Thread: Digital Batteries

Originally Posted by wheelinround

.............One thing I do not agree on here is price of the tool used!! It doesn't matter if its a cheap $20 or $150 or even $300 tool which needs batteries they still use batteries...........

That is definitely not my experience. I have had my Mitutoyo Digimatic Absolute for 11 years and it is now running on its 4th SR44 battery. I bought it brand new on special for $119 in 2003 whilst visiting Switzerland. It moves silky smooth and is the best (digital) caliper that I own. For me, that is the benchmark to compare battery life with. There is no reason why a caliper should use more batteries than a quartz wrist watch.

In the same time, I have also owned 5 digital Chinese low cost calipers (3 from Aldi Workzone) and 6 digital Chinese scales (they use the same electronic chips than the calipers). I can tell you that current consumption on these varies a lot. It does not matter for me on the scales, because they get the power from the DRO. But from the 5 Chinese scales I have one working left, had to toss two because they drained the batteries too fast.

If you want cheap digital for everyday use, I can recommend the new generation of Chinese calipers with extra large display that can display mm, decimal inch and fractional inch, and use one CR2032 3V Lithium battery (same as on computer mother boards). Like this one:
6" Digital Electronic Caliper X Large Display Metric Inch Fractional Readout | eBay
For some reason such new models at affordable prices always first pop-up in the USA, and only years later come to Australia..... fortunately postage on calipers is not that bad.

If you want a real good caliper that lasts for life and is as accurate as a digital caliper and does not need any batteries at all, go for a Mitutoyo "Diamond" with prismatic ways and parallax free verniers. It is the very best caliper I have ever owned, (vernier or digital or dial). It is now almost 30 years old and still my most used good caliper.

Originally Posted by nearnexus

I have one of those cheap digital calipers that you see everywhere and cost about $15 - $20 off Ebay.

It turns on when you move the slide a significant distance.

One thing I notice is that if I put it away in the case switched off, and I happen to bump the case, when I open the case it's switched itself back on.

Almost seems like there is a "G" sensor in it, the way it's reacting.

Anyone else noticed this ?

The amount of a bump to set it off doesn't have to be great. The jaws are always fully closed both before and after the event.

Wierd.

Rob

Some, but not all of the first generation Chinese calipers (Swiss Sylvac clones) have this automatic power-on function. It appears the chip has this function built-in, it may or may not be activated by the caliper maker. If the caliper itself has too much slop (this is adjustable by the tiny grub screws that press onto the gib strip), a knock can cause a reading change that for the chip looks like if the scale was moved, and it turns the display on. You will find that whilst whilst the chip is always the same, there are very big quality differences in how well the circuit board is made, and how well the metal parts are made (particularly where you do not see it from outside!). You get what you pay for. The very worst overall caliper quality I have ever seen are the ones sold by Aldi under the brand name "Workzone". I have posted pics on an earlier thread.

Yes those Aldi ones I have are labelled Workzone, however I think that's just their house brand for tools. They were complete rubbish. I asked the store manager to hold 3 pair for me, 2 of them are still in their packaging. I've been meaning to introduce Mr Workzone Caliper to Mr Hammer, film it and send it to Aldi via Youtube, but even that seems more trouble than the things are worth.

Two things I've learnt not to compromise on with quality, as it has come back to bite me every single time I've tried; taps and measuring equipment. Both only have to let you down once for it to cost more that you think you'll ever save by trying to get something for nothing in the first place!

Ray, my Mitutoyo Verniers (2*150 & 1*300) and Height Gauge (600mm), Starrett Depth gauges and my angle gauges don't use batteries.

I do have digital Verniers, Height and Angle gauges - all kept with the respective battery out of the body, but only refer to them for confirmation of the manual gauges.

