Top 12 Common Weighing Scale Applications and How They Work
You’d be surprised by just how much the weight of an item can tell you – as demonstrated by the many extra functions scales and balances offer in addition to simple weighing. There are boundless ways your weighing scale can help make your work easier, but let’s get into the top 12.
1. Tare
Almost every single scale you see on the market will offer a tare function, since its application is so crucial to everyday weighing. Tare lets you “ignore” weight on the pan, only providing a result for the objects you want. It’s mostly used for subtracting the weight of a container that’s holding a sample, so you’re only getting the weight of the sample.
All you need to do is place the empty container on the pan. Then, hit tare. The display will show zeroes, as if there’s no weight present. Add your samples to the empty container and watch as the weight goes up as normal. Keep in mind that though the weight isn’t showing on the display, it’s still being felt on the pan. Guarantee the total weight isn’t surpassing the scale’s capacity.
When you remove both the sample and the container, the display will likely show a negative number. If you’re done weighing, ensure you’re hitting the Zero or Tare button again, so it returns to normal.
2. Counting
Counting, also known as parts counting or piece counting, is one of the most common applications on a weighing scale. When in parts counting mode, your scale or balance can provide the exact number of identical pieces you place on the pan.
How? Your scale will ask for a small sample of pieces, usually five or ten. It will use them to calculate the average weight of one piece. From there, you can stack hundreds of pieces up to the scale’s capacity. You’ll see the exact count on the display.
Why would you want to use the parts counting function? It’s exceptionally helpful when picking orders or performing a stock count. Especially when counting large quantities in a short span of time. Instead of counting one by one yourself, or simply estimating, let your weighing scale do the work.
You can find dedicated counting scales that have extra helpful features, like three displays to show the weight, unit weight and parts count, right here on Scaletec. Many of them, like the Cruiser CCT, boast product look-ups (PLUs) so you can save the unit weight of parts you count often in the scale’s memory. That way you don’t have to constantly start by providing a sample.
Counting scales have the additional benefit of parts counting optimization. The more pieces you put on the scale, the more it refines the sample weight. So, more weight makes the count more accurate!
3. Checkweighing
Checkweighing is when you input high and low weight limits and your scale lets you know when the weight on the pan is above, within or below those limits. You can find scales dedicated to checkweighing, like Adam’s Cruiser CKT, that offer special features such as a colour-changing display that will alert you where the item falls within your limits at just a glance.
This function is used most often for quality control purposes, to ensure that products are within weight standards. For example, if a pie is too light, there may not be enough filling, which is a disappointment to paying customers. If it’s too heavy, there may be too much filling and your company is losing money.
4. Check Counting
When you want to set high and low limits for parts counting, you would choose the check counting function. It would require a sample, just like parts counting. Let’s say you want no more than 150 screws in a box, but no less than 147, your scale can let you know when there are enough pieces on the pan. You might choose this over the parts counting function if you want to save yourself the effort of watching the display to make sure the count is correct, since the scale will notify you instead.
5. Price Computing
Price computing is a specialised application that’s only available on Price Computing Scales like Adam’s Swift. This function lets you set the price per unit weight of a product. For example, R26.00 per 1kg of apples. If half a kilogram of apples were placed on the weighing pan, the display would show R13.00. Just like a parts counting scale, price computing scales can save prices per weighing units as a PLU (price look-up, in this case).
These scales are excellent for market stalls and small business owners who sell by weight. They’re always trade approved, so it’s legal!
6. Percentage Weighing
Sometimes you might want to learn what percentage of a sample is added or removed, rather than what weight. For example, if you need to use exactly 25% of a beaker of chemicals for an experiment. You would turn on percentage weighing, then weigh the powder in its entirety. This becomes your 100% starting point. As you add or take away chemicals, your balance will calculate the new percentage. Simply remove chemicals until the percent hits 75% and you’ve hit your goal.
7. Dynamic / Animal Weighing
When you want to weigh something that’s moving, whether it be an animal or a liquid, it can take a while for it to be still enough to get reliable weight readings. Dynamic / animal weighing saves you time by taking the average weight of a moving item over a set span of time, such as ten seconds or so. That way, you can move on much quicker.
Veterinarians and farmers will benefit from this functionality as animals can have a hard time settling down when they’re placed on a scale. Brewers and vineyards that weigh barrels or casks of alcohol will also appreciate not having to wait for their wares to stop sloshing. You can find dynamic / animal weighing on a variety of Adam products, including the PT platforms or Gladiator bench and floor scales.
8. Moisture Determination
Only moisture analysers like the PMB, also known as a moisture balance, offer moisture determination. It’s a method of testing just how much moisture is in a sample, such as soil. They do so by first weighing the sample, then heating it until it’s dry and weighing it again. The moisture analyser uses the difference between the two weights to give you a percentage of total moisture. It’s called “loss-on-drying,” and it’s much faster than traditional methods like oven drying and more accurate than probes.
Moisture determination is frequently used for quality control to help ensure the product contains enough moisture at each stage of production. After all, a biscuit with too much moisture is going to grow mould more quickly, while with too little it would become dust by the time you brought it home.
9. Density Determination
Knowing the density of a sample can be helpful for materials testing purposes. One way to find out the density is by using your weighing scale with a density determination function.
Density determination involves weighing a sample in the air, then suspending it in a liquid of a known density and weighing the sample again while it’s in there. The scale will perform the necessary calculations to provide you with the density.
Some scales like the Highland Precision Balance offer a weigh-below hook so you can suspend the sample into liquid from in the air. Others offer kits so you can do the same thing on the pan instead. You can perform density determination on a scale that doesn’t offer that function. You’ll just have to do all the calculations yourself, which is slightly more prone to human error and more time consuming.
10. Accumulation
You might work with equipment, pallets or crates that have a limit on how much weight they can hold at once. For example, a standard pallet can hold about 2,130kg. You want to make the most of each one, so one way to ensure that you’re not overloading is by using the accumulation function on your scale.
The accumulation function adds up the weight of each product, so you get a total by the end. That way, once you’ve stacked enough boxes or products to equal about 2,000kg or so, you know to move on to the next pallet.
11. Dual Scale
This function is less common, only available on Scaletec’s site within the Cruiser CDT Dual Counting Scale. The CDT connects to any compatible auxiliary platform that has a higher capacity. You can then count small quantities of products on the CDT’s pan so you get a finer readability and larger quantities on the auxiliary platform to take advantage of the high capacity.
12. Peak Hold
When the peak hold function is active, your scale or balance will display the highest weight exerted, even if the actual weight ends up being lower. For example, dropping a football on the pan – the weight at initial contact will be higher than when it stops moving, but your scale will only show that high impact weight.
This is useful for materials testing purposes, to test how much weight an item can take before bending or breaking. It’s also useful in physics laboratories or classrooms as a method of force testing.
How Do You Know Which Applications Your Scale Offers?
If you’re shopping for a scale, most product pages will list the applications the scale offers quite clearly. For scales you already own, look at the manual to see if it gives explanations for how to use all the applications your scale can do. If you’ve lost the manual, you can typically find a copy on the manufacturer’s website, but just playing around with the scale can also unlock new functionality.
Taking advantage of these extra applications can truly improve your efficiency in weighing tasks. For recommendations on products with a specific application, contact the Scaletec team, we’d be happy to help.