Digital Scales

[Denice]

My Ohaus triple beam scale needs to be rebuilt according to the Ohaus company and that will cost me around 250 dollars. I understand that most potters use digital scales now. I was wondering what brands and models that they use and what kind of life expectancy they have. The Ohaus company recommend the Scout Pro-SP2001. I have never been around or used digital scales so I am a newbie when it comes to this. So if you have a scale that you love, tell me about it and if you think I'm crazy to switch to a digital scale I want to know this to. Denice (Wichita, KS)

[Guest JBaymore]

Denise,

 

Most of the scales on that page are accurate to plus or minus one tenth of a gram..... which is the same accuracy as the typical triple beam balance. That is fine for smaller batches and for glaze testing work. So either type works for that.

 

Beware of CHEAP digital scales... tha accuracy can be very poor.

 

I have both types in my studio. I have a high capacity digital for making large working batches of glazes. Easier to weigh out BIG amounts on that digital than on the triple beam.

 

$250 sounds high for a repair.... just buy a new one. It'll be cheaper.

 

best,

 

..............john

[Denice]

Denise,

 

Most of the scales on that page are accurate to plus or minus one tenth of a gram..... which is the same accuracy as the typical triple beam balance. That is fine for smaller batches and for glaze testing work. So either type works for that.

 

Beware of CHEAP digital scales... tha accuracy can be very poor.

 

I have both types in my studio. I have a high capacity digital for making large working batches of glazes. Easier to weigh out BIG amounts on that digital than on the triple beam.

 

$250 sounds high for a repair.... just buy a new one. It'll be cheaper.

 

best,

 

..............john

 

John Buying a test scale and a batch scale is a great idea, I was trying to combine both jobs in one scale this will make it easier to make a decision. Thanks Denice

[Mr. X]

I got my Ohaus with weights for $40 on ebay.

[Guest JBaymore]

Denise,

 

BTW.....

 

When I say "big" there ... I mix glazes into 40 gallon garbage cans... so the batches are quite large for what most people tend to mix.

 

A tenth of a gram on a 100 gram test batch of glaze is an accuracy of plus or minus one tenth of one percent... which is great for testing glazes. If you want it to do "double duty" for you, then get the largest capacity that has that same accuracy.

 

If you are like a lot of people, you are likely mixing your largest glaze batches at something like 5000 to 7000 grams total. So you reallly don't need a hionkin' huge top capacity scale. With what I often mix, sometimes I am measureing out 20,000 grams of a single material.

 

best,

 

............john

[Denice]

Denise,

 

BTW.....

 

When I say "big" there ... I mix glazes into 40 gallon garbage cans... so the batches are quite large for what most people tend to mix.

 

A tenth of a gram on a 100 gram test batch of glaze is an accuracy of plus or minus one tenth of one percent... which is great for testing glazes. If you want it to do "double duty" for you, then get the largest capacity that has that same accuracy.

 

If you are like a lot of people, you are likely mixing your largest glaze batches at something like 5000 to 7000 grams total. So you reallly don't need a hionkin' huge top capacity scale. With what I often mix, sometimes I am measureing out 20,000 grams of a single material.

 

best,

 

............john Thank you for setting me straight on the size of your batches, I usually mix a 5 gallon bucket when I find a glaze I like, I'm going to figure my cost going both directions with the scales. I still think having 2 scales is a good idea, I won't need a scale as large as yours though. I haven,t found much on E Bay yet, I'm staying away from used scales because I don't know to much about them.

[Marcia Selsor]

My Ohaus triple beam scale needs to be rebuilt according to the Ohaus company and that will cost me around 250 dollars. I understand that most potters use digital scales now. I was wondering what brands and models that they use and what kind of life expectancy they have. The Ohaus company recommend the Scout Pro-SP2001. I have never been around or used digital scales so I am a newbie when it comes to this. So if you have a scale that you love, tell me about it and if you think I'm crazy to switch to a digital scale I want to know this to. Denice (Wichita, KS)

 

 

I saw an O'Haus triple beam scale in a junk store for out of Austin for $20. Search LabX.com...under lab equipment. They sell lots of them. They also sell digital scales.

