That guy who insisted on torque specs for panel screws was right

Veteran installer from the Denver area told me to always torque the cover screws on residential panels to 8 inch-pounds. I figured it was overkill, just snugged them by feel for about 2 years. Customer complained about a loose cover after a cold snap, and I found three screws had backed out half a turn from vibration. Took me 20 minutes to redo the whole panel with a torque screwdriver. Anyone else skip torque specs on gear that sees daily door slams?

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1 Comment

victorhill11d ago

Honestly, that torque screwdriver just ends up being another tool to lose on the truck. Snug is snug, and if a cover is rattling after a cold snap, that’s more about the metal shrinking and the customer slamming the door like a gorilla than your wrist strength. Spent a decade doing resi work without ever checking inch-pounds and never had a call back, so this feels like a solution looking for a problem. Plus, you can’t tell me every one of those old timers is actually busting out the torque driver on a 40-panel house when they’re getting paid per panel. You fixed it in 20 minutes, so now you know what to look for, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us need to buy a new gadget. Tbh, I’d rather spend the money on a good bit set than a tool I’ll use twice a year.