Industrial scales are an important everyday use item in many businesses. They help measure ingredients for industrial materials such as cement or concrete and can even help measure the medication in your local pharmacy. Without industrial scales working properly, there can be cause for error and that will cause a whole host of problems.
Customers could receive the wrong medication and overdose. Construction workers trying to pour concrete might have to start the process all over again if the cement was correct. Businesses can also get fines or lawful action pursued against them for improper compliance. It is a nightmare.
That is why it is important to have a scale that is always in working order. You can make sure you maintain your scale by regularly cleaning it and calibrating it for accuracy. Another terrific way to maintain your scale is to simply treat it gently and not use it incorrectly.
However, scales are not invincible and despite your careful handling and daily calibration, they can and will still break down. It is just like any other technology, once in a while they need to be taken care of, fine-tuned, and repaired. In the unfortunate instance when a scale cannot be repaired, it might have to be replaced.
If you are unsure whether your scale needs a quick repair, read on for some signs and helpful troubleshooting tips.
You see rust or other kinds of damage on the mechanics
Water is like oil and vinegar to mechanical equipment. It can cause it to malfunction, short circuit, rust, and break down. Since scales are made up of mechanical parts and pieces, it is susceptible to the same problems as other mechanical devices and equipment.
Scales can be temperature and moisture sensitive so if you have a lot of temperature fluctuations each year or a lot of humid days, then you could get some results building up. Rust can cause the scale to malfunction or degrade so if you see rust or corrosion on certain parts of your scale, it’s best to call out someone who’s an expert in industrial scale repair so they can make the final decision on whether the rusted parts can be replaced or repaired.
Inconsistent readings or Discrepancies
This is probably going to be the first sign you will see if something is wrong with your scale. Inconsistent readings mean that you are weighing an object that you already have the average weight or approximate weight of, and it shows something far different.
For example, let us say you weigh a crate filled with cleaning supplies every day as part of your shipping job. You will come to expect a certain number or numbers each time you weigh them. If, however, you weigh it and discover that it is way off than usual then something within the scale is not working right.
You should confirm the discrepancy by weighing it several times and checking past weight logs to ensure you are off. You can even weigh something else a few times to see if that also produces the same number.
You can try to resolve the problem with calibration in case your scale just needs a tune-up. If that does not work, then you should contact a repairman to come to take a look. It might be a simple fix. In the event, it is not, and it needs to be replaced, then you can make sure that has been done as soon as possible.
For tips on how to calibrate a scale, follow the link. https://bizfluent.com/how-4812541-calibrate-weighing-scale.html
Display problems
This is probably one of the easier, hopefully, problems to fix. If you are working with the scale and notice you are having difficulty reading the screen, then something is going on. It is most likely low batteries or a bad power cable that cannot give the scale the juice it needs to function correctly, or it could be that parts of the screen have burned out. Many scales take lithium batteries so for more information on those, click here.
You can try recalibrating the scale and replacing any power chords or batteries. If that solves the problem, then you are good to go! No worries about getting things looked at. But if that does not work, you will need to call someone out to do a diagnostic test on it to determine where the problem is. That way they can fix it and be on their merry way.
Inaccuracy
We will use something easy for this scenario. If you take an apple and weigh it on your kitchen scale and it comes up with an outrageous number like seven pounds, but on your other scale it reads at 150g, then you can bet your bottom dollar your kitchen scale is wrong. It is the same for industrial scales.
If you weigh the same object twice using two scales and they have different numbers, then one of the scales is not accurate. You can try calibrating both scales to confirm the discrepancy. If the discrepancy is still there, then you should probably call a repairman to come out and see you. Your system could be off, and parts or circuits could need a quick replacement.
It cannot get a weight at all
I have been on my personal scale at home watching the numbers change on a dime whenever I move. This is normal because you are shifting your weight and the scale is trying to regulate itself. Industrial scales do not have moving subjects but if the numbers move as they do, then more than likely it is having problems calculating the weight.
More than likely it is a simple electronic malfunction that can be replaced. It happened with my stove once where the timer kept doing funky things because the electrical components were faulty. Lucky for you a repairman should be able to determine how much damage there is within the machine and how much, if anything, can be salvaged for repair.
There are a lot of ways a scale can stop working and these are just a few of them. I hope it helped you determine whether you needed to call a repair guy out to fix it or if the troubleshooting techniques helped fix the problem altogether.
