Hi John,

It sounds like the LCD display itself is faulty. This won't affect the accuracy of the remote display.

This often means that contamination has got into the display connections, either shorting or disconnecting some of them. First be sure it isn't damp in there, of course.

The display will have ultra-thin transparent conductive strips on the glass and these have to be connected to the PCB – quite a tough thing to do! In larger displays you can sometimes disassemble and find a 'zebra strip' connector of layers of black conducting and white non-conducting polymer. lucky folk can clean these using propyl alcohol and reassemble and solve the problem (it worked on my alarm clock on the third re-assembly).

If you don't have this sort of connection (e.g. conductive strips on a flexible backing 'stuck' to the glass of the display), just learn to live with it or poke it about in the hope you remake a duff connection. I don't think you will damage the rest of the electronics that way.

One of the cheap Chinese scales on my minimill started giving a load of rubbish about a month ago so i took it apart to see if I could do anything with it reasoning that I hadn't lost anything if I couldn't get it to work properly as I've used it for about five years. I thought I was getting nowhere until the third attempt at assembly when to my delight it worked perfectly and still does. The positioning of the layers and the tightness of the screws seem to be very critical. My policy has always been that if it is likely to be scrap there's no loss in having a go Colin

Hi john,

My Mother in law posted a birthday card to my wife from Milton Keynes to Corlay, Brittany in early August and it took over 2 1/2 weeks to arrive, and a small parcel posted in the UK took over 2 weeks to arrive. Normally it takes 4 to 5 days, so I put it down to the French annual holiday. They arrived eventually though so there may be some hope for your scales.

Regards

Terry

John when i used such devices years ago i was always constantly having trouble one way or another.

Some times it would work or with some messing, other times useless and always the scale problems bought from Arc. New Duracel SR44 would only last three to five days, used to buy them 30 at a time enough for about two months.

I had a Warco 3 axis readout mains powered but needed batteries in the scales if not only to retain zero. Once readout switched off, batteries drained pronto. Few instances it would work without batteries in scale or scales once up and running. No way would it startup without batteries in.

Lifted from Arc site "Please Note: These products are not swarf or coolant proof. Adequate guarding should be considered to avoid damage to the scales." I had full enclosure over entire length and still debris and water found its way in. Clean out a couple of times after that scrap.

Longer X axis scale i bought a vernier i think from Lidl or Aldi £5 and swapped the readers over, the Arc look excatly the same but with alum scales, mine were SS.

Quite correct Ketan SS bars 12 years ago bought direct from you at a fair, good price.

The Aldi vernier internals went straight on to the thinner SS, so a cheap repair on an £70 scale then.

Begs the question what use are these with very little swarf, bear in mind these were covered up, coolant came after one job only managed to salvage. Also got a seized, one same would apply to all other brands as made by a few companies.

I dare say you are correct the problem is me not paying a comparative extortionate price for a part compared with the whole machine. Aside the other named problems not me when a product dont work after three attempts.

PS your collets are much better than any where else, no slipage good mail order service.

First, thank you for clarifying that the ARC bar you were referring to was SS and not alum.

Next, I think that you are suggesting that the SS bar which you bought from us lasted you for 12 years before you changed the head with the Aldi head, which I think was a great idea. So, I am puzzeled about what you are really expecting from this bar when you raise the question that what use are they with very little swarf?. Your issue about the battereis has been addressed, and it has been pointed out on ARCs website that the bars are not swarf and coolant proof. You get what you pay for, and with the greatest of respect, if you wanted something more robust, you have to pay the price. It is your opinion that the robust DROs capable of being swarf and coolent proof are of extortionate price. In my opinion, they have become extreamly compettive over the years, even though they are sold by my competitors.

Ketan at ARC.

So KWIL,

Can I presume that the SR44 which you bought from the Small Battery Company were fine?, and can you please confirm that they are stamped SR44?. If you were happy with them, then I might suggest that source to customers who inquire for it from us.

Ketan at ARC.

Forgive me for the bad English and dont intend drawing out further, its not directed at you.

To clarify the extortionate price was not for a dro it was for other parts such as motors else where in customer service thread you brought up.

I have not used the machine the scales were fitted to for at least 8 years. My problem i knew they were not coolant proof and have to be kept clean even in use. One of the three scales is still going the other two lasted a few weeks, my fault swarf followed by oil and coolant splash. As you rightly say they serve a purpose with limitations, thats one reason for going for the proper thing.

Quickly did buy all Tesco had on offer, two in a pack LR44 Duracel bit of a bargain 50p for two. No doubt they must have approached shelf life having been reduce three times from well over £1 for two. To clarify, It was the now discontinued Positron – 3A 3 axis Warco readout draining the batteries, fine if unplugged after use no doubt batteries could have lasted 12 months or more. Other probs could have been incompatibilty substituting for a Mitutoyo vernier works ok but literally just tried it. I would strongly advise anyone to tape up the plug to unit attempting to avoid shorting the contacts with swarf. Its pretty open when the plug is fitted to the scale.

SR44 was meant as a general fitment type which i did buy as well as LR and some cheap AG13. Incidentally had to put in an AG13 into a Mitutoyo vernier as it was the only ones i had left, still going strong put in some time last year.

Maplin supply silver SR44 cells.

At twice the price of the Small Battery Company or 2 1/2 times more if you want two.  P&P included unlike Maplin at £2.99 minimum. Pays to research unless you have money to throw away.

Terry

Edited By Terryd on 21/09/2012 07:10:52