I’m translating a long hideous document and this word keeps popping up in the original. Sounds wrong – you calibrate an instrument periodically surely, there’s no ‘re-‘ about it. Like you check your valve clearances on an engine every x miles, you’re only rechecking if you did it wrong?

Or is it a word that’s just crept into use?

Context, machine tool axes.

I’d assume if you’ve originally calibrated it, then when you check and reset it, it counts as a recalibration?

For example, our 3D printers at work. Calibrated on first use, and then checked and occasionally recalibrated.

Word is correct to a point, from an engineering perspective i would say..

The gauge needs recalibrating rather than the gauge needs recalibration.

Yes.
Parameters can change so there is a need for recalibration.

Fair enough. These are essentially just big 3d printers so I’ll go with that.

The world’s turned since I worked in all this.

Used regularly in our work (laboratory based). Equipment will have a date it was calibrated (“Calibration Date”) and date when its due to be recalibrated (“recalibration date”).

Sounds fine to me. I imagine they are talking about periodically recalibrating it back to the original scale. Another use would be recalibrating it to a new scale. Will probably depend on the specific field whether they use “calibrate” or “recalibrate”.

Why would you need to calibrate an axe?

often with industrial equipment you’ll have to recalibrate if environmental factors change (as well as at regular intervals as part of routine servicing)… that is absolutely the right word to use for anything that’s not an initial calibration as part of the commissioning process… I think you’re overthinking this 😃

I used it this morning in a meeting as 6 weighers and 12 flo-Balancers are due their recalibration.
Its fairly commonly used here.

Overthinking not so much as just out of the loop, I worked in a QA dept years ago calibrating everything from micrometers to soldering stations and never saw that word once!

We would use the word all the time in a lab sense. Technically you could argue that second and subsequent calibrations are just calibrations, and the pre-fix “re” is superfluous but it’s in common parlance in the technical industry, may help to identify that something was previously in calibration rather than being out of spec. I think its also common that if something is “sent for recalibration” that it will first be checked to see if it is correctly calibrated first, and if it is it will be returned with new certificates etc but no settings changed, whereas if simply sent for calibration the assumption is it is out of spec to begin with, however, if that sort of semantics are being argued it should be clearly stated somewhere as its a rather loose term.

Sounds wrong – you calibrate an instrument periodically surely, there’s no ‘re-‘ about it. Like you check your valve clearances on an engine every x miles, you’re only rechecking if you did it wrong?

So I’ve never checked valve clearances but would it not be correct to say:
– you adjust valve clearances at manufacture
– periodically you check those clearances, and if out of spec:
– you readjust those clearances.

How do engineers find the ideal partner?
They Datum first.

Why would you need to calibrate an axe?

Hast thou ever useth an uncalibrated axe?

Devil’s work, I tell thee.

OP’s vocabulary is current undergoing a recalibration.

 Like you check your valve clearances on an engine every x miles, you’re only rechecking if you did it wrong?

No, you are adjusting for wear (valves, seats etc.).

I wouldn’t classify that as (re)calibration in any case – that’s where you compare / adjust a scale against an authoritative source.

Over 20 years in Metrology and currently working in Aerospace Quality and it’s a word used on a daily basis.

“Asset A is due recalibration on XX/XX/XXXX”

You could calibrate something for a particular parameter, then recalibrate to a different value for that parameter.

Recalibration is very common for road policing equipment. A VASCAR speed detection unit measures wheel rotations. As a tyre wears down the number of wheel rotations over a measured half mile will increase as the tyre circumference decreases. The unit needs to be recalibrated, not just checked, to maintain accuracy. It’s quite easy to do at operator level.

Radar and laser devices are checked regularly and, depending on the device, may be subject to recalibration by the operator, technical officer or manufacturer, dependent on how involved the recalibration process actually is. Same principal applies to roadside and station breath test devices.

Computerised collision investigation survey equipment runs self checks and only requires annual recalibration unless an error is found. Stopwatches, strain gauges, Tintman window testers, calibrated tape measures and even the old fashioned Tapleymeter (decelerometer) get sent off once a year for checking and recalibration if required. In short, everything that involves a unit of measurement and is used for enforcement purposes must be checked and recalibrated as required.

Yep used daily in our industry (refrigeration Engineering) regarding instrumentation –

Example – “the flowmeter is away for recalibration at the moment”

You could calibrate something for a particular parameter, then recalibrate to a different value for that parameter.

I’m not saying you’re wrong but…

Surely you calibrate it to Nm (for eg) then you recalibrate to Nm after gorrilla Jim undoes the bolt using the good torque wrench because you are returning to the correct calibration.

Then American Joe wants it pounds feet or whatever so it needs calibrated again as the calibration will be changed.

I have been invited by my line manager into their office for ‘recalibration’ on occasion…..

Why would you need to calibrate an axe?

I don’t know, but I can see that you might need to calibrate an axis, and then another axis.

I was given the job to calibrate it, but then I missed a step, and the calibration failed. I need to do the whole thing again, I would call this recalibration.

Over 20 years in Metrology and currently working in Aerospace Quality and it’s a word used on a daily basis.

“Asset A is due recalibration on XX/XX/XXXX”

Not sure what the weather’s got to do with it but I’ll trust your experience and go with ‘recalibration’ 👍

We use the term at work with our risk models.

Over time the models lose power and they have to be recalibrated.

This is a process you go through when you add in more recent data and adjust the model parameters.

When you have decided what the new parameters are, you apply the agreed calibration to them.

I was given the job to calibrate it, but then I missed a step, and the calibration failed. I need to do the whole thing again, I would call this recalibration.

I would disagree… if you **** it up, you haven’t calibrated it, so how can you recalibrate it? Might be getting picky now though 🤣

I would disagree… if you **** it up, you haven’t calibrated it, so how can you recalibrate it? Might be getting picky now though 🤣

ya maybe, I men recalibration applies if you need to do the calibration again, maybe I did it and someone twatted it so it needs re-doing.

but if the flowmeter goes off once every six months, then its just away for calibration, no need for re- I do get the OP’s issue.
My car is in for new tyres, its not being re-tyred.

We use it in medical engineering: devices are re calibrated, test equipment is calibrated.

Every morning hipsters calibrate their coffee grind. If the weather or conditions change during the day, they recalibrate the grind.

every time I used an NMR machine or a nanodrop spectrophotometer

We tend to use it for equipment that has drifted out of spec.

Calibration is bringing it into spec, recalibration is bringing it back or changing the spec.

I’ll just pop this here, hahah 🙂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46143399

used to work in 2/3d motion capture so yes alot.

To answer the OP, calibration is the same recalibration, it’s just bad english.

Take brake bleeding… you don’t re-bleed brakes, you just bleed them, sometimes more than once.

I use recalibrate in conjunction with moral compass.

I met the grand K once.

Not sure what the weather’s got to do with it but I’ll trust your experience and go with ‘recalibration’ 👍

Good work 🙂

Well I handed it in with recalibrate, my view is if it’s in common use it must be ok*. But it still bugs me.

If we liken calibrating equipment to tuning an instrument – I pick up my guitar and tune it. I might retune it if a string breaks.

*With the usual exception of their/they’re, bought/brought, it’s/its, less/fewer etc!