I wasted $90 on a torque wrench rebuild kit I didn't need

Last month my torque wrench started clicking way too early on a fridge compressor job in Phoenix. I figured the internal spring was shot, so I ordered a $90 rebuild kit online. Spent two hours taking the whole thing apart, cleaning every gear, and putting in the new parts. Put it back together and it still clicked early, so I finally checked the calibration with a digital adapter. Turns out the adjustment collar had just slipped, a 10 second fix with a hex key and some thread lock. The kit is sitting in my toolbox now, totally useless to me. Has anyone else fallen for buying parts before doing the basic calibration check first?

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quinnmitchell4d ago

That pattern shows up in every trade and hobby I've been around. We all get to a point where we're sure we know the problem and skip the simple checks first. My neighbor did the exact same thing with his furnace, replaced the whole blower motor for 200 bucks before finding out the thermostat wire had come loose. It's like our brains want it to be the complicated fix, so we jump straight to the hardest part without looking at what's right in front of us.