PSA: Check your ground block torque after winter freezes

I pulled a house in Boise yesterday and found three loose grounds just from temp swings, caught them before the lightning season hits. Torque specs matter even on that little nut, a 20 lb-ft click wrench costs less than a re-run. Anyone else re-torquing after the thaw or am I the only one who got burned once?

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wendy_sanchez26d ago

20 lb-ft on a ground lug is barely more than snug, that's not much room for temp swings to actually loosen anything. Metal expands and contracts but a properly torqued nut with a lock washer isn't going to back off just from a Boise winter. If you found three loose ones at the same house, that sounds more like whoever installed them never hit spec in the first place, not the weather doing it. I've seen grounds sit through worse seasons than Idaho and hold fine. The real killer is corrosion and bad connections, not a nut turning itself loose. Checking torque once a year isn't a bad habit but acting like the thaw is out here undoing lugs is a stretch.

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