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I have a couple of Harbor Freight digital calipers (but I can't find one). The one I have on hand I purchased about five years ago and it worked OK for a while, but then became intermittent. I purchased the second one with the thought of returning the first one, but when I changed batteries they both seemed to work OK so I decided to keep both, since they were only about $16 each. But it seemed like every time I went to use it I had to play around with it and squeeze the battery cover for it to work for a while. Even fresh batteries did not fix the problem.
So I peeled the backing off and took it apart. It seemed that the display would work when I pressed on it, so I removed it and cleaned the black polarized conductive rubber piece that connects the LCD display to the PCB. This seemed to fix it, but recently I tried to use it and once again I had the same problem. The battery was weak so I replaced it with no joy. I took it apart again and I got it to work eventually, but next day it was dead again. I had resoldered the battery contacts and it seemed like it may have shorted the battery, but after fixing that and another battery replacement, it still had problems, and I gave up. Now I guess I have a fancy stainless steel monkey wrench!
I have a cheap plastic mechanical dial caliper which seems to be reasonably accurate but the dial is calibrated in 0.01" increments, so I can only guess at thousandths. But it is fairly useful for rough measurement and at least there are no batteries to go dead or sensitive electronic components to flake out. It is also good that it is non-conductive, so I can safely measure the length of batteries or the diameter of live electrical wires.
About a year ago I found a plastic digital caliper for $10 at Tractor Supply Co, but when I took it home I found that it only displayed 0.01 inch or 0.1 mm. I was going to return it but I figured it would be OK for non-precision work, with the same advantages of the plastic dial caliper. But recently I found that the display would go crazy and even turn itself on when close to a fluorescent lamp or CFL bulb, even at a distance of about 2 feet. It was OK with an LED lamp, but was affected if I put it near the base where the electronic switching circuit is operating.
So, now I want to purchase yet another caliper. "Horrible Fright" still sells the same model that I had trouble with, for as little as $10, but I think it has a design flaw and not worth risking again. The problem might be that my house and shop are very humid and it might get into the electronics and cause leakage, corrosion, or bad connections.
I found many vendors selling the following model, which has what seem to be stainless steel buttons, and the best price is about $15-$17:
Here is one that offers fractional as well as decimal display, for $27. I'm not so sure about a vendor named "piggyhug" but he is nearby in Martinsburg, WV, so that may be useful if there are any problems, and he has other interesting items as well:
The digital protractor seems like a useful item:
The same decimal/fraction caliper is offered by another vendor for about $30 with shipping:
For small items I can use a nice micrometer I inherited from my father, who worked for Glenn L Martin as a machinist in the 1940s. He also gave me a "fifty cent" 0.5" micrometer which still works.
Photos will follow. Thanks.
So I peeled the backing off and took it apart. It seemed that the display would work when I pressed on it, so I removed it and cleaned the black polarized conductive rubber piece that connects the LCD display to the PCB. This seemed to fix it, but recently I tried to use it and once again I had the same problem. The battery was weak so I replaced it with no joy. I took it apart again and I got it to work eventually, but next day it was dead again. I had resoldered the battery contacts and it seemed like it may have shorted the battery, but after fixing that and another battery replacement, it still had problems, and I gave up. Now I guess I have a fancy stainless steel monkey wrench!
I have a cheap plastic mechanical dial caliper which seems to be reasonably accurate but the dial is calibrated in 0.01" increments, so I can only guess at thousandths. But it is fairly useful for rough measurement and at least there are no batteries to go dead or sensitive electronic components to flake out. It is also good that it is non-conductive, so I can safely measure the length of batteries or the diameter of live electrical wires.
About a year ago I found a plastic digital caliper for $10 at Tractor Supply Co, but when I took it home I found that it only displayed 0.01 inch or 0.1 mm. I was going to return it but I figured it would be OK for non-precision work, with the same advantages of the plastic dial caliper. But recently I found that the display would go crazy and even turn itself on when close to a fluorescent lamp or CFL bulb, even at a distance of about 2 feet. It was OK with an LED lamp, but was affected if I put it near the base where the electronic switching circuit is operating.
So, now I want to purchase yet another caliper. "Horrible Fright" still sells the same model that I had trouble with, for as little as $10, but I think it has a design flaw and not worth risking again. The problem might be that my house and shop are very humid and it might get into the electronics and cause leakage, corrosion, or bad connections.
I found many vendors selling the following model, which has what seem to be stainless steel buttons, and the best price is about $15-$17:
Here is one that offers fractional as well as decimal display, for $27. I'm not so sure about a vendor named "piggyhug" but he is nearby in Martinsburg, WV, so that may be useful if there are any problems, and he has other interesting items as well:
The digital protractor seems like a useful item:
The same decimal/fraction caliper is offered by another vendor for about $30 with shipping:
For small items I can use a nice micrometer I inherited from my father, who worked for Glenn L Martin as a machinist in the 1940s. He also gave me a "fifty cent" 0.5" micrometer which still works.
Photos will follow. Thanks.
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