My experience with Mit digital verniers*** would appear to be some what different. Maybe they made a bad one, maybe they were early models?**. I've no idea when Mit first started making them but these would have been purchased around 1985. What a POS*....that experience had me fighting "anything with batteries" in the shed for years. A fight I lost 3 years ago to an $7.88(posted) caliper from China. It just works, it has auto power off and doesn't lose its setting when it does so. The battery would last well over a year I would guess(well so long I don't bother keeping track). It was going to be cut up for a DRO on the tailstock, but it worked so well I didnt, it now has to do both jobs. This is not to say I would trust the mechanical side of things to 0.01mm absolute, but they are certainly repeatable which is all I ask for the most part, the electronic side works just fine. Much of the time they are used as a glorified rule. Maybe a bit of a crap shoot. I purchased two that work great.....but as they cost nothing I don't take care of them in the same way as I do with my Mit etc stuff, so managed to break the glass covers...I bought two more... one didnt work nearly as well out of the box.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to go drilling holes in one of my Mits anyway.

Not much help to the OP I feel his pain.... but with the eyesight going something I have to live with

Stuart

*Now it was awhile ago. but I'm pretty sure they had auto power off....only one problem....... they needed to be reset every time they were turned on(or maybe you didnt as long as you turned them back on without moving them). You certainly couldn't trust them, after every reading you had to close the caliper to check you were still 0ed, which means you cant do some of the things that makes digital calipers handy.

**two in fact, we had 150mm and 300mm and they were both next to worthless.

***yes yes I know.. but I dont care.

Originally Posted by Pete F

In that case, I'd suggest you buy better tools!

Cheap Chinese calipers typically have poor battery life and need to have batteries tipped in to them constantly, so over the course of it's life they finish up not being cheap at all, give much angst, and are a POS caliper in the meanwhile. IIRC some of the cheap calipers I tried cost me almost 30 bucks from Aldi on special, are so bad I can't even give them away (literally) as they skip all over the place and can't be trusted, and use batteries two at a time.

I decided to bite the bullet and bought some used Mitutoyo Absolute calipers about 4 years ago. They cost me about a hundred bucks landed from the US. They don't auto-shutoff. I try to turn them off when not using them, but often forget, and will never turn them off in between using them. I use them constantly, and I mean constantly. They're as accurate (to their resolution) as my mics, though obviously with a mic you can interpolate further. In 4 years I've changed the battery once, and IIRC it wasn't actually flat at the time and I did it just as a precaution. They use just one LR44 battery.

So, as the Americans love to say, let's do the math:
Cheap POS caliper; $30 + 4 double battery changes a year @ $5 per time (as noted above, all batteries aren't the same!). Over 4 years, those calipers owe you $110 and aren't worth squat. Net cost $110.
Used Mitutoyo caliper; $100 + one battery in 4 years @2.50 per time. Over 4 years, those calipers owe you $102.50, and are still worth $100 if you were to sell them on locally. Net cost $2.50

But don't let logic stop people continuing to kid themselves that buying crap is cheap

I make no apologies if what I purchase offends people
It doesn't give anyone the right to abuse the situation as has been done here and from people I had held in high regard. Its time you woke up to yourselves.


I'd like then to thank those engineers who design and implement and sell what people choose to label cheap as it is therefore them who created these in the first place. Maybe these cheaper goods are their first efforts and mistakes.

Funny I never mentioned the price I paid to start with it seems everyone assumed I had just cheap shyte it shows the lack of sensibility and mental thought that goes into reading the whole post.

As the post was about the batteries and our use of digital equipment my frustration of when the need arises they are dying or dead.

The fact remains they seem to be taking over our lives.

We are becoming lazy in the fact we must have it there in bold screen format to believe it is right.

Our poor eyesight also failing, yet old engineers I worked with so many years ago used daily none digital gear and produced better quality made gear than is done today with digital. These guys inspired me to keep the faith and aim till I could do what I could and am doing now.

I used vernier as one example yet everyone jumped on the band wagon and stuck like glue to that and button batteries, sorry if you can't open your minds more.

