Digital Levels

[Dustin Powers]

Do digital levels work very well? I'm tired of trying to center the bubble it just doesn't seem exact enough :p!
Sears has some craftsmen digital levels but the reviews don't seem too good. I noticed Amazon has some Grizzly brand digital levels but no reviews. Who knows probably the same level! Here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H8130-32%2522-Digital-Laser/dp/B000M66WWM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1234556307&sr=1-2

Does anyone use these?

[Richard Wolf]

I have used this level for years in my stair and railing business. I don't think I could work without it. I can measure the angle of a staircase and set the rails to match. To me, it is worth the money. Don't drop it from the second floor. DAMHIK.

http://www.nwbuildnet.com/stores/tools/levels/92296.html

Richard

[Colin Giersberg]

We use them at work to check the cross-slopes in roadways (otherwise known as the crown), and we have issues with them quite often. The Federal Highway Administration has a requirement on the roads that receive funding from them to have cross-slopes that are within certain tolerances. The problem is, we have to check the slopes behind the rolling operation on paving projects, and the rollers can cause the tolerances to change. The paving machine can have the crown set in the screed, and the slope can be monitored electronically so that it stays in tolerance. But when the rollers pass by, the asphalt mix moves around, affecting the slopes.
The issue gets interesting when we get called about it. Then everyone with a "Smart Level" shows up, and checks the readout. There will be several different readings between levels. We have calibrated all of the levels, stacked them one on top of the other, as many as 4 level high, and all of them will have a different reading. Then we turn them around 180 degrees and check again, and all of those readings will be different. Granted, some do match up, but never the same two do when reversed. So which one is accurate.
I guess the issue is more about relying on a single level throughout the project, but that is impractical when the person that the level is assigned to has to leave for a different project, and needs his level for that job.
Also, the contractor's have their own, and will argue with us about the slopes being good with their level, but not with ours.
One of the causes for the inconsistency may be that the contractor places his level on hot asphalt, and ours are placed much further back, where the mix is cooler. This may be why we get different readings.

I guess the main thing is that if you use one of the levels, then use it all the way through the job. That way, everything is consistent.

Regards, Colin

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I have a good friend who is in the business of designing and manufacturing laser levels for leica geosystems. He designs very accurate leveling devices that start at the $1000 mark and go much higher. He just laughs at Craftsman's attempts to make a digital level. He has told me several times never to buy one due to its severe inaccuracy at + or - an eighth of an inch over the length of the level. It may have specs that say its more accurate than that ... but that's at 70 degrees, 40 percent humidity, and has never been dropped. I'm not saying you should buy one of his levels at $1k or more ... cause wow that's expensive, but I am saying don't waste your money on those pieces of junk.

[Richard Wolf]

I have to come to the defense of the smart level. I have checked mine with a lot of finish carpenters levels and it has always been very accurate. Most important it is always consistent. I can measure a staircase at 42.1 degrees, and remeasure ten times a day, and it's always 42.1.
Not a knock to the road builders, but if you are building roads with a $180 tool, maybe that's way America's highway system is in the shape it is in.
Also. I'm sure that a $1,000 laser level is a lot more accurate than mine, but I'm building stairs, not space ships.
I will never go to work with out my smart level.

Richard

[Joe Jensen]

I have a smart level and I never use it as the precision level. It always seems like I have to move it too much to change the readout .1 degree. I have 4 and 6 foot expensive bubble levels and I think I can read changes smaller than 0.1 degree with them...joe

[Colin Giersberg]

For what it is worth, the "Smart Level" is accurate, but only when you don't compare it to other "Smart Levels".
We do realize that heat is more than likely the cause of the problems. After all, how many of us would like to be laid down on hot asphalt, and stay there while you stabilize for a reading, then be picked up only to do it again and again throughout the day. Bear in mind, hot asphalt is that, hot, usually around 300 degrees, but it varies in temperature throughout the dumptruck load. I know that there are hotter places to work, such as steel mills, etc. but those people closest to the heat usually have heat reflective clothing on. We don't, nor does the "Smart Level".

Regards, Colin

[Michael Wildt]

You can get one for $1.99 if you have a ipod touch or iphone ;-)

Play the video and watch the 3rd application.

http://www.charlesandhudson.com/archives/2009/02/multilevel_app_for_the_iphone_and_ipod_touch.htm

The application used can be found here: http://www.teego.com/multilevel.html

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a digital level. I prefer it if I'm trying to match angles. But if I want to know....without a shadow of doubt...that something is plumb or level....I will break out my old glass vile 48" level everytime!

[Leo Graywacz]

.1 degrees over 4' is .084" and the digital can be off by .2 degrees An accurate bubble can get really close. It is good for determining angles but I don't use it for plumb or level. Just not accurate enough. When they get to .05 I'll think about it. At .01 I'll get a few.

[Frederick Wilt]

They can be a real help if your eyesight (like mine) is not what it once was.