If you are running a weighing systems business, having accurate weighbridges is essential for the success of your business. There is various kind of weighing systems like rail, road, mining and aviation; every weighs company want to manufacture and supply technologically advanced and an accurate scale.
But with all the hard work, there can be some mistakes. Some of the factors that you need to consider for accuracy of your weighing system are
Load Cell accuracy
For every digital weighing system, the load cell is a critical weighing component. Even a slight malfunction of the load cell can lead to inaccuracy while weighing. To ensure the load cell accuracy, you need to know about how it functions? Some of the factors that affect load cell accuracy are
- Exposing the load cell to significant temperature variations
- Using the load cell continuously with very little time gaps
- load on a cell is left stationary for a long time
Load factors
There might be various reasons which affect the accuracy of the weighing system, but sometimes, the load itself can cause the problem. You need to ensure certain things like
- Check mounting hardware functionality, whether it’s functioning correctly or not. As it’s where the
- Be sure that the mounting structure can adequately support the scale, its components and load.
- Use cross braces with proper support legs. It helps to reduce side loads when support legs get spread.
- Loads should be appropriately aligned; else it might generate an inaccurate result.
Environmental factors
Have you ever thought of environmental factors while weighing? There are several environmental factors that play a significant role in accurate weighing. Some of them are:
- The air movement that occurs while weighing can affect your scale. Even the small flow of air caused by air ducts affects weighing.
- If there is equipment close to the weigh scale, sensitive loads can misinterpret these vibrations resulting in incorrect weight readings.
- Dropping heavy materials suddenly into a scale can exceed the max rated capacity, and lead to the damage of load cell and other components
- The difference in air pressure in the calibration environment and operating environment can lead to inaccurate scaling
Interference
Generally, Load cells work by sending an electrical signal. And it’s processed by weight controller which result as the measured weight. Any sorts of interference during this process can lead to inaccurate weight readings.
- As we know the Wire resistance increases along with the temperature and causes the voltage to drop, which results in the controller displaying different results than the load cell’s output.
- RFI and EMI can create ‘noise’ or give additional input signals which can cause the controller to register incorrect weight.
- Cables can wick moisture and condensation, causing the electrical output to get coupled with input. It creates interference in the signals.
About the Author
Christian Taylor is a mechanical and electronic weighing engineer at Trakblaze– one of the leading manufacturer and supplier of weighbridges, balancing systems and scales for the rail, road, mining and aviation industry.