When acquiring a building level, they usually expect perfect accuracy from this measuring device. There seems to be nothing complicated in this product: just a test tube with a liquid in an aluminum frame. But in reality, everything is not so simple: a large assortment of these products, as well as a variance in prices, are often puzzling. There are branded and expensive products, there is cheap “China”, and there is something mediocre.
Professionals for whom construction is the main way to earn money usually don’t skimp on a good level: after all, mistakes can be too expensive. But often such a product is required for one-time work, and you don’t want to overpay for the brand at all, and here a few unpleasant surprises can await the buyer. Further, what you should pay attention to when choosing products such as a level or a rule with level indicators.
1. The correctness of the working planes. This is especially true for products longer than a meter. It is also useful when buying in a store to attach the product with the measuring side to a obviously flat surface and make sure that in the level it is really a plane, not a propeller. In the absence of such smooth surfaces, you can simply “shoot your eye” from the end of the level. The curvature in low-quality products, as a rule, is noticeable even by eye: you just need to take a closer look.
2. Correct installation of level indicators. There are two or three in the level or rule of such eyes, and they are often fixed tightly, without the possibility of adjustment. It is advisable to check each of them by applying the product to a deliberately flat horizontal and vertical plane. The bubble in both cases should be located strictly in the center of the indicator. If there are no reference planes, then it is possible to achieve an average position of the indicator with linings on one side. Then turn the level upside down - the bubble should be in the middle.
3. The excessive lightness of the product indicates that the walls of the case are too thin. That is, with a fall or a small abnormal load, the tool can bend and lose its accuracy.
Further, what can be done if the marriage is noticed too late, and exchanging a poor-quality product will fail. If the problem is an incorrect indicator, then you should pay attention to the possibility of its adjustment. Sometimes the manufacturer provides an adjustment screw for one or more eyes. Most often, the screw head is hidden or barely noticeable. It is worth trying to open all the stubs of the device.
Worse, when all eyes are glued tightly, but even here a slight adjustment is possible. Most cases of such products are made of aluminum alloys, and it is quite soft metal, and this can be used. Having set the level on a deliberately flat and strong surface, we determine which side you need to drown the eye so that the bubble in the cone is in the middle. Next, carefully hammer in a small recess near the place of gluing the test tube with a hammer and a metal rod. The level housing is deformed, dragging the indicator along: this is what the adjustment is made of.
Temporarily, you can use a more primitive way: stick several layers of masking tape on one side of the work plane. It is necessary to glue taking into account the fact that the measuring plane must remain exactly the plane. That is, more layers are glued closer to the end than in the middle. Layers of adhesive tape are glued with peculiar steps.
This method of repair will partially correct the level, and it can be used to . Nevertheless, a tool with such a sticker will lose a lot, because it will not be possible to use it on wet surfaces, when pouring screeds and leveling the plaster. That is, the correct and reliable way is still in straightening the indicator position.
It is much more difficult to adjust the curvature of the body. There is some likelihood of a successful repair, but it is difficult to describe it: marriage and methods of rectification are too individual.