I also mentioned AA and AAA and other types of equipment I have but not what they were or what was paid except the torches which are not so cheap 2 are $100+

Over the years I have paid top dollar for tools etc and some where as bad if not worse than cheap gear. I suggest you look around your own workshops at all the 2nd hand gear you have its not new you bought cheap or cheaply because it what you could afford.

Not everyone gets a life time full wage pension.

There's no obvious slop in my basic Chinese caliper, but it does this turn on thing. It's an early model and has done a lot of work.

It gives consistent readings PROVIDED you wipe down the scale with metho on a regular basis.

Any oil on those things is bad news.

The old mechanical calipers are good, and I have Mitutoyo (several) and a Chinese one, and apart from not feeling quite as smooth as the Mitu, they all work about the same accuracy wise.

I also have a very nice NSK vernier that I like to use - beautifully made.

Rob

Originally Posted by wheelinround

I make no apologies if what I purchase offends people
It doesn't give anyone the right to abuse the situation as has been done here and from people I had held in high regard. Its time you woke up to yourselves.


I'd like then to thank those engineers who design and implement and sell what people choose to label cheap as it is therefore them who created these in the first place. Maybe these cheaper goods are their first efforts and mistakes.

Funny I never mentioned the price I paid to start with it seems everyone assumed I had just cheap shyte it shows the lack of sensibility and mental thought that goes into reading the whole post.

As the post was about the batteries and our use of digital equipment my frustration of when the need arises they are dying or dead.

The fact remains they seem to be taking over our lives.

We are becoming lazy in the fact we must have it there in bold screen format to believe it is right.

Our poor eyesight also failing, yet old engineers I worked with so many years ago used daily none digital gear and produced better quality made gear than is done today with digital. These guys inspired me to keep the faith and aim till I could do what I could and am doing now.

I used vernier as one example yet everyone jumped on the band wagon and stuck like glue to that and button batteries, sorry if you can't open your minds more.

I also mentioned AA and AAA and other types of equipment I have but not what they were or what was paid except the torches which are not so cheap 2 are $100+

Over the years I have paid top dollar for tools etc and some where as bad if not worse than cheap gear. I suggest you look around your own workshops at all the 2nd hand gear you have its not new you bought cheap or cheaply because it what you could afford.

Not everyone gets a life time full wage pension.

Hey, chill mate, this is how your started self proclaimed "rant" thread.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I even quoted it and put a little wink after it so there wouldn't be any misunderstanding of intent.

You asked for suggestions about what to do regarding batteries. I suggested to buy BETTER tools, perhaps after you've finished frothing at the mouth you can show me where I said anything about more expensive tools. At least two of us here have suggested a BETTER caliper for you, if battery life is important, is the Mitutoyo Absolute, they're widely known as having excellent battery life. If it makes you feel any better, I also have a pair of Tesa calipers, more expensive, but they rarely see the light of day. I wouldn't recommend them, even though they are more accurate as they're not worn like my Mitus. The fit on the Tesa is so accurate the jaws don't cock like my Absolutes, or virtually any other caliper for that matter, but I still prefer the Mitutoyo version, and part of that reason is they're a BETTER tool because of the battery life.

I'm not even going to touch the rant about finances. God knows your blood pressure is likely 260/150 already

Edit: for the record however, and at the risk of you completely blowing a pooper valve, I will paste in why you may have received the responses you apparently didn't like.

One thing I do not agree on here is price of the tool used!! It doesn't matter if its a cheap $20 or $150 or even $300 tool which needs batteries they still use batteries.

Well actually. No.

Originally Posted by Pete F

Hey, chill mate, this is how your started self proclaimed "rant" thread.



I even quoted it and put a little wink after it so there wouldn't be any misunderstanding of intent.

