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Forum Index > Rifles general discussion > Never seen this before...

Never seen this before...

17 Oct 2016
@ 05:33 pm (GMT)

Paul Leverman

At the reloading bench, prepping brass as per the usual. All the same tools, dies, methods, etc. Basically, nothing new. I was using my electronic verniers to measure neck wall thickness. On one case, the reading was way out of whack, so I cleaned the verniers, reset to zero, and remeasured. Still a very strange number - 0.003". Now, we all know that this is impossible. So I grabbed another different case and measured it - 0.0095". OK, so the verniers still work, good. I go back to the odd case, and have a look down the inside of the neck. Nothing unusual, but I run a brush down it anyway. Try the verniers again and yes, 0.001" - 0.0035". What the hell? Now I get real close so I can see what's going on in the neck while the calipers are still inside the case. The read-out starts going wild. From zero to 6.777" or some other bizarre number. First thought was to change the battery. I laid the calipers down on the bench to find another battery, and it re-zeroed itself. On a whim (I thought the battery cover may be loose) I picked them back up and they went nuts again. But as I went to lay them down, they settled down. So I shook the shit out of them, thinking something was loose inside. Nothing. Really bizarre. As I am handling them, I notice that the erratic numbers change whenever I move to the right and left, not up and down. To make a very long story (this is the Reader's Digest version, believe me) it turns out that the closer the calipers get to the fluorescent bulb over my bench, the more bizarre the read-outs become. I tested this with various lights and lamps throughout the house and sure enough, it was the fluorescents that caused it.

Ran the same scenario with a second set of electronics that I had, and the same thing. I haven't tried it with my shop set, as they are out in the garage and it's snowing, and I don't feel like going outside.

Replies

1
17 Oct 2016
@ 07:09 pm (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Re: Never seen this before...
My guess is that you have been abducted by aliens and they put a probe in your head and every time you read the vernier close, it goes haywire. Could be wrong though.

That really is odd Paul. We always had fluro's over our lathes in the big machine shop, but they were set high. I preferred an analog caliper but the young guys with digitals never seemed to have problems. I wonder what is going on with that light, perhaps some electromagnetic interference somewhere. Is there a coiled extension cord in the mix? Interesting.
18 Oct 2016
@ 12:20 am (GMT)

Paul Leverman

Re: Never seen this before...
Funny, I was thinking the same thing. About the induction, not the abduction. The bench light is a round fluorescent with a magnifier ('cause I'm old), and the others were CFL's, so maybe the coils had something to do with it.

And besides, the probe they put in me connected my eyes to my arse, and all it did was give me a shitty outlook on life.
18 Oct 2016
@ 08:02 am (GMT)

Mike Davis

Re: Never seen this before...
Paul you got lucky with them little green fellas Bud.....
one of them stuck his thingy in my ear to try and shag some sense into me and I just ended up f#%$ed in the head!!!!!!
this just goes to show why some of us older fellas prefer manual type measuring devices...go the mighty Lee balance beam scales.
18 Oct 2016
@ 10:31 am (GMT)

Andrew Murray

Re: Never seen this before...
Hey Paul,

http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/images/GE-EMI-from-Electronic-Ballasts-Whitepaper_tcm201-78523.pdf

This link could be of some information.
18 Oct 2016
@ 02:19 pm (GMT)

Paul Leverman

Re: Never seen this before...
Thanks, Andrew. Pretty well hit the nail on the head. Looks like I'll be digging out the manual verniers.

What a relief! Now I know that the messages on the LCD are from GE, I don't have to do what they say. And that tinfoil hat was making my hair hurt.
19 Oct 2016
@ 02:00 pm (GMT)

mark korte

Re: Never seen this before...
Sounds like lead poisoning ;)
19 Oct 2016
@ 05:59 pm (GMT)

Ben Grady

Re: Never seen this before...
Dr Grady says just a common case of Reloadersitis (invoice is in the mail).
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