Electronic torque controller question

rich p · Aug 16, 2017

Hey guys, we have a tube swaging machine at work that basically uses an electric drill that drives a tool that swages a fitting on the end of a tube. We run 120 volts to a box that feeds the drill. We preset the box to a torque value that is spec'ed to the particular job, which then cuts voltage to the drill when the torque setting is achieved. Problem I have is I need to certify that the controller is cutting out at the right time. All the calibration houses I know of say they can't do it. I believe the drill needs to be there for any calibration so the amps can be measured. Has anyone had a similar problem or know of a place that can yearly calibrate this thing?
Here's a link to the controller
ELC11

Electric Torque Controller

DDoug · Aug 16, 2017

Cal lab I have been to can calibrate torque wrenches.

Heck the air tool repair place has one to test the air impact wrenches.

rich p · Aug 16, 2017

The place I send my torque wrenches to for calibration said they can't do it.

gbent · Aug 16, 2017

Have you contacted Elliot directly? But it looks to me like you don't have a torque controller at all. You have an amperage controller, and are relying on the repeatability of the drill to turn amps into torque.

How much torque are you talking about? Could you make an adapter to allow your drill to load a device such as an old style beam type torque wrench with a witness needle? In that search I would start with CDI, now owned by snap-on IIRC.

MattiJ · Aug 17, 2017

rich p said:
The place I send my torque wrenches to for calibration said they can't do it.

It's a bit strange concoction so I understand the hesitation some calibration labs might have.
Do you need fancy accredited certificate(ISO17025) or will any paper that says "calibration certificate" do?
What kind of accuracy you would need/expect?

And the drill certainly needs to be included.

Ziggy2 · Aug 17, 2017

I think you are approaching this wrong.

You are trying to verify calibration of the torque controller and drill.

What matters is the quality of the joint swaging itself. Verifying the torque of the drill will not necessarily guarantee a good joint if the tool and or screw are not functioning correctly.

I had a friend that had a very similar problem at a Fortuane 500 company. He rewrote the calibration procedure so that the end product of the process was verified and not a middle point. Improved product quality, the process was verified on a continuous sampling plan, and the difficult and rather meaningless gauge calibration was eliminated.

MattiJ · Aug 17, 2017

Ziggy2 said:
I think you are approaching this wrong.

You are trying to verify calibration of the torque controller and drill.

What matters is the quality of the joint swaging itself. Verifying the torque of the drill will not necessarily guarantee a good joint if the tool and or screw are not functioning correctly.

I had a friend that had a very similar problem at a Fortuane 500 company. He rewrote the calibration procedure so that the end product of the process was verified and not a middle point. Improved product quality, the process was verified on a continuous sampling plan, and the difficult and rather meaningless gauge calibration was eliminated.

This sounds good idea, in some companies its just too damn difficult to get even little change like that trough bureacraziness.

Ziggy2 · Aug 17, 2017

MattiJ said:
This sounds good idea, in some companies its just too damn difficult to get even little change like that trough bureacraziness.

I'm assuming that this is a new process since calibration apparently has not been done before.

The OEM does not do any calibration but they do have joint test equipment.

rich p · Aug 17, 2017

Ziggy2 said:
I think you are approaching this wrong.

You are trying to verify calibration of the torque controller and drill.

What matters is the quality of the joint swaging itself. Verifying the torque of the drill will not necessarily guarantee a good joint if the tool and or screw are not functioning correctly.

I had a friend that had a very similar problem at a Fortuane 500 company. He rewrote the calibration procedure so that the end product of the process was verified and not a middle point. Improved product quality, the process was verified on a continuous sampling plan, and the difficult and rather meaningless gauge calibration was eliminated.

I like your thinking. Elliott Tool won't do any calibration's, only repair. I asked if they knew of any company that could do a calibration and they came up empty which I found odd.

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