Jumpy igaging DRO

[FanMan]

No, I did have the scale off when I cut it. It's hard to tell mounted as it is under the cover but it looks like the "T" markings as described above may be backwards, so I'll try reversing that first.

 

[rgray]

Only time mine jumped was with coolant on them. WD-40 and wipe the scale down. Worked perfect after a few min........I've installed shields since and never had that problem again....They will do some funny things with low batteries.....with these scales and digital calipers around it just makes sense to have a pack of bateries in the shop.....They are inexpensive on Ebay in 50 packs.

 

[FanMan]

Re: Jumpy igaging DRO - FIXED!

Well, tonight I flipped the scale over, and... it now reads consistently and repeatably. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions!

The unanswered question is why it didn't do it for the first six months? I can think of two things: Possibly with fresh batteries it's more tolerant of a reversed slide, or perhaps it was contamination causing the problem at first, and I put it together backwards after cleaning it so it fixed one problem and caused another (I don't remember taking it apart again but I probably did at that time).

It's probably irrelevant now but David asked for a picture; I posted some when I first set it up: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/20686-igaging-DRO-on-Jet-15

 

[kwoodhands]

Been away from the machine for awhile... the problem is still there. Note it didn't do it at first, so I don't think it's the scale orientation; it's hard to tell but I think it's oriented as described above. At this point it's unusable. I took it apart and cleaned it (though I didn't see anything), and replaced the batteries. When I replaced the batteries I used the spares that came with the scales; I think somebody mentioned they aren't good batteries so maybe I should buy new ones?

Oddly the y-axis is still working fine and it's not covered at all; the x-axis is under a cover and it's the one that's giving me fits.

I have 4 working scales and the fifth scale sits in a drawer as it is useless. The bad scale does the same as yours,jumps around ,never stops. I have tried every suggestion that has been posted. Finally i bought a new scale and stuck the bad one in a drawer.Not complaining,the scales are 6 years old.For the money i paid for them,maybe a total of $200.00 for five scales ranging from 8" to 24" I think I got my moneys worth.
mike

 

[davidh]

Re: Jumpy igaging DRO - FIXED!

Well, tonight I flipped the scale over, and... it now reads consistently and repeatably. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions!

The unanswered question is why it didn't do it for the first six months? I can think of two things: Possibly with fresh batteries it's more tolerant of a reversed slide, or perhaps it was contamination causing the problem at first, and I put it together backwards after cleaning it so it fixed one problem and caused another (I don't remember taking it apart again but I probably did at that time).

It's probably irrelevant now but David asked for a picture; I posted some when I first set it up: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/20686-igaging-DRO-on-Jet-15

whew ! ! ! ! happiness is............ I'm really glad you made it work. . . .

 

[gjkozy]

I would bet you assembled it upside down. I did the same thing when I installed the three DRO's on my mill. Two were perfect but one was crazy, jumped around and read in the 100's.

Look at the scale very carefully. You might have to play some light on it. On the black portion, notice that you can see faint images of what look to be a bunch of capital T's, like this TTTTTTTTTTTT.

The sliding reader has to go with the cord side to the top of the T's. Easy fix. I almost returned mine because it was crazy. I didn't cut my scale, but after dry run fitting, I decided I wanted the cord on the other side. I removed one end mount,slid the reader off, flipped it and slid it back on. It was quite a few days later when the mill was back together that I realized the problem. I compared that setup with the other two and I noticed the difference in the T's.

I also had problems with a jumpy scale, followed the advice on this thread of turning the strip over abd niw its rock solid. Thanks for good advice.

 

[Grinderman]

I would bet you assembled it upside down. I did the same thing when I installed the three DRO's on my mill. Two were perfect but one was crazy, jumped around and read in the 100's.

Look at the scale very carefully. You might have to play some light on it. On the black portion, notice that you can see faint images of what look to be a bunch of capital T's, like this TTTTTTTTTTTT.

The sliding reader has to go with the cord side to the top of the T's. Easy fix. I almost returned mine because it was crazy. I didn't cut my scale, but after dry run fitting, I decided I wanted the cord on the other side. I removed one end mount,slid the reader off, flipped it and slid it back on. It was quite a few days later when the mill was back together that I realized the problem. I compared that setup with the other two and I noticed the difference in the T's.

I realize this is an ancient post but had to reply. I had purchased an Igaging easy view DRO a long time ago and never used it. I finally found a use and installed it. I needed to cut the scale down in size a bit , I did that and installed the unit. The readings were all over the place, jumping 100's of thou at a time without even moving the scale. I tried a bunch of different things including taking the reader head apart, isolating the scale from the machine, wiring etc. Nothing worked, I was ready to throw the thing in the trash when I read this post. I flipped the scale over T's up toward the cable side and it works perfectly. Thanks so much for posting this fix if you are still here on the site.