You asked for suggestions about what to do regarding batteries. I suggested to buy BETTER tools, perhaps after you've finished frothing at the mouth you can show me where I said anything about more expensive tools. At least two of us here have suggested a BETTER caliper for you, if battery life is important, is the Mitutoyo Absolute, they're widely known as having excellent battery life. If it makes you feel any better, I also have a pair of Tesa calipers, more expensive, but they rarely see the light of day. I wouldn't recommend them, even though they are more accurate as they're not worn like my Mitus. The fit on the Tesa is so accurate the jaws don't cock like my Absolutes, or virtually any other caliper for that matter, but I still prefer the Mitutoyo version, and part of that reason is they're a BETTER tool because of the battery life.

I'm not even going to touch the rant about finances. God knows your blood pressure is likely 260/150 already

Edit: for the record however, and at the risk of you completely blowing a pooper valve, I will paste in why you may have received the responses you apparently didn't like.



Well actually. No.

Suggestions yes put downs no and thats what it became as I saw it. It was not aimed at you or anyone in particular other than I quoted Stu's post.

Yes it got my dander up and quite rightly so.

I'll double check tomorrow re-brand of my first digital vernier which wasn't exy but not cheap either Stena?? I think, its the one which is ARPIA. If I recall bought at Agquip during the 90's. This vernier may have originally had decent batteries in them as life of was over 5 years.

The 2nd one is ALDI and yep $20 it lasts longer has turn off etc.


As I said its still engineers who design and make them we just buy them.

Here's a summary of my stuff and battery times - all are Alkaline unless specified

Carbatec digital bevel. Went through 3 batteries and then died a couple of months out of warranty
Wixey Digital Angle finder (DAF) #1r. 3-4 months between batteries. Now erratic after being dropped.
Cheap chinese DAF, batteries lasted ~ 2 week. Worse still was that this DAF used 2 x 2032s. I used to remove the batteries completely after use but it stopped working altogether after about 2 years
Wixey DAF number 2, 6-8 months between batteries and still going strong although sometimes gives odd readings
Tiltabox DAF, is 8 months old - no battery replaced yet - working great

EBAY Digital SPL, the 2AA batteries supplied lasted up until it died completely after 6 months use. Replaced with $10 iPhone App.

Proteck DVM, 9V battery, longevity highly dependent on usage, typically 2-3 weeks with daily use or 2-3 months with low use.
In contrast my 30 year old Hioki Analog meter (which has taken a bath in an electrolysis tank) where the 2AA batteries last about 12 months - no auto off switch though so if left on resistance measurement the batteries may only last a few hours.
Digital Electrical Resistance tester (Megger meter) 6AA batteries last for only ~50 measurements, now runs off mains adapter
Fluke Digital Current Clamp - 2AA batteries, unit too new to assess.

Budget level 6" Vernier calliper #1, must have a short as new A76 batteries last for less than 24 hours - no longer in use
Budget level 8" Vernier calliper #2, A76 batteries last ~4 months
Medium Quality 8" Vernier calliper, A76 batteries last ~ 6 months. This one fell off a bench into a pile of oily swarf and sat there for months and got coverd in swarf and grinding dust. The fall also smashed the glass cover. When I found t I though it was dead but i cleaned it up and it works fine!
Budget level 6" Vernier calliper #3, $20 in special from H&F sounds like the one CBA has with the fractional inches, A76 batteries last ~ 9 months.

Digital low pressure gauge, purchased ~12 months ago - still using the same 2AA batteries it was supplied with.
Digital Tyre pressure gauge, bought at a garage sale 2 years ago still running with the same battery.

Fluke Digital Thermometer (DT) #1, 9V batteries last for >12 months
Mini DT used on chainsaw, SO battery lasts for about 9 months

Budget level EBAY 300 g digital scales, purchased 3 years ago still has the same batteries!
2 kg digital kitchen scales, AA batteries last about 6 months
I have 3 (50kg) digital luggage scales - 2 are too new to assess, the other one still has the original 2AA batteries from when purchase ~2 years ago.

