Switched my view on using torque wrenches for every connector after a senior tech chewed me out

I used to just hand-tighten BNC and N-type connectors on antennas cause it felt fine. Then Roger at the hangar in Atlanta showed me a crushed dielectric from an overtightened LMR-400 and said I was costing the shop signal loss. Now I torque every RF connector to spec, no exceptions. Anyone else have a coworker who changed your whole approach to something basic?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_murphy21d ago

You're really gonna torque a BNC connector? Those things are designed to hand tighten, the spec is literally "finger tight plus a quarter turn" on most of them. I've seen more damage from guys cranking down on them with a wrench than from hand tightening. The threads on cheaper connectors strip out way easier than a crushed dielectric. Plus if you're up on a tower or in a tight rack, you're telling me you're hauling a torque wrench around for every little thing? That seems like overkill for connectors that cost peanuts to replace.

jade73821d ago

Gotta push back a bit here @olivia_murphy because I've seen the other side of this argument play out too many times. Hand tightening is great until you're dealing with vibration in a mobile setup or an outdoor install where wind and weather will loosen things up over time. Yeah, torque wrenches are a hassle on a tower, but so is climbing back up there in six months because a connector worked itself loose and killed your signal. Cheap connectors definitely strip easier, but if you're buying quality ones and torquing to like 8-10 inch pounds, you're not going to crush or strip anything. And honestly, replacing a loose connector costs more in downtime than just spending an extra 30 seconds the first time around. It's one of those things where the spec exists for a reason even if most people ignore it.