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Just realized my cheap bubble level was fine and the fancy one was the problem
For two years I keep my 4 foot Stabila in the truck for the big lifts and use a $20 no name level for the little cribbing and mat work. Last month I started getting lifts that read dead level on my end but the load cell on the LMI said I was off about 2 degrees, and it drove me nuts trying to chase it. Turned out the Stabila had a cracked vial from a bump in the yard and I never noticed because it still showed a bubble. My cheap level was true the entire time, I checked both on the same beam with a digital angle finder at the shop in Fontana. Now I keep the cheap one in the cab and only pull the good one for critical picks, which is backwards from what I did for years. A 2 degree tilt on a 30 foot boom is a real problem when you are swinging over a trench. Has anyone else had a level go out on them without it being obvious?
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mark_miller12d ago
Man that is a gut punch because you trust the expensive one and stop even thinking about it. I had a cheaper level go bad on me and the bubble still moved, it just moved wrong, so nothing looked off until I checked it against another one. The cracked vial thing is sneaky too, you would figure a crack would be obvious but if it still holds a bubble you just keep rolling with it. Two degrees over a trench is no joke, that is the kind of stuff that ends bad. Good on you for catching it at the shop with the angle finder before it bit you.
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