I Gave Up.

[Downwindtracker 2]

I went to use my digital electron caliper and it was flashing. Dead Battery. This time no spares. And the battery wasn't even a dollar store special . EverReady I think. I've had enough of constantly picking up batteries, so when I was in KBC picking up a reamer, I got a coolant proof Mititoyo . With so many counterfeit ones on line from places like Amazon, they had some interesting instructions for warranty. I have dial and vernier calipers in both metric and imperial, but I find the easy switching between the two handy.

 

[bonneyman]

Right there with you bro! I've been on a de-electronics kick for about 8 years now. As digital stuff fails I replace it with analog items. Not missing it!

Though I do make an exception for LED flashlights.

 

[like2wheel]

Right there with you bro! I've been on a de-electronics kick for about 8 years now. As digital stuff fails I replace it with analog items. Not missing it!

Though I do make an exception for LED flashlights.

It think you missed something in his post. I believe he did buy another digital caliper, just one of the quality that does not continue to consume batteries when it is turned off.

 

[CJM8515]

for my uses the harbor freight ones work fine. i just remove the battery when i store them

 

[Radio Flyer]

Right there with you bro! I've been on a de-electronics kick for about 8 years now. As digital stuff fails I replace it with analog items. Not missing it!

Though I do make an exception for LED flashlights.

Same here.

I couldn't toss that battery eating POS in the trash fast enough. It let me down every time i needed to use it.

"I will never be a victim again" is what I said when I bought an old school dial caliper to replace it.

I even kinda giggle about it every time I use it now.

 

[nadogail]

Electronic calipers are appropriate for those who can not read micrometers or vernier scales.

 

[ChefRex]

I have two Mititoyos, battery life has been over a decade, not used day to day but no drain.

 

[txvwnut]

I bought a mititoyo digital when they first came out in the 80’s. Used it religiously until one day I noticed it was mis-reading a measurement. I grabbed my standards and guess what, the bigger the measurement the farther off it was. Took the battery out and went back to my vernier and never considered sending it in for real-calibration as the verniers never seem to get out of spec. Oh and if your thinking that name brand digital will never have a dead battery guess what, it will too and that was another reason for staying with the old reliable calipers.

 

[xjfish]

I'm looking to get a Mititoyo digital SOLAR powered unit. Button cell batteries are annoying, especially when they are all dead! I try to keep a spare...

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Calipers are considered accurate to +/- .005 . More likely,you'll be within a thou. or so. But, if you need a better accuracy then that, use a mic. Where the electronic really shines,is in what is it ? say is it 1/2" ? or 12mm ? Beats taking the measurement and wandering over to the conversion poster. If it's in imperial, work in imperial or if it's metric, work in metric,. It's simpler. The numbers tend to be even.

At my age, a vernier is used with a magnifying glass. chuckle. I still keep a cheap one on the bench, but it's for scribing layout lines.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Oh I remember those early Mititoyo , one of the guys bought one and we all owed and awed. I was using a NSK vernier. The rich guys had dial calipers.

 

[bonneyman]

It think you missed something in his post. I believe he did buy another digital caliper, just one of the quality that does not continue to consume batteries when it is turned off.

Ah, wouldn't be the first time. Senior moment!

 

[vwpieces]

I have a few cheepo and not TOO cheepo digital calipers. iGaging is the better of them and it uses a CR2032 battery. I have many spares of those batts from old PC and PC repairs. But this one does not eat batts. And it has fractions. No need to do any math to convert, just switch the mode to see what the decimal or metric equivalent is.
I have a couple others that use the LR44 double and one thats a single and those should be thrown in the garbage as they always need a batt when I go to use them. Also out of spare LR44's

But I will definitely buy replacement calipers that use CR2032 batts, never again on the LR44.

 

[corn chip]

im in the market for some new calipers very soon but ill probly go with dial version. i got looking into starett but theyve moved some production to china and theyre usa line seems to be slipping in qaulity according to some reports so staretts on my do not buy list now. brown and sharpe appears to be made in china now so on the do not buy list. cpi is china far as i can tell so ill pass. probly ill pick up some mitutoyo and call it a day

 

[David0858]

I have a few cheepo and not TOO cheepo digital calipers. iGaging is the better of them and it uses a CR2032 battery. I have many spares of those batts from old PC and PC repairs. But this one does not eat batts. And it has fractions. No need to do any math to convert, just switch the mode to see what the decimal or metric equivalent is.
I have a couple others that use the LR44 double and one thats a single and those should be thrown in the garbage as they always need a batt when I go to use them. Also out of spare LR44's

But I will definitely buy replacement calipers that use CR2032 batts, never again on the LR44.

