igaging absolute DRO question

[Alex Zeller]

I'm thinking of adding a DRO to a 4 post planer. I've read up on it and read a post saying that if you forgot to turn it on and moved the table it would need to be recalibrated. Not sure if this is the case but I do know my Mitutoyo calipers will loose their position when the battery starts getting weak. If the power needs to be turned on before moving the table I can see myself forgetting this step. Until then moving it even with the power off doesn't matter.

While not as easy as the Wixley the iGaging version can be connected up to a power source. Has anyone actually bought the power supply to power it? If so do the batteries keep the memory when it's not plugged in? The power supply says it will work from 100v up to 250v so I was thinking that I could put an outlet inside the base of the cabinet where the power comes in so once I pug the planer into the wall the DRO would have power. Since it's going to be moved around the shop most of the time it's not going to be plugged in so is it even needed? Am I over thinking this?

[michael langman]

Alex, they are pretty easy to reset. Just run a piece of wood through the planer and reset to measurement of the wood.

Does the DRO have a battery in it to hold memory?

[Alex Zeller]

The iGaging one does have batteries but it also has an optional power supply. I couldn't find a manual for it on their website. I guess it doesn't matter as I doubt I would just blindly plane a board without doing a test piece first after it has been sitting.

[Mark Bolton]

I have battery igaging on 5 machines and they never lose their calibration when powered off

[Mark Bolton]

Also remember the wixey and igaging are no comparison.. wixey is +/- .005 (read that as 1 thou plus reaololution). The igaging is .0005. Wixey are no where near accurate enough

[glenn bradley]

I don't really need 3 decimal positions on my planer but, different strokes . . .

G0435Z DRO.JPG

My igaging does not lose calibration unless the batteries are dead/removed. I run it in imperial.

[Gustav Gabor]

I installed an iGaging absolute dro on my SCM thickness sander about 3 years ago.
This January I went to use the sander, and sure enough, the batteries on the dro had died.
I was worried that I'd have to re-calibrate the whole works once I installed new batteries, but to my pleasant surprise, the gauge read exactly the same as before.
Perhaps it didn't lose calibration because the batteries weren't quite 100% dead, I don't really know, but the lcd screen wasn't registering anything at all before the batteries were replaced.
I'm actually quite happy with this little dro!

Note to self ....... change batteries at least every 2 years!!

[Mark Bolton]

I don't really need 3 decimal positions on my planer but, different strokes . . .

The only reason I like the .0005 res is for repeatability and feeding the sander. Its nice to be able to have someone plane to a standard over dimension and then go to the sander with the same .0005 resolution and land on the exact dimension for a job a hour ago, week ago, month ago.

Agreed its definitely overkill on a planer for many shops. We buy the 3 packs and cut the scales down and on things like the shapers and the sander the .0005 is critical and as Ive said before maybe I got some early dud's but the wixeys just died in a year or two. Since switching to the igaging's the only issue Ive had is some glitchy jacks where the cord plugs into the head but a good tip here to hot glue the plug to the unit solved all that.