It's often impossible to read a spirit level accurately because you can't get an eye square on to it. So are those digital readout ones any good - and if so which one?
- posted
16 years ago
Digital 'spirit' level
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- posted
16 years ago
Yes, they work quite well - though ones with an artificial 'bubble' display in addition to a simple number are a good idea.
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- posted
16 years ago
Use a small mirror to read it.
As most of you are aware, I used to work in the aerospace industry and one of the jobs I used to do was check the taileron angles (taileron is a half of a tail plain that can be at any angle, independent of the other half. Unlike a tail plane that has to be at the same angle as the other side and creates the roll by using ailerons on the wings.)
In the old days, we used to use pantographs to measure the angles, which were quite accurate. Then we moved on to digital angular measures. They became the biggest pain in the arse. 0.1 degree could be the difference between pass and fail for the test.
Make your own mind up about them, if you want that much accuracy.
Never having seen one, another thought is, how do you calibrate one?
Dave
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- posted
16 years ago
Presumably the same as you'd check a bubble one set it on an adjustable surface take a reading, rotate 180 deg, take a reading adjust surface so that read is half way to the previous one, rotate again, repeat until the reading doesn't change between rotations. If you can't get the reading not to change between rotations no matter what you do with the surface it means the sensor is not correctly aligned to the base.
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- posted
16 years ago
In the particular instance which prompted this post it was rather dark inside the place I was trying to get a level so I was already holding a torch. An LED readout would have solved both those problems.
Most spirit levels are only as accurate as the person reading them anyway
- so I wasn't looking for super accuracy.
Unless you're talking a decent one they're fixed anyway.
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- posted
16 years ago
No Dave,
Spirit levels are only as accurate as the actual bubble.
If you get a poor quality level then the 'bubble' seldom 'touches' the line and *that* leads to guesswork and inaccuracy - or simply a level that isn't long enough for the job.
As a matter of interest, good quality levels usually have bubble adjustment screws fitted as standard.
Brian G
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- posted
16 years ago
And the person reading them. Same as many things. Not all will judge accurately when the bubble is *exactly* between the lines as well as some.
I don't think I've got one where the bubble is *exactly* the length of the distance between the lines. Including a couple of pricey ones.
Yes - I realise that. But most don't.
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- posted
16 years ago
It's surprising the number of people that don't know how to do that :-(
TBH I can't see how that could happen. Unless it is in cal.
Dave