Effective battery alternative for iGaging DRO's??

2 pair of Nickel-Hydride rechargeable batteries in parallel would do nicely. Those batteries and the recharger units are easily available for digital cameras at Wal-Mart.

It's only the older Ni-Cad batteries that have the charging "memory" issue. And that comes from being charged too often. Ni-Cad works great in applications where you can allow them to run all the way down, then charge. Such is not going to be your case.
 
kd4gij said:
The outher is Shumayech dro 350 kit sold here.
http://www.wildhorse-innovations.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=1
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I just got done building a DRO350 kit and setting it up to use iGaging scales. Had to make the following mods:

(1) The DRO350 is designed to supply 1.5 volts, used by typical Chinese scales. The iGaging scales (and variations) require 3.3 volts. You need to change one resistor on the PC board.

(2) The connectors that come with the DRO350 are mini-DIN. The iGaging scaled use mini-USB connectors.

(2A and 3) In addition, the iGaging scales use a different protocol than older Chinese scales. I ordered three "21bit Convertor with MiniUSB socket" (conversion Dongles) from MEDW. http://medw.co.uk/wiki/view/Conversion+Dongles
They're 12 GBP each, plus 8.5 GBP shipping for the order, or about $60 total. The Dongles come with the requisite mini-USB connectors

(4) You have to change the "count per inch" setting for the scales from the default 20480 to 2560. Easy to do. See the manual.

Once all that is done, it's a GREAT DRO system, and about as inexpensive as you can get, especially for a full-featured DRO.

The scales are powered from the DRO350 itself. You can do a power-off function (F...9), which turns off the displays but retains power to the scales, thus preserving zero. However, if you unplug the wall-wart powering the DRO or have a (mains) power failure, you do lose zero.
 
terry i sent you a sample of what i was talking about. you would need one for each unit, all wired to a single source power supply.
 
You guys got to be kidding me or us. These battery replacement ideas sound way out of line for a cheap 50 cent battery. I don't think that the cost would out way the means of these upgrades. This money could be well spent on many other more usable tools for the mill or lathe. I have these iGages mounted on my mini mill and my lathe that's 6 gages in all and still would not spend the money to not have to change out the batteries in all these units. May be that some people just have a lot more money to spend on unneeded updates. Just my opinion!!!!
 
Chip Maker said:
You guys got to be kidding me or us. These battery replacement ideas sound way out of line for a cheap 50 cent battery. I don't think that the cost would out way the means of these upgrades. This money could be well spent on many other more usable tools for the mill or lathe. I have these iGages mounted on my mini mill and my lathe that's 6 gages in all and still would not spend the money to not have to change out the batteries in all these units. May be that some people just have a lot more money to spend on unneeded updates. Just my opinion!!!!
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Each scale takes 2 batterys. 3 scales on a mill is 6 batterys so that is $3.00m a set. The $ .50 batterys don't last long in my scales. So it doesn't take long to cover the cost. You can put tocether a system for less then $10.00. So it does pay off.
 
Chip maker, the touch DRO or DRO350 solutions are way more than a battery alternative, these convert your iGaging DROs from a simple readout to a full blown DRO system complete with all the advanced features like racks cut, home pattern, point memory, tool offset etc...

Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for all the ideas, guys. They are all good!

I was out of town all week again, didn't get any chance to catch up in here at all until now.

Chipmaker, no, we're not kidding anyone. You have most likely figured this out already, but some of us just can't leave well enough alone, and we are always looking for ways to make things work better, even if it just means using a different battery system. We're just perpetual tinkerers!

Initially, I will just be using the CR2032 batteries, and see how long they last. If their life seems a little short, another method for providing power might be more convenient, especially if power can be supplied in an uninterruptible fashion. Let's face it, having the batteries go dead in the middle of machining a complex part could prove to be disastrous in some cases. Granted, one can replace the batteries, pick up a reference surface again, and go from there, but that can be a pain the rump. I just think that with a little forethought, a person could improve the existing equipment to make it more dependable and easier to use.

Going back a little further in the thread, as has been pointed out, I already have the iGaging Absolute DROs for my mill. They are a little different that the IGaging Remote DROs and some of the features are different. The Absolutes also have greater accuracy than the Remotes, so I suspect they may be using yet another rate for points per inch on the scales, but that is only a consideration if one intends to use a different display with them. I am not planning on upgrading the display or anything like that. If I have holes to lay out, I can do it in CAD, then dimension them and just use the DRO to place them on the work, no need to program the DRO just to get a pattern of holes in a specific layout. I can see the advantages of such a system, but it is not something I need. I am happy just having the read outs!

DavidH, you mention a sample that you sent. I suspect you mean a photo in an email or PM??
 
I think I would wire up a pair of "D" cell alkaline batteries to the displays and let them run continuously for years! I have the older iGaging DROs on my mill, and have forgotten them on for a day or two several times. It still seems like the 2032 batteries last quite awhile. Harbor Freight has them dirt cheap.

Re-chargeable batteries like Ni-Cad and N-Mh will discharge on their own over time, sometimes in as little as 2 or 3 months.

I like to tinker to a certain extent, but I have a nasty practical streak in me.

GG
 
terrywerm said:
Thanks for all the ideas, guys. They are all good!



DavidH, you mention a sample that you sent. I suspect you mean a photo in an email or PM??
Click to expand...

no terry, i actually mailed you a little gadget. . . in a small padded envelope.
 
I've had a set of David's Igaging scales on my mill for over a year now and no battery replacement to date. That includes forgetting and leaving them on for days at a time. I can see modding for a permanent power source such as a wall wart/ recharger set-up, but battery to battery change doesn't make sense in my case. Of course, most f my projects don't make sense... Will be interesting to see what you come up with.


My next step will be the tablet readout mod.
 
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