I bought one of those on Jan 20 this year and so far the battery is fine (I do like the CR2032 battery much better than LR44s). It replaced two $10 HF calipers. Except for one running the battery down fairly often I really don't have any complaints with them, though. I bought the first one in '04 or '05, the other a few years later. I can't remember why I bought the second but probably because the other ran the battery down. I built a good many things with them and never had any problems that I could tell with accuracy.

 

[Citation]

When it comes to things that use coin cells I buy the batteries in bulk. Over time I've just decided its better to buy 10 or more (sometimes much more) when buying coin cells. So if I need one for the car remote or a kids toy or my calipers I will buy a bunch of that size. This way I always have spares.

As for dead caliper batteries, I agree with others that Mitutoyo does well (in part because they want silver oxide batteries rather than the much cheaper alkaline versions). I have a Tesa (also sold as Brown and Sharp) and iGaging calipers that use the CR2032 cells. Those have no issues with battery life.

 

[corn chip]

whos a trusted online distributor of genuine mitutoyo ? their website doesnt seem to have that info. ive bought other high end stuff from transcat but their prices sometimes arent the best and it appears theyre out of stock on the caliper i want. ill reach out to a local distributor tomorow but again their prices arent that great. normally i dont sqaubble over 10 or $15 but im not paying $20+ for no reason

 

[PugetDude]

Changing a <$1.00 battery in a caliper isn't like changing the transmission in your car twice a year. Not sure I understand the problem, but you can send me those troublesome digital devices if it will make you feel better.

 

[American Locomotive]

Changing a <$1.00 battery in a caliper isn't like changing the transmission in your car twice a year. Not sure I understand the problem, but you can send me those troublesome digital devices if it will make you feel better.

The problem is a janky tool is frustrating. A caliper is a tool that I just want to work when I pick it up out of the box. It's super annoying constantly taking the battery in/out of a tool - especially if you use it frequently. It's also infuriating accidentally leaving the battery in a tool you infrequently use, and coming back to it completely dead, especially if your spare batteries have also been flattened from age (or use).

A mitutoyo will run 5+years on its battery - a HF caliper will be lucky to get 5 months.

whos a trusted online distributor of genuine mitutoyo ? their website doesnt seem to have that info. ive bought other high end stuff from transcat but their prices sometimes arent the best and it appears theyre out of stock on the caliper i want. ill reach out to a local distributor tomorow but again their prices arent that great. normally i dont sqaubble over 10 or $15 but im not paying $20+ for no reason

All the major tool vendors. MSC, Grainger, etc... Really anywhere but Amazon or E-Bay is a "safe" place to buy Mitutoyo.

 

[RTM]

Electronic calipers are appropriate for those who can not read micrometers or vernier scales.

They are definitely easier than my solution below

At my age, a vernier is used with a magnifying glass. chuckle.

What, this isn't the norm for everyone reading a 1/1000" caliper. The marks aren't very dark on this one, I can barely get the 0.425 level of accuracy unaided. Lots of light and lots of tilting.

I'm looking to get a Mititoyo digital SOLAR powered unit. Button cell batteries are annoying, especially when they are all dead! I try to keep a spare...

I have a solar Mitutoyo at work, gets intermittent usage, been going over 10 years without changing the battery, not sure how long my predecessor had it. Survived me being away from it during most of Covid, took a few seconds after pulling it out of the case to power up sitting on the desktop. Would have been a bit faster had the light in my office been working after the same time out of work.

 

[Jland]

It think you missed something in his post. I believe he did buy another digital caliper, just one of the quality that does not continue to consume batteries when it is turned off.

i am with ya man... the vernier has been around for only 500 years... what would we do with out electronic stuff

 

[tool_scrounge]

I like having a vernier caliper in my vehicle. No battery to die due to heat.

 

[PoorUB]

I needed to measure something nearly twelve inches long and bought a cheap HF digital caliper. I have had it for six years on the original batteries. I use it occasionally. I guess I got a good one.
I do have an older stainless vernier too, plus a set of mics up to six inches.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I have 12'x24" metal lathe so I"needed" to be able to measure accurately up to 12". Most of you will understand the" need " for tools, I'm sure. I was able to find a 0-6" tenths mic set and a interchangeable anvil 6-12" mic . One out of a pawn shop, the other used. But for metric I only have up to 125mm in mics, since I'm a Canuck , we work in both, I bought a 12"/300mm vernier. It was on sale at BusyBee (Grizzly in Canada). I guess there wasn't much market for verniers, so it was inexpensive. 'ell of a deal

I wish I could say the same about the Mititoyo caliper, $260 CDN. Take 1/3 off for USD. I wish I had bought one when they were in the $150 range.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

As for a Chinese dial caliper. Understand I think China on the world stage is a bad actor, but I've had a Chinese dial caliper for 30 years. I like it better than my made in USA Starrett. They can make quality stuff when they are being careful.

