a hardware store that does not carry them. Some are straight and some are 90 degrees. The most common have male pipe threads on one end, and tubing on the other.





Wayne

 

[rweis]

Thanks for the ideas of where to look. I went to a local (really good) plumbing shop and they let me browse their catalog and I ordered needle valves with 1/8 NPT female on both ends of the valve so I don't get a mish mash of thread types.



Easy male NPT / male NPT out of the banjo bolt and into the needle valve and the pressure sensor male NPT in the other end. Minimum joints, minimum size, controllable, no lines to run and should keep the sensor from being beat to death by pump pulsations.



We'll see how it works



Thanks for the help



Bob Weis

 

[CumminsPower98]

rweis, you might want to consider remote mounting the sensor as the vibrations of the Cummins can hurt them also. I killed my first one by mounting directly on the engine with no snubber . I now have a needle valve like you got (thanks illflem) and then ran a rubber hose to the sensor at a remote location on the fender.



Mark

 

[illflem]

Besides the vibration killing the sender as Mark mentions I would be concerned with the vibration actually snapping off one of the fittings with a somewhat heavy sender with a small fitting flapping around. Better to isolate the sender with a hose.

This is one of the reasons I don't recommend Teflon tape, too hard to clean the debris from it off if you want to do things over.

 

[GSchlegel]

Some of the "old-timers" have told me that when teflon tape first came out, quite a few hyd. valve bodies were split when they put a pipe thread fitting in. They would tighten the fitting to the same "armstrong" torque, but due to the low friction of the teflon, the fitting went further into the casting and acted like a wedge and split the casting.



Gene

 

[rweis]

For the reason of vibration, the snubber hose makes sense.



The hose would have to be diesel tolerant, strong (probably braided) yet flexable, 1/8 NPT male both ends, a measured length from the engine point to the firewall point with a flex loop for movement and vibration isolation.



I'll check the TDR search engine for something like that. Someone is bound to make up braided diesel fuel lines with my choice of end fittings and my choice of length.



I did go with the solid state sending units from Westach. They are lighter than the traditional resistance units, but they still have mass, and engine vibration could damage them.



Thanks



I do have one other sending unit question:



I am going to do a engine oil temp and pressure combination gauge. There is a port on top of the oil filter not used. I think that would be good for the pressure sending unit with needle valve control, snubber line (oil resistant, higher pressure capable, etc), BUT I don't think that it would be appropriate for the temperature sensor. I think that because ther is no FLOW if the line only goes to the pressure sensor, and of course the needle valve is all but closed.



Therefore I was thinking the temperature sensor needs to be in the turbine oil line so the flow to the turbine will go past the thermocouple and get a good reading. I have a housing with three 1/2" ports and a large cavity in the center so there would not be any restriction to the oil to the turbine, yet the sensor would be in a fluid flow, not in static fluid.



Sound correct?



Those ports in the top of the oil filter are normal pipe threads? I could see DC making them metric or something just to make the "project" more complicated.

 

[illflem]

Originally posted by rweis

For the reason of vibration, the snubber hose makes sense.

The hose would have to be diesel tolerant, strong (probably braided) yet flexable, 1/8 NPT male both ends, a measured length from the engine point to the firewall point with a flex loop for movement and vibration isolation.

What you just described is what many are using, a grease gun hose. They're not braided but very strong, rated to 15,000 psi. Just make sure to buy one with tapered 1/8'' ends, some have straight threads.

 

[Steve Campbell]

The only thing I have to add...

has already been said...



"Clicker types (I have a Snap-On that goes up to 200 ft-lbs) should be recalibrated periodically and should always be stored with the spring tension removed. "



That ... should always be stored with the spring tension removed... was one thing hammered home to me to extend the time between recalibrations.

 

[illflem]

A paradox

So if you calibrate by connecting the heads of two torque wrenches together set at the same torque and they both click at the same time do you assume they are both wrong the same or both right? This is the way I check mine assuming they are both correct.



Paradox = An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises.

 

[Steve Campbell]

A "problem" is....

... "a stimulus for which an organism does not have a ready response"



Sorry, I know I was off the topic, but I just could not help myself

 

[JohnE]

Bill;



They're both wrong and probably reading low.



My experience with <em>clicker</em> type torque wrenches is they drift low. We have a calibration unit at work, so no problem for me.



Some of the bigger tool stores used to have cal units. Have they quit doing this?



I missed this thread and the applicable drifting it has gone. Many people do not understand the wet vs dry lube torquing process.



As far as Teflon&reg; tape... JUST SAY NO. Besides the split fittings and castings, it has ruined many hydraulic pumps. That soft material is as grit in a pump. Use Teflon&reg; based pipe dope, such as PST&reg;. Just remember to keep it a cople threads back form the end.



Thread locks (Loctite&reg; ) are very good to use with SS fasteners. SS is very deceiving. It doesn't rust on the visible surfaces. AS was pointed out in an earlier post, the contact areas in the threads will corrode, heavily. Loctite will seal the area and prevent a lot of the corrosion as well as galling when you assemble. Many outboard motors are assembled this way as part of their multi-year corrosion warranty.



I've got a Loctite&reg; hat! Do you?



-John