Electronic caliper purchase help

[artieb]

Hi, I have a real cheap 6 inch, sliding, electronic LCD caliper and the LCD stopped working . I want to replace it. I am HORRIBLE at math, and would like one that is fractional and metric. Who makes a good one for 30 - 40$ range? The cheap one i have now never seemed to be accurate, anyways.

 

[rlitman]

$30-40. LOL.
Stick with the $10 (with coupon) steel ones at HF. They're actually quite accurate, and the next step up is well over $200.

 

[1930artdeco]

I just got a Brown&Sharp from the 40's that does 1/1000" for $35. I know you want both but ebay sometimes has good deals.

Mike

 

[Stooge]

i forget where i got it from, sears of home depot but the General brand ones arent too bad for just quick measurements, and i think are right around $30 so you dont have to worry about it too much. there are only 2 decimal places so its not going to give you hugely accurate readings for minute tolerances. the next step up in my opinion and what we give as a supplementary caliper in our field service kits are Fowler brand, a little more expensive but much more accurate, followed by Mitutoyo which are more money, more accurate and are our primary ones both in the lab and for our field service guys.
i have both a couple sets of general calipers in the garage and home and a set of mitutoyo, general ones get used more simply because i usually dont need the mitutoyo's in my day to day and i dont want to subject them to possible damage if i dont need to.

 

[Slowboat]

I got a mid level ($45 on sale) Fowler, and wish I had saved the $30 and gotten a HF instead. The quality of the Fowler is pretty poor.

 

[Davefr]

Either stick to the cheap $10 Chinese calipers or step up to a $100+ Mitutoyo Digimatic.

There's not much in your $30-40 price range that would represent a substantial quality jump.

 

[Zrexxer]

+1. Mitutoyo is the first real jump in quality, price-wise. And the improvement in smoothness, repeatability, and how well it holds zero is considerable. I have a couple of the HF ones that I use when I teach my reloading classes at the rifle club. They're fine for students who have never used a precision measuring instrument before and very well might drop or otherwise damage one, but I use my Mitutoyos at home.

 

[Steinmetz]

Hi, I have a real cheap 6 inch, sliding, electronic LCD caliper and the LCD stopped working . I want to replace it. I am HORRIBLE at math, and would like one that is fractional and metric. Who makes a good one for 30 - 40$ range? The cheap one i have now never seemed to be accurate, anyways.

Did you check the battery? Some of these cheap digital calipers are real power hogs.

 

[Steinmetz]

$30-40. LOL.
Stick with the $10 (with coupon) steel ones at HF. They're actually quite accurate, and the next step up is well over $200.

No. I bought the Mitutoyo digital calipers for about $120. I like them only because they do the arithmetic when turning to a desired diameter. Otherwise, I use a dial caliper, or even a vernier type.

 

[Heavy tech]

I buy cheap digi's from napa. There like $12 on sale, and I think they have been on sale for the past year or more. They come with 2 batteries too, one replacement battery is like $10, so after I've used up the 2 batts I chuck em and buy new, cheaper than I could buy 2 replacement batteries.


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[454ragtop]

Check CL for quality used, have a couple used Mitutoyos that have treated me very well.
Jim

 

[4xdog]

Did you check the battery? Some of these cheap digital calipers are real power hogs.

Steinmetz is right on here. I have the HF plastic and steel calipers, and it got real old having to put in a new battery every time I went to use the d****d things. I keep the batteries out of them now.

My 30 year old Fowler vernier calipers are just fine though... no such issue (smile). I'm going to keep my eyes out for Mitutoyos...

 

[neblinc]

Interesting read on the Battery's.
Button Battery's

Randy

 

[rcjoy]

As others have already said, Mitutoyo is the way to go. Get the "Absolute" model, as you rarely have to re-zero them. It is also available in a sealed version to keep coolant out.

 

[Mandres]

Interesting read on the Battery's.
Button Battery's

Randy

That is interesting, thanks. I couldn't find the correct number anywhere when I replaced the one in my HF caliper. Sounds like the lesson here is to remove the battery when it's going back into storage

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[techenthusiast]

What are your opinions on the bluepoint digital caliper?


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[Grimly]

I recently bought a cheapy Chinese digital vernier just for quick valve shim measurement. After making sure of its accuracy and repeatability by testing it on known thicknesses, I've been using it quite happily for its intended purpose. I double-check it every so often. If it breaks, no biggie at that price.
Otoh, a Mitutoyo would be nice to have...

 

[artieb]

I'm gonna get the cheapies, I know about the button batteries. Every time I needed a measurement it was the battery shell game. Thanks for some education on calipers, Artie

 

[IMStuner]

I just ordered a Mitutoyo 500-752-10 Digital Calipers, Battery Powered, Inch/Metric from Amazon and signed up for their credit, which gave me $60.00 off. I had a Fowler/Helios made in Germany one that was in CM.

 

[ecotec]

Did you check the battery? Some of these cheap digital calipers are real power hogs.

This. Cheap calipers never actually turn off. The screen just "goes dark" after so long, but they are still using power. Obviously a TINY amount of power, but still… Anyways, that is what is happening.

 

[Steinmetz]

What are your opinions on the bluepoint digital caliper?


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Who knows? Probably some "brand-x" with the Bluepoint label applied. Could be made by anyone, and the actual manufacturer may change over time.

 

[torqueman2002]

I have a digital caliper from Amazon like this one.

