Calibrating digital scales

[fishin mission]

Anyone have a special way to calibrate digital scales???

[Yannick Loranger]

2lbs of butter in a grocery bag, or a dumbell weight in cloth bag

[Climber2k]

I dont really want to get into an accuracy or precision debate here, but any good manufacturing facility should have some reasonably accurate weights. Heck the local safeway ought to have a pound or two weight to calibrate their scales.

[OBD]

2lbs of butter in a grocery bag, or a dumbell weight in cloth bag

Yep I use a 5lbs dumbell weight as well and it works great!

[Fishing 24/7]

you guys are telling me i should calibrate my scale once in a while???

iv been usung the same rapala scale for the past 3 years .

never ajusted.

[Big Bass 444]

I`m not a big fan of scales anymore...for a long time that is.....but if I would come near a Canadian bass record....I would start looking for it for sure in the box and wipe off some dust over it

[fishin mission]

ya Kevin all those nickles you thought you got ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[mblaney]

Go to your favourite butcher and get yourself a 5 pound t-bone

Dumbell weights are not very accurate; I have found them to be lighter than they should be - makes body builders feel stronger?

If you are really serious http://www.pylonelectronics.com/calibration.php we only go to 60,000 lbs though . If someone needed a scale checked for a tournament, etc I could check it out for you. I built and calibrated my own 250lb deer scale - good to +/-2 lbs.

[Inglorius_Bass_Turd]

If you got a buddy in a machine shop get a set of standard weights made up. If you can have 2 x 0.10oz., 1 x 0.5oz., 2 x 1oz., 1 x 0.5 lb, 2 x 1lb and 1 x 5lb weights made up if aforementioned friend is good with a lathe or whatever. Get your weights standaradized at the machine shop and take them back for master calibration between seasons to insure integrity of the standard...This way you can calibrate all the way through your scale's range to find if there's any zero and/range error.

1 x 1oz. may read okay, but 2 x 1oz. may show inaccuracies (vice-versa), hence your reason for making doubles of the "singles" (0.1 oz, 1 oz and 1lb). As for adjustments after the fact, I'm not sure if the scales have zero or span screws. Most scales on the fishing market probably have load cells in them so if there's a problem, it's probably permanant. Forturnately if your standard weights show that the scale is precisely inaccurate, in that the 1oz. is off, and is off 9.5 out 10 times you use your standard weights, I think you can apply a correction or "fudge factor" to whatever it is you weigh.....

If you're weights are made well, people may pay you to do their scales.......Sorry for the long winded idea, but that's what I'd do instead of trusting a factory certification.

[steve-hamilton]

i have done some personal testing, and i have yet to find a digital scale that is actually 100% accurate.

however, some are pretty close.

the ones that aren't, well, they are those $29.99 scales.

Out of the package, they weigh almost correct. Almost.

But each year that goes by, they start getting more and more off. Especially if you "play" weight by pulling the scale down to see if you can get it to read "max".

Also, batteries. Guys, change your scale batteries.

We did a test on a scale that I knew was "almost" dead....but the battery indicator did not show dead....the scale still turned on.

We weighed a fish. Weighed 11.2lbs (salmon). I then changed the battery to the fresh battery. It then weighed 10.7lbs. thats a big difference!

Before we started using the berkley TEC scale (the most accurate scale i have found) I was weighing the same fish, but with different weights....both the berkley and the rapala scale.

I now see folks posting pictures of fish on scales, showing the weight. I often think, I wonder what that really weighs....but then it occurs to me, who cares what it weighs? The smile is all that matters....

(unless your competing in a blood thursty friendship derby, where every ounce counts!)