Digital Scale Gets Less Accurate

My hornady does it, plus mine the stupid thing turns off every 30 seconds or so drives me nuts. I think it's because something to do when you trickle powder. weighing a full charge of a bullet there's no trouble just after trickling powder.

Have you tried letting it warm up for 15-30 minutes before zeroing it and using it? Zero it with the empty pan on it and don't leave a powder charge in the pan any longer than necessary to weigh it and don't leave the pan off the scale any longer than necessary to empty it.

also keep batteries fresh, and dont use an ac connector if you have one.

I turn scales and power dispensers on an hour before I start pouring powder.
If they sway from there, somethings wrong. Bad power source, fluorescent lights, or faulty load cell in the scale / failing scale.

I’ve found there may be a slight difference if you place a weight on one side of the pan or the other. Consistent placement in the center and, if you can, with the same minimum force may help. You should also try to limit the amount of vibration the digital scale endures. Keeping it on the bench with the press is not a good idea. I make it a habit to calibrate and zero often. Good luck!

All those little tricks to get a cheap scale to work, then one always wonders if it is in fact working correctly.

I use a digital scale to weight-sort projectiles and empty cartridge brass. That's all.

I use a gravity balance scale - first a 502, now a 505 - to weigh powder charges. It's very difficult to cheat gravity.
I would, and have used a Lee scale before using an electronic for powder.

I have never, and don't plan to ever, use an electronic scale for powder. When beginners ask, I recommend against the practice.

I started my reloading career on a 505, but found it too needs to be checked every so often as dust and dirt can affect the knife edges. And make sure you check the batteries every so often...
I use both balance and digital scales but check them periodically. To each his own. Good luck!

LoonWulf said:

also keep batteries fresh, and dont use an ac connector

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Why not use an AC connector? Isn't a dedicated power source better than batteries which wear out over time?

The only problem I’ve had is when batteries are getting low. I bought a second cheap electronic one to verify the first and have never had discrepancies.

I’ve read plenty of horror stories on balance beam scales and have no interest in dealing with those.

LoonWulf said:

also keep batteries fresh, and dont use an ac connector if you have one.

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Which one(s) have you had trouble with? I’ve never had a problem with stability nor accuracy when using the AC adapters on digital scales costing from $100+ to $400+.

bummer7 said:

Why not use an AC connector? Isn't a dedicated power source better than batteries which wear out over time?

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higgite said:

Which one(s) have you had trouble with? I’ve never had a problem with stability nor accuracy when using the AC adapters on digital scales costing from $100+ to $400+.

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Sorry, my reply was short and poorly explained. keeping batteries fresh, and not using the AC connector are steps to try to see if you can increase stability of your power supply, and to minimize any effect that has on your readings.

The only reloading scale ive had with an ac adapter was an RCBS. Ive been around lab equipment for a while time now, and seen lab digitals freak out when a heavy piece of equipment was turned on or off.
Adding the ac cord also seem to make them more susceptible to interference from stuff like cell phones.
We ran line conditioners on our very expensive scales in the analytical lab, but not on our culture stuff, and our scales would jump when the autoclaves or centrifuge came on. Which is what got me asking our electrical guy about it. The running only on batteries was his suggestion to deal with fluctuations in my houses electrical system.
I didnt find out till after the scale was sold (it never could deal with having my phone nearby) that scale HAD voltage regulators built in, but it did run more consistently when used with a battery pack he built.

Again so my understanding off the issue is roundabout, but if a scale can take batteries ill usually try it that way before sending it in.

I've not found a digital scale that works 100% for me. Latest one is a Platinum Series from Frankfort Arsenal with 110v power supply. I can't pay $1,000 for a reloading scale so $125 is good for me, and I think I should be able to get a decent one for that. It works just like the others I've tried. Difficult and slow for trickling. Many times the reading will jump .2 or even .3 grain no matter how slow I trickle. If I lift the pan and immediately replace it the weight often changes. I've found that I need to calibrate it before use and tare/zero often, like every 5 or 6 charges. My FA scale does have a large read out, a good power supply that stops the auto shut off so I can "warm up" the scale for several minuter before weighing. I've taken all the suggested precautions (florescent lighting, power supply, breeze, and even moved my CD player 10' away). When working up a load I weigh every charge and keep the variation to less than one tenth grain so these problems really slow me down...

My e-scale is accurate but it can also waste valuable time if it's not pampered to it's liking. I'm thinking about drilling a custom scoop for my top load, at least. That said, I would never abandon scales altogether. Good luck in your quest

And this is why I just use a beam scale. Keep it clean, treat it well, and it works every time.

I have an older Pact with the added powder dispenser that has done me well for many years. Fluorescent lights will effect them as well air currents. I still have my original 5-10 that I check it with when I get started and randomly while I am throwing charges...

Cheap digital scales have problems with transients on the power line, and with radiated RF energy. In the case of radiated energy, the power cord becomes one antenna and the leads to the strain gauges becomes another.

Cheap scales tend to use plastic load cells rather than aluminum.

Some strain gauges are temperature compensated to match the temperature coefficient of steel or aluminum. Not sure how you would temperature compensate for plastic.

Finally, the strain gauges work best if you put a full 4 gauge bridge on each leg of the cell. But that is expensive. The cheap ones have a single cell on each leg, and just take their lumps on RF noise pickup.

So no inaccuracy reported in the common scales surprises me.

