SHIMPO FGE User Manual

FGE Series
Digital Force Gauges
Models FGE-0.5 — FGE-100

SHAFT

Instruction Manual

Precautions

Do not use the gauge in hostile environments:
A.High humidity areas

B. High temperature environments

(see specifications table)

C. Caustic areas where various chemicals can seep into the

unit.

When not in use, place gauge back in its case to prevent any
damage due to accidental drop etc. With a little care you can
have an instrument that can last and provide service for

many year s.

Operation

HANGER

General Information

You have just received the world's most rugged and economi­cal force gauge. For the price of a mechanical gauge you
have all the advantages of a small digital instrument ergo-

nomically designed to fit perfectly in the palm of your hand.
With the touch of a button you can measure force in any

engineering units desired (lbs, kgs and N).
The unit's microprocessor enables it to measure forces very

accurately in the "average" or "peak" mode. Its LCD display
is smartly designed to inform the operator at all times of ex-

actly what's going on.
If the hanger is used or the gauge is placed on a test stand,

reversing the display so that it can be read right-side-up is
simple: press only two buttons and the digits and units indi-

cators reverse themselves instantly .

When the carrying case is opened make sure you have all the
accessories that came with the instrument; namely adapter/

charger, hook, flat head, and hanger.

1. Charge the batteries for approx. 12 hrs. before using the
gauge. (batteries come dischar ged from the factory) When
batteries are charging the BAT indicator is ON. When the

batteries are fully charged the indicator goes OFF.

2. Hand tighten appropriate attachment to unit's measuring
shaft (do not use a wrench or any other device to tighten

the attachment).

3. Press the POWER switch and release. On the release of
the switch the display will momentarily show all 8's (digit

segment self-check) and then will show some zeros with
the last one or two digits changing to some random num-

bers. Also the unit of measurement (lbs, kgs or N) will
appear above the digits and stay as long as the instrument

is on.

Change Display Units

To change the display units, just press the UNIT button and
the units will change every time this particular button is

pressed.

1

Reverse the Display

Low Battery

If unit is used with the hanger or mounted on a test stand and
the display must be reversed, follow this procedure:

1. Press the POWER switch and hold it; display will go
blank.

2. Press and hold UNIT switch.

3. Release POWER switch while you are still holding the
UNIT switch; display is still blank.

4. Press the POWER switch once more and release it while
still holding the UNIT switch. At this point you should

see the display reversed.

5. Release the UNIT switch; the display stays in that mode.

If you want to go back to the normal mode, just repeat steps
1 through 5.

Select Average or Peak

If you want to measure force in real time (average) the dis­play will show only the digits and units of the force being

measured. If you want to measure "peak" force:

1. Press the PEAK button; the word PEAK will appear in
the upper left corner of the display .

2. The display will freeze after capturing the peak force.

3. Press ZERO to cancel previous peak and continue with
your tests.

If you want to go back to average mode press the PEAK
button again and the word PEAK will disappear from the
display.

NOTE: It is very important that you measure forces (ten­sion or compression) that are in line with the measuring shaft

and not at any angle (see fig. 1). Failure to observe this di­rective will damage the instrument. Also, after the gauge is
positioned and ready to take a measurement (with the proper

attachment in place) tare the unit by pressing the ZERO
switch. In the PEAK mode to clear the display for another

measurement, press the ZERO switch.

When the battery charge starts to get low, a LO BAT sign
appears in the upper left corner of the display . At this point,
if necessary, the adapter/charger can be used to power the

unit indefinitely . With the power off it takes approx. 12 hrs.
to fully char ge. When the battery is fully charged the adapter/

charger cuts off completely to protect the battery .

Auto Power Off

If the power on the gauge is turned on and there is no
activity for 10 minutes, the power is automatically cut-of f

to conserve battery charge. One minute before cut-of f, the
sign PWR appears above the display digits to remind the
operator that there is 1 minute left before power cut-of f . I f

the adapter/charger is powering the gauge, the Auto Power
Cut-Off function becomes inactive.

Tracking Function

A tracking function has been introduced to check and
compensate for temperature drift. When measuring very
minute forces (a few oz.) and at a very slow rate, you may

want to turn off the tracking function. T o turn the tracking
function on or off, follow the steps below:

1. Turn POWER off.

2. Press PEAK and UNIT switches simultaneously and
hold these until step 3 is complete.

3. Press POWER switch and release it to turn the power
on. If tracking function was on, the display will show

TRK OFF momentarily .

4. Release buttons PEAK & UNIT . The tracking function
is now of f. Repeat above steps to turn it on. It is a good

idea to have this function on all the time unless it is
absolutely necessary to cancel it.

Measure Tension

To measure tensile force use the hook attachment. The dis­play will show the force measured and a minus sign (-) will

appear on the left of the display (right next to the digits).

Measure Compression

To measure compression force use the flat head attachment.
No sign will appear on the left of the display during a com-

pression measurement.

2

Fig. 1