Fred W B
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 06:38 PM |
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Digital Vernier Caliper battery life?
Although I do have (and can read) a conventional vernier, I prefer using a digital vernier as you can for example:
- Measure a bolt hole dia on a PCD, than zero the vernier and read the PCD directly by measuring across the outside of the holes
- Compare sizes by measuring the first position or piece , then zero the vernier and read off the variances directly
and they are more convinent to read, but the damn things seem to use the battery up so quickly.
These are the type that use a "hearing aid" type battery and are available cheaply almost anywhere nowadays. Sometime the batteries you
buy seem to be flat before you even put them into the thing.
Anybody else find the same? - I do remember to turn the vernier off between uses.
I mention the "(and can read)" above as I was looking at a new fangled digital measuring tape in the hardware shop a while ago. A huge
bulky thing, with a series of holes along the tape, such that it would not last long in regular use. I asked the shop assistant who would want/need
such a thing, when a regular tape is so simple and works so well.
He says "Ah but is for the people who can't read a tape measure!" - I reckon if you can't read a tape you should not be using
one anyway.
OK, BOF mode off now
Cheers
Fred W B
[Edited on 9/6/08 by Fred W B]
You can do it quickly. You can do it cheap. You can do it right. – Pick any two.
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chrsgrain
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 07:43 PM |
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I agree - 2nd most useful tool after clecos....
Batteries - first set - 6 weeks, this set 6 months and counting... wonder if there is something wrong with your calipers??
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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bigandy
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 07:44 PM |
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I have a cheapy digital vernier at home, and that eats batteries like they are going out of fashion.
However, the Mitutoyo one I use at work has been running off the same battery for over 3 years now, and I rarely remember to turn the thing off.....
Dammit! Too many decisions....
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zetec7
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 07:48 PM |
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Same here - my Mitutoyo digital caliper has had one battery change in the 14 years I've owned it...and only because I left it on for a couple of
weeks once by accident. The current battery is about 8 years old, but the display is admittedly starting to get faint...
http://www.freewebs.com/zetec7/
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UncleFista
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 07:50 PM |
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I read somewhere (can't remember where, but sounds feasible) that the cheap ones have no memory, so instead of having to zero them every time
you switch them on, only the display is actually switched off.
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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Alan B
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 08:05 PM |
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Mini rant...
Guys....they are either digital or vernier.....I don't know any that are both...
Battery life...I have one caliper with a seemingly everlasting battery and another that uses them quite fast...so basically...no idea..
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coozer
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 08:25 PM |
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I'm in charge of the calibration at work. we have dozens of Mitutoyo and Tesa calipers that are left on 24/7. The batterys last for months.
Cheaper ones like from Aldi are crap, they only last a couple of months then fail calibration due to poor pick ups inside.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 08:35 PM |
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I have an elderly Mitutoyo caliper - the manual states that the battery will last 1 year if left on permanently, 2 years if you turn it off after each
use.
In fact it's had just 2 new batteries in 15 or 16 years!
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MikeR
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 09:03 PM |
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i've got two cheap ones. Don't use them that much but both have had the same battery since i bought them. one is a couple of years old the
other a year.
maybe you're using it too much 
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DavidW
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 09:10 PM |
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I have a Mitutoyo one that I was given in my first job after uni 8-9 years ago, it's still going on the original battery.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 09:17 PM |
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I think that everyone is saying the same thing - you get what you pay for! Spend a fortune on a Mitutoyo and hardly every buy a battery. Buy a cheap
one and pay a fortune on batteries.
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stevec
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| posted on 9/6/08 at 09:19 PM |
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Mitutoyo 12 years of occasional use and still going .
Steve.
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Fred W B
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 06:01 AM |
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Thanks Guys, got the answer I was looking for. Have to look into what proper ones cost
Alan - I stand corrected.
Cheers
Fred W B
You can do it quickly. You can do it cheap. You can do it right. – Pick any two.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 11:18 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by UncleFista
I read somewhere (can't remember where, but sounds feasible) that the cheap ones have no memory, so instead of having to zero them every time
you switch them on, only the display is actually switched off.
Absolutely correct, the display is simply disabled which reduces the current draw somewhat, but the measuring circuit reamins active. I take the
batteries out of mine if I'm not going to use them for a while. It's a bit of a hassle, but not as annoying as having a flat battery when
you need to use it.
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Alan B
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 01:19 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Fred W B
Thanks Guys, got the answer I was looking for. Have to look into what proper ones cost
Alan - I stand corrected.
Cheers
Fred W B
Fred, it wasn't aimed at you..sorry if it came acroos like that.....just a non-specific target mini-rant..
The other one that bugs me is quad-bike...it's a bike (2 wheels) or quad (4 wheels) can't be both....
I have more too.......guess I should get a life...LOL
Alan
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 01:55 PM |
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It's one of the most useful tools I own, especially at the lathe. Set the gauge to the dimension I want and zero it; measure the diameter of
the piece in the lathe; read off the amount to be removed off the diameter - easy. All I need extra is a button that divides the result by 2 (the
amount I need to wind the tool into the work) then I'd be overjoyed!
Much better than trying to work it out with a manual vernier or micrometer...
(Alan B - terminology OK?  )
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Fred W B
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| posted on 10/6/08 at 02:11 PM |
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Alan, no problem at all.
I correct people on stuff like that all the time as well.
I also dislike using slang terms for technical items, call it by its name for pete's sake.
Shall I start another thread re incorrectly calling dampers "shocks"
Cheers
Fred w B
You can do it quickly. You can do it cheap. You can do it right. – Pick any two.
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Davey D
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| posted on 11/6/08 at 07:52 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Fred W B
Alan, no problem at all.
I correct people on stuff like that all the time as well.
I also dislike using slang terms for technical items, call it by its name for pete's sake.
Shall I start another thread re incorrectly calling dampers "shocks"
Cheers
Fred w B
That is one of my pet hates too... people calling their Springs & Dampers "Shockers".. grrrrr damned americanism
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02GF74
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| posted on 12/6/08 at 09:46 AM |
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they are rubbish as far as battery life goes. I remove the battery after using them whcih due to the palaver involved, I don;t and use the manual
ones.
The problem I think is that the unit is power on all the time and the on switch is not swtiching the supply but is detected by the electronics to know
when you want to turn it on.
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DIY Si
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| posted on 14/6/08 at 04:35 PM |
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I can also vouch for the Mitutoyo stuff. I used to calibrate and look after a factory full of them and other verniers and gauges. The only ones that
never needed new batteries where the mitutoyo ones. In the 3 years I was there I never changed a battery in one of the 50 or so I looked after. I only
had 2 go out of calibration too. I may have had 3 or 4 go missing though.
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