Shoutout to the old-timer at the hangar in Tucson who said he never uses a torque wrench on bleed valves

He told me, 'You feel the crush washer seat, then it's just a quarter-turn more, and I've done it that way for 40 years on Cessnas without a single leak,' which finally made me stop over-tightening and stripping the threads.

3 comments

3 Comments

karent752mo ago

But what if that old-timer just got lucky for four decades?

gavine412mo ago

Lol that's the kind of wisdom that costs you a few stripped threads to learn. I definitely went through a phase of thinking tighter was always better.

tessap981mo ago

I read this one mechanic's blog where he said his dad taught him to use a torque wrench on everything the first time, just to get a feel for how much force different bolts actually need. Something about that idea stuck with me because it's easy to think you're being careful and still go way past what's needed. On my old truck I snapped a bolt on the exhaust manifold by accident, and it was a real pain to get out. Your mileage may vary but that's been my experience with that whole learning curve.