Best of all is the digital laser tacho I bought nearly 10 years ago when they cost $60 - now they cost 1/5th of that. 4AA batteries last ~5 years!.
I have two kinds of digital spark sensing engine Tachos used on my chainsaws)
1 cannot have the battery replaced and have to be thrown away. One lasted for 3 years the other has lasted for 3 years and is still going OK
2 can replace 2xAA battery, still has original batteries but have hardly used it so battery life is unknown

As for rechargeables, I had multiple sets of rechargables and I found they were generally hopeless at holding their charge so I gave up on them.
Now I keep a box of all the common sizes and just replace them as required.

Bob thanks thats some listing

I could/should start a list like that 1 so I know brands etc list type of batteries required so its easier to make purchases for replacement.

I'd start with the wall clock which died Friday.

My remote control for dusty and lathe Aldi brand 2xAAA lasts between 6 months and 3 years depending on which recharge batteries used.

Originally Posted by Pete F

Yes those Aldi ones I have are labelled Workzone, however I think that's just their house brand for tools. They were complete rubbish. I asked the store manager to hold 3 pair for me, 2 of them are still in their packaging. I've been meaning to introduce Mr Workzone Caliper to Mr Hammer, film it and send it to Aldi via Youtube, but even that seems more trouble than the things are worth.

Two things I've learnt not to compromise on with quality, as it has come back to bite me every single time I've tried; taps and measuring equipment. Both only have to let you down once for it to cost more that you think you'll ever save by trying to get something for nothing in the first place!

My Aldi ones doing excellent and an engineering shop mate works for swears by them not at them in comparison to exy brands.

Hi everyone, well I've learnt something about batteries. I must admit I never put a huge amount of brain power into the types of batteries or the fact that a specific size battery can come in two different types of chemistries. Turns out I've been buying alkaline batteries and just assuming they are a bargain! A quick search on ebay for sr44 (oxide) shows that you need to pay considerably more for the oxide counterparts (ignoring the cheap, fake and probably substandard ones from China). I just ordered a pack of 10 Maxell SR44 from the US for $25 delivered. I'll be interested to see if they improve both reliability and run times in my calipers. I have a pair of Kinchrome calipers that were not actually that cheap, although I suspect they are probably not much better than the cheapies, just have a brand name on them. Anyway, they have been giving me unreliable readings even after changing the batteries. It seems to only be in one spot, so I may also do what Rob said and clean them with metho and see how they go. Thanks for the lesson on batteries, you never stop learning! The day you think you know everything is the day you stop learning..... Simon

Hi Ray,

Battery life is mostly function of design, I spend a significant part of my working life designing electronics and trying to find ways to reduce power consumption on electronic gizmos... The other significant factor that might not be obvious is the quality of the battery, generally the cheaper battery brands don't last as long. This has been discussed before.. https://www.woodworkforums.com/169374...e/#post1636670

Stick with Silver Oxide and good brands. Batteries self discharge, different rates depending on construction and chemistry, but don't get conned into buying hundreds of batteries, the shelf life is a factor, good quality silver oxide, you might get 5 years shelf life, probably less for alkaline manganese. (LR44 types)

One other thing to consider, is when the battery contacts start to corrode and make poor contact with the battery, don't start scratching away at the contacts with wet and dry, you'll ruin the plating, which then oxidizes twice as fast and before you know it, you'll have bad contacts and it starts acting up again... use a contact cleaner like de-oxit. (I think Jaycar have it... I use the pen type ..

MG Chemicals 801B P Super Contact Cleaner PEN Clean Lubricates Protects 10ml | eBay

Once you've ruined the contacts by scraping, it's hard to get back.

For torches and such, I've pretty much moved to Lithium Poly, and rechargeable alkaline for things that need AAA or AA batteries.. I don't like the NiMh or NiCad, the voltage is too low.. 1.2 vs 1.5

Ray

PS... I like Mahr calipers.. batteries last 2-3 years (so far), never turned off.