Rant: Why I think 90% of the 'perfect torque' talk on green screw connections is overblown

I've been seeing all these posts about torquing down green ground screws on metal boxes to some exact spec. Everyone acts like you'll burn the house down if you don't hit 10 foot-pounds on the dot. But I've been doing this for 12 years, mostly commercial work around Atlanta, and I've seen the before and after. Before all these torque wrenches showed up on a job site, guys just snugged them down by feel, never had a ground fail. Now I see guys spending 5 minutes on one box with a torque screwdriver. I finally watched a foreman test a dozen connections with a fancy torque tool after we all hand-tightened them. The variance was huge, but every single one passed a continuity test and a high-current test. So what actually changed? I think it's just liability lawyers making us buy more tools and slow down. Has anyone else seen a real failure caused by an undertorqued ground screw, or is this just a paperwork thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

sullivan.elliot27d ago

Man, I hear you on that one.

graytorres27d ago

Just gotta stay consistent with it. I started setting a timer when I feel myself getting too wrapped up in the details. Five minutes to step back, take a breath, then come at it fresh. Works better than trying to force through the fog.