LoonWulf said:

Sorry, my reply was short and poorly explained. keeping batteries fresh, and not using the AC connector are steps to try to see if you can increase stability of your power supply, and to minimize any effect that has on your readings.

The only reloading scale ive had with an ac adapter was an RCBS. Ive been around lab equipment for a while time now, and seen lab digitals freak out when a heavy piece of equipment was turned on or off.
Adding the ac cord also seem to make them more susceptible to interference from stuff like cell phones.
We ran line conditioners on our very expensive scales in the analytical lab, but not on our culture stuff, and our scales would jump when the autoclaves or centrifuge came on. Which is what got me asking our electrical guy about it. The running only on batteries was his suggestion to deal with fluctuations in my houses electrical system.
I didnt find out till after the scale was sold (it never could deal with having my phone nearby) that scale HAD voltage regulators built in, but it did run more consistently when used with a battery pack he built.

Again so my understanding off the issue is roundabout, but if a scale can take batteries ill usually try it that way before sending it in.

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Loonwolf,
Thanks for explaining what you have found with electrical interference when it comes to digital scales. I've heard flourescent lights will also cause digital scales to mis-behave too.

But I'm curious which models of digital scales did you find this behavior from electrical interference? The few units i have played around with seemed to work well. Even with flourescent lights over the loading bench.

I have a Hornady Auto Charge, Hornady's bench scale, and one of Midways house brand electronic scales. I also still have my Redding #1 set up for a final check when I feeling paranoid.
My two Hornday scales are 8 and twelve years old and they are still going strong. Both are plugged into the wall. The Hornady bench scale is the oldest and first one I bought.
The Midway scale, I bought on a black Friday sale for $18.00 to round up a purchase to get free shipping. It was normally, at that time $49.95. They have gone up since then.

It's accurate and reliable but it's slow to weigh compared to the Hornady bench scale.

I turn them on to warm up for 30 minutes before I load, then calibrate them just before I start and I don't get drift or any weirdness from them.
The only time I've had problems with mine that stopped me from using them, was when I was streaming music from my cell phone to my bluetooth speaker I had in there.
My Auto Charge started screwing up badly. After I turned Spotify off and put my phone in the other end of the room it went back to working normally.

My old Fisher stereo/ CD player doesn't bother any of them and it's right behind them. So I use it now instead of my phone.

I'm happy with my digital scales but they aren't $20.00 scales either despite what I paid for the Midway. The midway is my least favorite digital scale of the three because it is a little slower than my bench scale and Auto Charge, but it weighs accurately and if it was the only digital scale you had, you would probably like it. It seems reliable and stable and has not given me any trouble, it's only 3 years old though.
These are disposable scales though, made for our convenience. We have to regard them as that. They will fail at some point and we have to buy another one.

I paid $100.00 for the bench scale and I've never regretted it. But I won't be without my 60 year old Redding #1 either.

I use a gemtech that cost about $250 and it's very accurate. I use AC power routed through a UPS, best of both worlds.

I have been using a Hornady auto charge for about six months now. Up until last weekend it has been flawless and I love it. Last weekend it started getting really weird. The read out screen was acting very erratic. I played with it and turned it on and off a number of times as well as recalibrated it several times with no improvement. I decided to use it and verify the charges on my Lyman digital scale. Even though the Hornady scale was twitching like I've never seen it most of the time they were within +- .01. Then out of nowhere it it started working like it is supposed to.

This made me really paranoid so I started double checking it every time it trickles a charge. Today I fired it off to start a new work up. I double checked it every charge and ended up almost exactly matching the Lyman scale every time. The part that concerns me is nothing has changed. I didn't do anything different than I have been doing.

tightgroup tiger said:

I have a Hornady Auto Charge, Hornady's bench scale, and one of Midways house brand electronic scales. I also still have my Redding #1 set up for a final check when I feeling paranoid.
My two Hornday scales are 8 and twelve years old and they are still going strong. Both are plugged into the wall. The Hornady bench scale is the oldest and first one I bought.
The Midway scale, I bought on a black Friday sale for $18.00 to round up a purchase to get free shipping. It was normally, at that time $49.95. They have gone up since then.

It's accurate and reliable but it's slow to weigh compared to the Hornady bench scale.

I turn them on to warm up for 30 minutes before I load, then calibrate them just before I start and I don't get drift or any weirdness from them.

I'm happy with my digital scales but they aren't $20.00 scales either despite what I paid for the Midway. The midway is my least favorite digital scale of the three because it is a little slower than my bench scale and Auto Charge, but it weighs accurately and if it was the only digital scale you had, you would probably like it. It seems reliable and stable and has not given me any trouble, it's only 3 years old though.

These are disposable scales though, made for our convenience. We have to regard them as that. They will fail at some point and we have to buy another one.

I paid $100.00 for the bench scale and I've never regretted it. But I won't be without my 60 year old Redding #1 either.

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Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree some inexpensive digital scales should be treated as disposable. There are also times where high prices does not necessarily mean high quality either. Quality comes in many price ranges.

My experience is digital scales work and work well but also have a good balance beam scale too to verify and check the digital scale too. The two technologies actually complement each other.

My experience with a is a digital scale and powder dispenser is that is it slow and steady. And definitely much more convenient to use than a balance beam scale when I'm reloading rifle cartridges. For me, reloading speed is not an issue for rifle cartridges. Accuracy and consistency of each powder charge is.

Pact scale and power dispenser here. Had it for many years,never waivered. I do check it often with a RCBS 5-0-5. Its stays on the money.