 

[mark-NJ]

All of mine are analog (dial). No batteries to die...frankly, I never saw the benefit of a tool that might not work when I reach for it.

As for quality, I have a very old Starrett, a ~25 year old Mitutoyo, and a $20 cheepie from Horrible Freight. Pains me to say it, but I've beat the daylights out of the HF, and it reads just as accurately as the "real" ones.

 

[corn chip]

but can you live with yourself knowing you have a garage full of china tools. i couldnt . to each their own i guess

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

All my machine tools and tooling are imported, from around the world . Canada didn't make much in that line.

 

[corn chip]

decided to get digital instead of dial since im using mm a fair bit and cant be bothered doing conversions all the time or buying a srcond caliper. this is my first mitutoyo caliper and i have to say you can feel the qaulity before you even open the box

 

[Craig Bernhardt]

 

[seber]

I have a Mitutoyo digital but can't remember the last time I opened the case. I keep B&S dial calipers in both the house and the shop for actual use.

 

[BOOT]

Had my HF digital one for idk how many years, only put 2-3 batteries in it. Been meaning to get another tired of looking for it LOL but always need something!

 

[VolvoRyan]

What's going on here? The OP just got a *cool* new measuring tool. Congrats!

At my age, a vernier is used with a magnifying glass. chuckle. I still keep a cheap one on the bench, but it's for scribing layout lines.

I, too, have reached the point where I need to pull off my regular glasses and pop on reading glasses to read anything small.

-Ryan

 

[nadogail]

Calipers are considered accurate to +/- .005 . More likely,you'll be within a thou. or so. But, if you need a better accuracy then that, use a mic. Where the electronic really shines,is in what is it ? say is it 1/2" ? or 12mm ? Beats taking the measurement and wandering over to the conversion poster. If it's in imperial, work in imperial or if it's metric, work in metric,. It's simpler. The numbers tend to be even.

At my age, a vernier is used with a magnifying glass. chuckle. I still keep a cheap one on the bench, but it's for scribing layout lines.

I have a plastic vernier caliber that has saved me hundreds of dollars in labor costs when I replaced the master cylinder on my pickup and was able to use it to set the master cylinder free play. No way was I going to buy the Toyota special tool or tow it to a dealership. Many of my measuring tools have been mysteriously lost over the years and now I get by with substitute ones.

 

[Ditchdigger]

I can't be the only person who uses the features of a digital caliper all the time. I use that zero feature on my Mitutoyos half a dozen times a day to measure bolt patterns or do compound measurements. I'm also hopping between metric and Inches every hour. I don't have the spare time to pull out a calculator to do that nonsense.

I have a drawer full of dial calipers but that Mitutoyo digital is always on my bench top.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

I've had the Harbor Freight one for like 8 years and it's still on the original battery

 

[jonshonda]

Between kids, bicycling, tools, cars, etc the battery charging/replacement game is NEVER ENDING! There isn't a week that goes by without some kind of battery related thing that needs to happen.

 

[bcschief]

Electronic devices have made us all stupid. Alexa fetch me a beer.

 

[autobon7]

I went to use my digital electron caliper and it was flashing. Dead Battery. This time no spares. And the battery wasn't even a dollar store special . EverReady I think. I've had enough of constantly picking up batteries, so when I was in KBC picking up a reamer, I got a coolant proof Mititoyo . With so many counterfeit ones on line from places like Amazon, they had some interesting instructions for warranty. I have dial and vernier calipers in both metric and imperial, but I find the easy switching between the two handy.

Its maddening how many counterfeit items Amazon sells. Ive even seen items that included the following in the description....."to ensure you receive a genuine ______please order from________" which is the home page for the item Im trying to buy. So Amazon is telling you straight up that this item is a fake. I will always skip Amazon if at all possible.

 

[dr_clyde]

I keep calipers at every machine, and we mostly use digital Mitutoyo for the ease of use. 6" and 12". I have dial calipers all over the shop though. Always something being measured quick.

I leave the Mitutoyo calipers on 100% of the time. The only thing the power switch turns off is the LCD, the absolute measuring head is always on. The LCD uses so little power its negligible. I have only had to replace batteries maybe once in the 3+ years i've had the 6" caliper. Have yet to replace the battery in one 6", or the 12".

Calipers are only trusted to +/- .005", but they're so much faster than a mic that we use them almost like a tape measure. Important measurements get taken with a mic, bore gage, indicator, etc.