Marcia

[Denice]

My Ohaus triple beam scale needs to be rebuilt according to the Ohaus company and that will cost me around 250 dollars. I understand that most potters use digital scales now. I was wondering what brands and models that they use and what kind of life expectancy they have. The Ohaus company recommend the Scout Pro-SP2001. I have never been around or used digital scales so I am a newbie when it comes to this. So if you have a scale that you love, tell me about it and if you think I'm crazy to switch to a digital scale I want to know this to. Denice (Wichita, KS)

 

 

I saw an O'Haus triple beam scale in a junk store for out of Austin for $20. Search LabX.com...under lab equipment. They sell lots of them. They also sell digital scales.

Marcia

 

 

Marcia thanks for the info on the LabX.com I took a quick tour through the sight and they have a ton of equipment, nothing stood out but I need to spend some time cruising the site. I,m afraid my old triple beam is going to end up at the junk store to. Denice

[Marcia Selsor]

Can't see why it would cost so much to fix it unless it was really heavily damaged in which case, it is cheaper to find a new one. Mine is 40 years old and works fine. The one in the junk store looked fine too. They didn't realize the single gram bar had that tiny sliding indicator on it. They thought something was missing. It was all there.

I have gotten things off LabX.com. The lab equipment is what you need to go to for scales and balances.

Marcia

[Denice]

Can't see why it would cost so much to fix it unless it was really heavily damaged in which case, it is cheaper to find a new one. Mine is 40 years old and works fine. The one in the junk store looked fine too. They didn't realize the single gram bar had that tiny sliding indicator on it. They thought something was missing. It was all there.

I have gotten things off LabX.com. The lab equipment is what you need to go to for scales and balances.

Marcia

 

Marcia that was the price Ohaus quoted me, they said they had a 125.00 charge just for looking at it and then the charges varied but the usual charge was 212.00 plus freight. My scale is about 20 years old several times I couldn't get it to zero, it has to be rebalanced between every measurement. Those things I can live with, the oddest thing is that if I use it very much the scale will move up and down when you move your hand close to it. At first I thought it was just me, I'm one of those overly magnetic people who can't wear watches, I have a drawer full of them that I have killed. But the other day my husband was looking at it and it started moving up and down when he tried to touch it. Ohaus told me that I had a problem with my magnets that they were losing there strength and it sounded like it needed other adjustments. Usually if I quit working and try again the next day it will work again for a while. Ohaus repair center said that it was a unusual problem but not unheard of, didn't even know if they could get the magnets. I' m hoping digital will give me a less problems than my triple beam which I dearly loved until now.

[Marcia Selsor]

Can't see why it would cost so much to fix it unless it was really heavily damaged in which case, it is cheaper to find a new one. Mine is 40 years old and works fine. The one in the junk store looked fine too. They didn't realize the single gram bar had that tiny sliding indicator on it. They thought something was missing. It was all there.

I have gotten things off LabX.com. The lab equipment is what you need to go to for scales and balances.

Marcia

Marcia that was the price Ohaus quoted me, they said they had a 125.00 charge just for looking at it and then the charges varied but the usual charge was 212.00 plus freight. My scale is about 20 years old several times I couldn't get it to zero, it has to be rebalanced between every measurement. Those things I can live with, the oddest thing is that if I use it very much the scale will move up and down when you move your hand close to it. At first I thought it was just me, I'm one of those overly magnetic people who can't wear watches, I have a drawer full of them that I have killed. But the other day my husband was looking at it and it started moving up and down when he tried to touch it. Ohaus told me that I had a problem with my magnets that they were losing there strength and it sounded like it needed other adjustments. Usually if I quit working and try again the next day it will work again for a while. Ohaus repair center said that it was a unusual problem but not unheard of, didn't even know if they could get the magnets. I' m hoping digital will give me a less problems than my triple beam which I dearly loved until now.

That is a strange problem. I didn't know there were magnets in the scale. LabX.com has digital scales too. good luck!

Marcia

 

 

[azjoe]

If I were buying a new triple beam today it would be the Ohaus tp2611 with the additional weight set. I just googled it... one hit was at Hogentogler.com (which I know nothing about)... they list it on-sale for $126.75 plus $39.00 for the weights, free shipping. Ohaus wanting to charge you $250 to repair yours indicates they don't really want to repair your scale... they want you to buy a new one.

