For years, DeWalt has skirted norms with its Units Watts Out (UWO) specification. At least, that’s been the case here in America. Overseas they still use the traditional Newton-meters (Nm) to express torque in drills and impact drivers. Today, however, an announcement came out as DeWalt drops units watts out for meter-pounds (m#). This new specification will replace units watts out (UWO) in order to unify both European and American markets with a single format for measuring power.

NOTE: This was an April Fool’s post from 2018

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“We already had the most robust specification on the market, but since it couldn’t really be measured or calculated by anyone but us, we thought a change was in order. Switching it up to more recognizable terms was an easy call to make. Everyone in America understands pounds, and overseas the metric system reigns supreme. Why not combine both into a single spec?” – Stan L. Deckher, product manager

With the end of units watts out, DeWalt enters a new phase whereby their numbers can be mathematically compared to other manufacturers in baseline comparisons. The only difficulty will be determining whether to begin calculations in metric and convert to standard, or vice-versa. There’s also the issue of which tools will carry the new designation. Since we’re now talking about distance and weight, tools like reciprocating saws, rotary hammers, and even miter saws could begin carrying the new power measurement.

Calculating Meter-Pounds from Torque and UWO

We’ve prepared a brief conversion for those looking to understand the relationship between units watts out, torque, and meter-pounds. The conversion is a bit tedious but consistent:

m# = ft-lbs x 0.3048

Of course, getting there from UWO is a bit more involved. For this, you need to factor in speed (in the form of RPMs) but without forgetting to convert to metric! Here are some baseline calculations you can make:

(speed x torque) / 560 = UWO

speed x torque = 560 x UWO

torque = (560 x UWO) / speed

m# = 0.0254 (560 x UWO) / speed

There you go. Easy as pie. Our hope is that as DeWalt drops units watts out for meter-pounds, the new spec will usher in a common unity among international tool manufacturers.

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