4303
Active Member
Posts: 44
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Post by 4303 on Mar 8, 2020 11:03:35 GMT
Can anyone recommend a reliable make of digital caliper please? I have had two goes with Moore and Wright ones and in both cases they have failed within a year. I have replaced the batteries with the recommended type/make but to no avail. My workshop is (relatively) warm and dry; steel doesn't corrode for a long time and I am sure that the environment is fine. Alternatively, is there something inside which requires cleaning? I am a bit reluctant to dismantle electronic items just to 'look inside'. I am using my old, original mechanical caliper which works well but have found it handy to have big numbers to read as my old eyes have aged which my caliper hasn't!
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stevep
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,070
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Post by stevep on Mar 8, 2020 11:26:50 GMT
I once read that digital calipers don't actually turn off - when you press the 'off' button, it just blanks the display. As a result, the batteries run down quite quickly, unless you use the silver oxide batteries. You can get them in the same size, but not silver oxide, and the result is a flat battery quite quickly.
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millman
Part of the e-furniture
Posts: 297
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Post by millman on Mar 8, 2020 11:32:55 GMT
Never had any trouble with Mitutoyo digital callipers but make sure you buy a genuine one, lots of cheap and nasty copies out there. I have also purchased a couple of the Aldi and Lidl digital callipers, they are about ten quid each and come with a couple of years warranty, so keep your receipt, They are not as silky smooth as Mitutoyo but perfectly ok for a model engineering environment.
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Post by osiris09 on Mar 8, 2020 11:36:34 GMT
I quite like my “limit” calipers. They do inch fraction which I find quite useful. Done 3 sets of batteries in the last 4-5 years I would say.
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Post by jon38r80 on Mar 8, 2020 11:48:59 GMT
Nylon filled plastic ones that cost about a pound by slow boat from China work very well particularly if you are aren’t interested I thousands of a millimetre. Marvellous for wood work. Make good cheap DRO devices where you don’t care about wear on the jaws. You don’t care if you drop them either. My old dial mitotoyo calipers bought in Japan in the eighties don’t see the light of day often any more. Too worried about damaging them
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Post by andyhigham on Mar 8, 2020 13:36:23 GMT
Mitutoyo 'nuff said
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Post by Roger on Mar 8, 2020 16:07:49 GMT
Plus one for Mitutoyo. The batteries seem to last for years, and you can usually find them on eBay for a reasonable price. All mine came from there.
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jasonb
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,209
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Post by jasonb on Mar 8, 2020 16:19:55 GMT
Another vote for Mitutoyo, just watch out for fakes.
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jem
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,067
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Post by jem on Mar 8, 2020 17:20:55 GMT
Mine is from Lidl works fine, and the batteries last for ages
Jem
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barlowworks
Statesman
Now finished my other projects, Britannia here I come
Posts: 874
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Post by barlowworks on Mar 8, 2020 17:26:03 GMT
Yet another vote for Mitutoyo, you get what you pay for. Also Lindstrom cutters and pliers, you only buy them once.
Mike
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Post by goldstar31 on Mar 8, 2020 17:45:12 GMT
Mine is from Lidl works fine, and the batteries last for ages Jem Lidl and Aldi are fine for the price- and a 2 year no quibble warranty? The replacement batteries come on a card for a quid. Little wonder that Poundland profits are minimal if any. Who but a miser could fault my prudence. Such a nice girl, too Norm
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Post by 92220 on Mar 8, 2020 18:46:12 GMT
That is strange 4303. What is happening to your calipers? I have 2 sets of Moore & Wright digital calipers that I have had for years, and am often dropping them or knocking them on the floor. They still read within a couple of tenths when checked with various size measuring blocks, which I have to admit, surprises me, the number of times they have been knocked off the milling table!
Bob.
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Gary L
Elder Statesman
Posts: 1,208
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Post by Gary L on Mar 8, 2020 21:14:21 GMT
Mine is from Lidl works fine, and the batteries last for ages Jem Lidl and Aldi are fine for the price- and a 2 year no quibble warranty? The replacement batteries come on a card for a quid. Little wonder that Poundland profits are minimal if any. Who but a miser could fault my prudence. Such a nice girl, too Norm I agree with both. I have 3 electonic callipers; I can't remember where the first came from; another was from Lidl and a left-hand one from Machine-DRO. They are all equally accurate, checked against a micrometer. There is a Mitutoyo at the club, which does have a more robust 'feel' to it, but I wouldn't pay the price premium when the others are more than adequate, and if I smash one up (which I haven't done in 10 years) I won't be upset. The LH one is very useful for lathe work by the way; (I am not left-handed). There are at least 2 different battery types involved, all dirt-cheap from a pound shop, so why get fancy ones? The Lidl one is branded 'Powerfix' and has a slightly annoying software feature of switching off to save power after 5 mins or so. That's not so very bad, but the annoyance is it defaults to mm on start-up. Also it lacks the 'hold' feature of the other two, which is occasional useful in inaccessible places. Very likely newer Lidl types are different, but check if you can. HTH Gary
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Post by Jo on Mar 8, 2020 21:18:42 GMT
I have an ancient Mitutoyo solar digital calliper it must be over 25 years old and going strong. Still haven't had to change the battery Jo
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Post by 92220 on Mar 9, 2020 8:43:02 GMT
I have an old Mitutoyo digital from years ago. I have ground the legs down to less than half their width to enable measuring in tight spaces. I even ground off the inside measuring legs completely, for the same purpose. It's been knocked on the floor many times, like my others, and it still reads perfectly accurately. Admittedly it's a wooden floor not concrete, so that might have helped to save them.
Bob.
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dscott
Elder Statesman
Posts: 2,438
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Post by dscott on Mar 10, 2020 2:12:20 GMT
You can never have too many and my favorite is to have 3 on a job mostly set to what I need. So one set to half the metal center pop mark the next hole do the first calipers for the half, centre pop and do another hole also pre set. Check and check. Center punch. Small drill. check for wander. Tilt the metal and get it to behave. Drill through.
Occasionally sharpen the points for marking out. Now where did I put the spare batteries for the digital ones?
Regards David and Lily.
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uuu
Elder Statesman
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Post by uuu on Mar 10, 2020 8:25:56 GMT
I haven't used one for years, but I used to really like the ones with a dial. No batteries needed and very easy to read.
Wilf
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4303
Active Member
Posts: 44
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Post by 4303 on Mar 10, 2020 13:21:13 GMT
I have read the replies with interest and Mitutoyo seems to get the vote. Today, though, I looked on youtube and there were a number of films relating to repairing digital calipers. I decided to bite the bullet this morning and to dismantle mine. There doesn't seem to be much to them. I cleaned what seemed to be 'the works' with solvent, reassembled it and it was a hey presto moment. So far no switching between imperial and metric and no sudden swerves to show a negative measurement. The reply concerning switching off the battery merely closing off the display and not the insides seems to be correct. I removed the battery before picking up a screwdriver but, as the display board was lifted from the green thing inside (the works I guess), it flickered with a reading! I make no pretence of understanding electronics but it seemed to be an impossible thing to see happening.
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uuu
Elder Statesman
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Post by uuu on Mar 10, 2020 13:46:11 GMT
Not magic. There are probably some capacitors in the circuit that retain a charge for a while after the power cell is out. Perhaps designed to keep the circuits alive (and retain the zero setting) when changing cell.
Clearly worth having a go!
Wilf
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