 

FWIW, I use an older Ohaus triple beam which weighs up to 2610 grams... that has always been more than sufficient for 5-gal batches. For test batches (100g, 200g, or 400g) I typical use a small (inexpensive) electronic scale. The one I have has a resolution of .1g, which is the same as the Ohaus. I don't really know what the accuracy is... I assume it's +/- .05g (I assume the same for the Ohaus, btw).

 

One thing that is annoying with the electronic scale I have is that it automatically turns off a few seconds after the weight stabilizes (I guess to conserve battery). This is pretty annoying at times (actually, most of the time). If/when I buy another electronic, I'll look for one where the auto-off feature can be disabled.

[Denice]

If I were buying a new triple beam today it would be the Ohaus tp2611 with the additional weight set. I just googled it... one hit was at Hogentogler.com (which I know nothing about)... they list it on-sale for $126.75 plus $39.00 for the weights, free shipping. Ohaus wanting to charge you $250 to repair yours indicates they don't really want to repair your scale... they want you to buy a new one.

 

FWIW, I use an older Ohaus triple beam which weighs up to 2610 grams... that has always been more than sufficient for 5-gal batches. For test batches (100g, 200g, or 400g) I typical use a small (inexpensive) electronic scale. The one I have has a resolution of .1g, which is the same as the Ohaus. I don't really know what the accuracy is... I assume it's +/- .05g (I assume the same for the Ohaus, btw).

 

One thing that is annoying with the electronic scale I have is that it automatically turns off a few seconds after the weight stabilizes (I guess to conserve battery). This is pretty annoying at times (actually, most of the time). If/when I buy another electronic, I'll look for one where the auto-off feature can be disabled.

Thanks for the information on the annoying automatic off on the digital scale, one thing I can check on when purchasing a scale. I think I'm going to try just a digital scale for now, see how I like it before buying a new triple beam. Thank you for responding, I haven't received very many responses that use digital scales I was beginning to think I was heading the wrong direction. Denice

[bciskepottery]

I've been considering a digital scale also but have yet to take the plunge. The studio I teach at also sells raw materials and operates a glaze kitchen. For measuring glazes, we use an Ohaus triple beam scale that works in grams. For taking large bags of raw materials and making smaller bags for sale, the owners use a digital scale -- and sell in pounds, not grams. It seems that the digital scales are becoming a bit more reasonable in price, compared to triple beams, and it is easier to find digital scales that go up to 2600 grams and are sensitive to tents of a gram. If I get I get one, I plan to use it on electric power, not batteries. Other features I like are the auto tare function, switch from grams to pounds, ability to go up to 2600 grams. I am looking at Ohaus and MyWeigh.

[Guest JBaymore]

That is a strange problem. I didn't know there were magnets in the scale. LabX.com has digital scales too. good luck!

 

Marcia,

 

Those are the "damping magnets". They decrease the tendecy for a balance to oscillate (like a sine wave) across the balanced position. Makes it quicker for the balance to stabilize at the point it is going to stop moving. Without them, it takes a long time for the beam to stop swinging up and down.

 

best,

 

..................john

[Marcia Selsor]

That is a strange problem. I didn't know there were magnets in the scale. LabX.com has digital scales too. good luck!

 

Marcia,

 

Those are the "damping magnets". They decrease the tendecy for a balance to oscillate (like a sine wave) across the balanced position. Makes it quicker for the balance to stabilize at the point it is going to stop moving. Without them, it takes a long time for the beam to stop swinging up and down.

 

best,

 

..................john

 

Thanks for the explanation. I don't think mine has the magnets because it does take a long time to stop the swaying. It is over 40 years old.

Marcia

[Denice]

That is a strange problem. I didn't know there were magnets in the scale. LabX.com has digital scales too. good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to thank everyone for their help I've ordered a scale that is 3000 kg to .1 grams for batch glazes and a 150 gram to .01 gram for testing. Both scales had 5 year warranties and not terribly expensive, if I'm not crazy about them I can always buy a new triple beam . I should know in a few weeks if it's going to be a love or hate situation and will be able to recommend them or not. Denice (Wichita, KS)