cheap digital caliper repair

[Dr Stan]

Bought a 12" Horror Freight digital caliper a couple of years ago.  Got it out to use a few days ago and it would not work.  Replaced the battery to no avail.  When HF had 6" versions on sale for $10.00 a piece I picked up several to have on hand to spread around the shop for quick measurements.  A replacement 12" is $50 so I decided to try swapping out the electronic head from a 6".  To my surprise it works just fine.  

Not bad for a $10 repair.

[Vinny]

Just for giggles, check the piece of thin tin that contacts the side of the battery on the non-working head. Everything on mine looked fine but it acted like the circuitboard inside was broken. After replacing it with a dial and another digital caliper I got curious and gave it a better bend. I now have a spare!

[Highpower]

(02-13-2016, 07:27 PM)Dr Stan Wrote: Bought a 12" Horror Freight digital caliper a couple of years ago.  Got it out to use a few days ago and it would not work.  Replaced the battery to no avail.  When HF had 6" versions on sale for $10.00 a piece I picked up several to have on hand to spread around the shop for quick measurements.  A replacement 12" is $50 so I decided to try swapping out the electronic head from a 6".  To my surprise it works just fine.  

Not bad for a $10 repair.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I bought a handful of the HF 6" calipers too - they were $9.00 at the time. I agree, for quick rough measurements they work fine. If you are going to scribe lines with a pair of calipers, there is no better choice IMO.

They are also the only calipers I will "loan" out.

[Vinny]

Just remember, be it a Mititoyo, HF, Starret, ... They ALL sound the same when they hit the shop floor!

On the 7x group/list there's a guy that works at an ISO9000 shop and when the cal people show up he hands them his HF calipers. They replace the battery in each one and certify all of them. They may be crappy calipers, but they really ain't that bad.

[Highpower]

(02-14-2016, 01:27 AM)Vinny Wrote: Just remember, be it a Mititoyo, HF, Starret, ...  They ALL sound the same when they hit the shop floor!

So true Vinny... so true.

What does sound different though is the amount of crying afterwards.

[Vinny]

Oh, so true Willie!

[f350ca]

I buy the Canadian Tire ones when they go on sale at $10. The last one hung in for a couple of years. Last week the plastic over the scale began to peal and jam under the moveable jaw, it began reading erratically, so it went into the trash and a new one went into service, to tears. I used a dial bore gauge to measure to bearing mounts on the gear case Im building, they were spot on, for grins i tried the new calliper. It read spot on.