Mitutoyo Digital Callipers

Hi,

Im looking to replace my 0 to 200 digital calliper as it keeps zeroing itself!

On EBay the 0-200mm Mitutoyo Digital Caliper Standard 500-197-20/30 is about £45 while the same device from a reputable supplier is £115 (mqs.co.uk) so I’m assuming the ones on eBay are fakes. Has anyone had any experience of these?

Thanks Ian

Loads of posts on the net about fakes, suggest you don’t support criminals but save up to buy genuine items.

Tony

Agree, there are far too many 'fakes' for sale online.

It is not unreasonable to seek out value for money, as even 100% genuine products can vary considerably in cost, so the BIG question is:

How can you guarantee your not paying a 'genuine price' for what appears to be a 'genuine' product - only to find out it is still a 'fake' ?

Isn't that one easy, buy from a reputable supplier, like allendale the forum sponsor, or am I missing something?

Out of interest the last time this topic came up I decided to "invest" in a set of 500-196-30 150mm callipers(@34.99)

As expected what arrived were a clearly fake set (I have some genuine 500-196-30's for comparison) and they were marked 500-196-20 on the back and on the box, which made the protest easier. I objected on Ebay and requested a return at their expense - the goods were clearly not as advertised.

I got a full refund - no questions asked from the seller - and said they were fake in the feedback.

At £34.99 they were barely acceptable, At £20 they would have been a good buy. For free and knowing that the counterfeiters lost out on the money and the goods - they work just fine!!

Mitutoyo used to offer a refurbishment service for their equipment. Not exactly cheap at £50-£60 for callipers last time I enquired but better than £115 as I am told the tool is returned "as new".

Mick

If only it was easy! Reputable suppliers can be victims too.

Fake aircraft parts are an ongoing problem particularly in the US. Aircraft One, probably the USA's most carefully maintained aircraft, was found to have some. Root cause - greed. Big money in fakes, and everyone loves a bargain or the idea a label guarantees quality.

Being fake may not matter; some brands are grossly overpriced, and maybe modest alternative will do just as well. People like to waste money on fashion: cheap and expensive clothing is often made identically in the same factory, and the selling price depends on the label! Not fakes, but someone has been fooled! Same issue with some common car parts, where a classy marque stamped on the box multiplies the price. Maybe a £30 caliper is worth the money whoever made it.

In the art world, many collectors and museums were happy with fakes for decades. Delighted until found out! It's odd that a solid paper trail back back to a famous artist is far more important than how the painting looks, especially when thousands have admired it! Wine buffs fall hook line and sinker for moderate wines rebottled as something special. A dash of anti-freeze converts ordinary booze into an expensive Austrian Sweet wine.

Unfortunately you can't rely on fakes to be any good! Might be poor copies badly made, factory rejects, or even an empty box.

Unless items are specifically tracked and certificated (which can be faked too), the protection provided by a reputable supplier isn't that the item will be genuine; it's that purchasers get their money back if there's a problem. Except when Irish race-horses ended up in ready meals: massive scandal all across Europe, and I don't believe anyone was ever prosecuted.

I wish there was a better answer to fakes. They cause huge damage to trust. I think money back is the best that can be done, and would favour much more proactive pursuit of the sources. They are hard to nail for the same reasons certain rich people and multinational companies are able to avoid paying tax.

Dave

Just a thought - assuming you have tried a new battery. Have you tried stripping and cleaning the read head. The zero function (on all the ones I have opened up) relies on a small piece of metal shorting across a grid of fine traces on the PCB.

If you have got a small ( the traces are about 0.2mm apart if that) piece of metal swarf inside the read head, it might intermittently short out the traces and zero the calliper.

Yesterday, I received what I considered to be a 'cheap' Moore & Wright 150mm digital caliper from Machine DRO - I'd half expected something cheap and nasty for not much more than £20, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quaality of what I received - seems well made and finished, in a nice plastic case and even included a spare battery! Moral of the story is, as others have said, to buy from a trusted supplier, preferable one in the UK. Well done, Machine DRO!

You have nothing to loose by taking the caliper to bits and cleaning the otherwise impossible to reach areas. Remove the non vital label on the back of the body and the screws will be revealed. I think they are JIS crossheads, not Phillips.

My caliper did the same as the first post so rang MIT and they supplied me with a new reader head for £40, job done good as new.