It displayes mm, decimal & fractional inch measurements. $25.00 (Free shipping - w/ Prime)

http://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Electronic-Digital-Fractions-Stainless/dp/B001AQEZ2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400175092&sr=8-1&keywords=iGaging+IP54+Electronic+Digital+Caliper+0-6%22+Display+Inch%2FMetric%2FFractions+Stainless+Steel+Body

 

[techenthusiast]

Who knows? Probably some "brand-x" with the Bluepoint label applied. Could be made by anyone, and the actual manufacturer may change over time.

I've purchased it and I've been using it. It works as long as I take a few measurements and make sure to zero it out each time. My lr44 batteries died fast so I replaced them with the 357 silver oxide and I take them out after every use... This process helped


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[Steinmetz]

I've purchased it and I've been using it. It works as long as I take a few measurements and make sure to zero it out each time. My lr44 batteries died fast so I replaced them with the 357 silver oxide and I take them out after every use... This process helped


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If you'd bought the Mitutoyo calipers, you'd never have one moment of regret.

 

[Steinmetz]

I have a digital caliper from Amazon like this one.

It displayes mm, decimal & fractional inch measurements. $25.00 (Free shipping - w/ Prime)

http://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Electronic-Digital-Fractions-Stainless/dp/B001AQEZ2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400175092&sr=8-1&keywords=iGaging+IP54+Electronic+Digital+Caliper+0-6%22+Display+Inch%2FMetric%2FFractions+Stainless+Steel+Body

91/128ths of an inch. That's useful information. (sarcasm off now).

 

[zakmartin]

I just bought a Mitutoyo 500-196-30. It's the new kid on the block for mid-end Mitutoyo digital calipers. They costs about $115. I couldn't be happier. My eyes are getting old and I was getting tired of reading my dial gauges (even though they're USA-made Central Tools, which are actually quite nice).

 

[chris_1001]

Mitutoyo! hands down! I have one from 1998/9 love it. Ive use other brands at work and such. But I prefer the feel and quality of mine.

 

[torqueman2002]

91/128ths of an inch. That's useful information. (sarcasm off now).

Yup, like all tools - only as good as the tool using them.

 

[scooternut]

The battery issue got me to thinking about dollar store door alarms. Great little alarms for a buck, and it looks like they come with 3 of the "44" batteries in question. and for only a dollar!

http://www.dollartree.com/catalog/a...328789&entityType=product&isAlt=false&index=0

 

[MOwens]

Digital, you cannot beat Mitutoyo. Dial calipers stick with Brown and Sharpe, Starrett, and Mitutoyo in no particular order. Save up until you can afford a Mitutoyo with absolute scales if you are serious about a caliper.

 

[franzdom]

I LOVE Tesa swiss made, auto shutoff, they can be had under $100. At work we use Mitsutoyo but they do burn batteries.

 

[619DioFan]

I have a digital caliper from Amazon like this one.

It displayes mm, decimal & fractional inch measurements. $25.00 (Free shipping - w/ Prime)

http://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Electronic-Digital-Fractions-Stainless/dp/B001AQEZ2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400175092&sr=8-1&keywords=iGaging+IP54+Electronic+Digital+Caliper+0-6%22+Display+Inch%2FMetric%2FFractions+Stainless+Steel+Body

I really like this. I have the HF version which for me works fine but I really like the 3rd measurement option as my math skills are terrible.

 

[forp]

In regards to the battery type, I use silver oxide on my Mitutoyo, it last a long time almost 3 years. Silver oxide also work well for very cold climate. For my other cheap calipers its alkaline for all. I change them when they are used and they are very cheap. It is more economical for me as bulk buy Alkalines are 1/30 the cost of silver oxide. And alkalines have 10 years shelf live, much longer than Silver Oxide.

I tried silver oxides on the cheap calipers I don't see a huge improvement. The parasite standby current is still there it doesn't get any better with silver oxide. Really fresh Alkalines starts off at 1.7v then slowly tapers to 1.0v when empty. You can hook up your digital caliper to a power supply and check the minimum working voltage. If it still works at 1.2v I would use alkaline no problems at all. These devices are made to work at a range of voltage, you will not lose accuracy due to falling battery voltage.

I would use Silver oxide for more expensive equipment as Alkaline button cells tends to leak there is risk of battery terminal corrosion. But for cheap calipers, always Alkalines.

 

[IMStuner]

Got my mitutoyo

 

[ecotec]

IMStuner, what model did you buy?

 

[uart]

The battery issue got me to thinking about dollar store door alarms. Great little alarms for a buck, and it looks like they come with 3 of the "44" batteries in question. and for only a dollar!

http://www.dollartree.com/catalog/a...328789&entityType=product&isAlt=false&index=0

No, there's no need to buy a cheap appliance just to salvage those cheap batteries. It's pointless as you can buy cheap alkaline batteries like that at 10 pieces for $1 on ebay anyway.

That's the thing with them. Their very wide spread use in cheap toys and other products has made them incredibly cheap to buy. The down side (as already stated) is that they have lower capacity and less stable voltage than the much more costly silver oxide cells. But, if they do work ok in your calipers, then the big up side is that you can get replacement batteries for cents per unit.

I've got one of the variety of cheap $20 digital calipers here (probably similar to whatever you get at HF) and it's great for taking quick measurements. When I've tested it against my good Mitutoyo (conventional) verniers I've always found it agrees to the nearest thou (0.02mm). The Mitu's are smoother and feel a lot nicer, but I've gotta admit I use the cheap digital ones much more often, just due to their convenience.

BTW. Mine works fine on those cheap alkaline batteries. I replace the battery about every two years, and at a cost of about 50 cents I've definitely got no complaints.

 

[IMStuner]

IMStuner, what model did you buy?

Mitutoyo 500-752-10 Digital Calipers, Battery Powered, Inch/Metric,...
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