My old mill has an Anilam DRO on both axes, fitted by persons unknown long before I bought it. The fore and aft one is a bit too short for the travel of the table so said persons unknown screwed a 3" steel bar into the back of the saddle which hits the column and limits the travel to just under the length of the DRO. This broke off years ago but I know how far I can take the table back without smashing the DRO out of the end of its housing. I explained this in great detail to my gormless ex assistant, now thankfully departed, but the first time he used the mill he promptly forgot, wound the table right back against the column and broke the DRO.
Basically the travelling bit of the DRO broke the end cap off the aluminium slide tube, burst out into the world for the first time to have a look round and in the process cracked the little mirrored thingy that runs up and down the glass slide. This 'thingy' was sprung loaded into a little circuit board type affair. It's not completely smashed but is cracked in several places. I cleaned everything up, figured how things went back together and re-assembled it and lo and beyold it worked for a time. However last week it had failed again. Sometimes it would register for a bit and then the readout would freeze again. Maybe it's the damp weather and perhaps another clean would affect a temporary cure but it really needs a new thingy.
What are my chances of finding a new or s/h thingy without it costing a fortune and what's the thingy's proper name? Is the thingy likely to be the same one for many models of DRO or do I need to find a model number for my DRO to make sure I get the right one?
-- Dave Baker