New calipers from Midway. Spun.

[Willyp]

I bought a new set of dial calipers from Midway,July,1 year ago. I never opened them because i didn't need them,my old set still worked? Last Friday i opened them,to use.
The dial arrow pointed to zero with rhe jaws snug closed. I ran the jaw down about half the length of the tool and ran it back up shut. Once the jaws were shut the dial indicater stopped at .015 instead of zero. It had just or slid back .015.
Is there any way to reset the dial. I can spin the gauge to match the needle but it is not were i am use to it being?
I contacted Midway and was told,in an E-mail,that it has been to long since i got them to be replaced but i could send them back for a replacement,maybe?
The postage,back and forth,is more than i want to waste.
Some where there is a Chinese guy laughing at me for trusting old Larry's high quiality tools!!!!!
Well,i should have known to open them up and seen if they were ok,but,i had alot of trust in Midyways products. That has now gone away!

[Maximumbob54]

It's not just Midway. My RCBS caliper I bought a couple of years ago did the same thing. I was also told when I called that it was not a warranty item. I wonder if the very tiny "Made in China" had something to do with that. I bought a Mitutoyo caliper to replace it.

[odfairfaxsub]

Should be able to reset those.... Grad the outer portion of the dial and spin it clockwise or counter to achieve optimal zeroing

[bangerjim]

Or use a good brand of digital. Reset to ZERO with a push of a button.

My Mits and Starret cal zero just fine. Got rid of all dial cals years ago.

banger

[Garyshome]

Were there any directions? Maybe read them........

[bgmkithaca]

The old adage that you get what you pay for fits this situation. Quality tools with repeatability are not cheap.

[Hardcast416taylor]

It's not just Midway. My RCBS caliper I bought a couple of years ago did the same thing. I was also told when I called that it was not a warranty item. I wonder if the very tiny "Made in China" had something to do with that. I bought a Mitutoyo caliper to replace it.

That is the EXACT same thing that happened to me and the EXACT same brand I went to and have had no problems since!Robert

[country gent]

The old dial calipers were suseptable to chips in the rack causing the pinion to jump a tooth occasionally. One of the reasons of dial calipers being considered in accurate for close work. These came with a small tool of thin shim stock that allowed you to "readjust" the pinion to rack. 1 toooth on the rack gear was a pain in the butt usually got 2 or 3. This tool was a l shaped piece of shim stock the leg was the same width as the rack gear. In practice you set it in place and ran the pinion onto it then tried to sldie one tooth in the direction neededand thenn ran pinion back of shim then removed it. Some where around here theres is one with a set of old helios calipers

[mold maker]

I bought a 42" wide screen for a future addition, because of a good price. Four months later I installed it and there were 2 !/2" vertical black stripes on the screen. There was absolutely no obvious damage to the carton, but because it was 30 days past the warranty, I look at everything with racing stripes.
Wheather you buy at a store or on line, open as soon as it arrives and check it for quality. You have rights but they're short lived.

[williamwaco]

I have several cheapies. One HF unit less than two bucks, They all have a way to zero the reading.

If you can't find it, Google it.

[Big Rack]

See if there is a little hole under the dial if so a small unbent paperclip will slide up inside and disengage the rack you can then rezero it.
BUT for .015 your a lot better off just to rotate the dial and save the paperclip for when you drop them. Starret, Brown & Sharp and Mitutoyo all are built this way.
The above post is correct a chip in the gear rack will cause this.
Something to consider first always wipe your clean finger against each jaw to clean them occasionly lightly close them on a sheet of paper and the pull the paper out.
Digital's are great for hole spacing measure a hole and zero the next measure will show spacing can also use pins the same way. They can also be used for subtraction and addition.
BE Careful though it's easy to accidently zero them and then you parts may end up way off a little harder to do with mechanical.

[osteodoc08]

My Hornady branded dial calipers are spot on. Probably made in the east somewhere but are running well.

[JSnover]

How much did the caliper cost? I bought a Midway 6" dial caliper (China) years ago for less than $30. Zero is no longer perpendicular to the caliper body but as long as I set the dial before use it still measures within .001" of my Starrett and Mitutoyo micrometers. When it finally quits I'll toss it in the trash with a clear conscience.
Keep yours clean and put it in its case when you're not using it.

[JSnover]

Bear in mind, Midway, Cabela's, RCBS, etc are not known for their precision measuring equipment. It's good enough for a hobbyist but if you wanted a B&S or a Mitu, you were looking in the wrong catalog.

[country gent]

Alot dont realize a precisson measurement requires precisson tools. Accurate tools thta zre zeroed. A seyt of calipers or mics that dont repeat a measurement are next to worthless. A set of standards should be part of any set of mics over 1". If really wanting accyracy a set of gage blocks. ( gage blocks can be "stacked up and wrong together for a set dimension checked with mics or calipers for spot on accuracy then you just transfering from part to block stack up. Some measurements you can get away with close some can be a comparrison but when its get down to truely accurate fine measurements you need Quality precisson tools. In all the tool rooms where ISO standards were held I never seen a set of HF pass the inspection. I also seldom seen Mityoyo, Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, Helios, or Intrrapids fail.

[leadman]

As long as a caliper will give consistent reading they should work fine for what most do when reloading or fitting boolits to a gun. When slugging a bore I use the same calipers to check the slug dimensions of the slug and the boolit after it is sized to fit the bore. The alloy will affect the finished size of the boolit so a different size might have to be used.
I check my caliper against my Lufkin and Starret mics just to be sure they are working correctly and close to the same readings.

[Bent Ramrod]

I've never had one drift 0.015". Not infrequently a thou or two, but usually I can adjust for that.

You might try closing them, firmly but gently, on a piece of flannel or cotton cloth. Then pull the cloth out of the jaws and see if they close further. A little bit of dust, oil or preservative can sometimes derange the things a couple of thousandths anyway. Sometimes stuff gets into the gear rack and holds things up as well. Some electrical connection cleaner or canned air sprayed into there should help that condition.

Otherwise, just loosen the little stop on the periphery of the dial, move the scale until zero is under the pointer, and carry on. Your micrometer is your real precision measuring tool. My calipers are all good enough to make sure case lengths are all the same and things like that, but I generally don't use them for really critical measurements.

[Willyp]

I played with them a while and got it back to where it started,up and down. What did i do? I loosened a tiny screw,on the slide enough to put less pressure on the gear and gave enough slack to get the dial arrow back up!

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I bought a set of digital calipers for $10-$12 bucks at ALDI's when they first opened. They are pretty accurate, but I know they are cheap. I can double check them with my Brown & Sharpe SLIDE calipers that I've had for 40 plus years. That is, if I can read them, the calipers haven't failed me, my eyes have. I use a set of micrometers to check things that I really want to know what size they are.

[John Boy]

If the objective is to have manual calipers return to "0" that is at 12:00 without having to turn the dial ... the dial can be reset by loosening the screws on the caliper to adjust the tension of the slide. Trust me, it is a PITA to get the exact tension of both screws so when the caliper is closed zero is at 12:00 - but it can be done
I did my Harbor Freight manual caliper and zero returns to 12:00 every time. Also be sure to wipe the insides of the prongs each time to remove any lube or whatever so they close perfectly

But for 10 bucks on sale, I bought 3 pairs of Harbor Freight digital calipers that a spot on. I measured each with several certified plug gages of several diameters and the readouts on the calipers are 0.001 difference. Just mark the 0.001 variance on the caliper and you are good to go