Are Electronic Scales As Good As Beam Scales?

[vtail]

I know the beam scales are rock solid, but what about the latest electronic scales?

I've seen where many people have had problems with the electronic scales losing their calibration.

Are there any electronic scales that are better than others?

Which ones should I stay away from?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hungry Seagull]

Electronic scales rely on minature load cells which measure current of electricity to come up with weight.

I put a big truck 40 tons and all onto a CAT scale and it knows within 20 pounds.

But I get my 5 found food kitchen scale and measure spices down to one ounce more or less on it sometimes.

I dont worry about it much.

Get a beam scale if it makes you feel better, just be sure your weights are dead accurate.

 

[jfh]

What I have seen with the cheaper scales is that the accuracy starts changing as the battery discharges. IOW, the (cheaper) scales do not have a sophisticated circuitry design to compensate for this.

I'd like to consider getting one with a supplied 120v adapter, but so far I find beam scales work just as well for me.

Jim H.

 

[jcwit]

Weeelllll they weigh gold with them, and at $800 to $900 plus an ounce or troy ounce they must be fairly accurate. I don't think the gold buyers are going to take many chances on inaccuracies.

 

[Rodentman]

I have a Lyman DPS 1200 which works fine. I check every 10th charge or so on the beam scale and it is within 0.1g. Or the beam is....

 

[jfh]

Scales of any sort we might find satisfactory for weighing precious metals really aren't good enough for powder measurement.

Keep in mind that a grain (US standard) is 1/7,000 of pound--there's nominally 480 of them in an ounce. We'd like to weigh to about 1/10 grain repeatably--and can do that, plus/minus 1/10 grain--with a scale that costs perhaps $50.00.

There are not many sellers / buyers of precious metal--except in larger quantities that require 1/4800-oz accuracy. At today's gold prices, that's a variation of perhaps of ten or twenty cents--and they cover that kind of issue with the handling and surcharges.

Jim H.

 

[The Bushmaster]

New electronics? I have a 22 year old RCBS Powder Pro digital scale that is as accurate as my RCBS 5-0-5. Just faster...Electronic scales or balance beam scales. It really doesn't make that much difference. It's pretty much up to you which you like or serves you best. However, with that said...I rarely pull down my 5-0-5 anymore. And NO!! No one can have it...

 

[Randy1911]

Just to clairafy. There are 437.5 grains to the ounce.

 

[bfoosh006]

Electronic scales do not like Fluorescent Lights.....messes with the electronics.

 

[Gryffydd]

In my experience, yes, electronic scales can be as good as beam scales. However, an electronic scale that costs the same amount as a beam scale may not work as well. I had a $25 Frankford Arsenal electronic scale that was completely worthless. I currently use a Dillon beam scale that is fantastic. I used to have a Lee beam scale that sucked majorly. At a previous job we had $1k+ electronic scales that were used for paint formulation. They worked well enough that a formula with a total of less than 1 oz could be multiplied to create a 200 gallon batch of paint that required very little tweaking. These also had shielded tops because even someone opening a door on the other side of the building could cause enough wind disturbance to mess with the reading.

So short answer, sure, if you pay enough.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I bought a cheaper digital scale also and I threw it in the trash. Total waste of money. I tried the beam scale for a bit but I just didn't like it. I currently use a Lyman DPS 1200 for all my loading. Dispenses right on the scale. The loads seem very consistent and I've had wonderful results so far.

 

[D. Manley]

Electronic scales do not like Fluorescent Lights.....messes with the electronics.

To be fair, it's more accurate to say florescent lights can affect some electronic scales. It's not a problem with all electronics, however.

All my shop lighting is florescent (and, there's a bunch of it) except, my little halogen spot looking at my charging station on the Dillon and I have no issues with the lights affecting my RCBS 750 Rangemaster. I know several users of Dillon's excellent electronic and have no problems with florescents either. I think that this is another area where the quality of the electronic circuits & filters come into play. I don't believe in throwing money away but buying cheap on electronic scales proves to be false economy in a lot of cases.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I'd just buy a good powder measure and use the scale much much less.

 

[jeepmor]

I'd just buy a good powder measure and use the scale much much less.

Good answer, never thought of it that way, but very good answer. Actually, a micrometer powder drop adjuster is probably a wise investment too it the powder measure doe not come equipped. I don't want another tool that requires more stuff to keep something "calibrated".

I use a bullet to check my scale's accuracy. Bullets are usually so precise on weight, in most brands, that they are just as good as any "calibrating" weight set.

 

[NHSHTR]

I use an RCBS RangeMaster 750. It has battery and a 110v converter for power. I use the 110V because I'm wary of the battery use.

Like most scales its stated accuracy is +/- .1 gr. It's easy to calibrate and they recommend it be calibrated every time you use it.

I found that some of my light loads like .380 are only a few tenths of a grain from starting load to max, so measuring to .1 gr is pushing the limit of this or any scale. But with electronic you get the display flipping back and forth when you're between tenths, rather than a steady indication of a beam. Not better, not worse than a beam, just different.

If I'm working up a new load, I check my powder throw with the scale and check my scale zero every 10 rounds or so because it seems to lose zero by .1 or sometimes .2 gr. It doesn't do it often, but I don't want it to vary too much with these light loads.

It's only as accurate as a balance and about twice the price. But it's quicker to use, and IMHO, I think it's worth the difference.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Good answer, never thought of it that way, but very good answer. Actually, a micrometer powder drop adjuster is probably a wise investment too it the powder measure doe not come equipped. I don't want another tool that requires more stuff to keep something "calibrated".

I use a bullet to check my scale's accuracy. Bullets are usually so precise on weight, in most brands, that they are just as good as any "calibrating" weight set.

Since purchasing my Uniflow with a micrometer stem I use my scale very very little. With the micrometer adjustment I have a reference I can record in my notes and return to. So all I usually use is a cheap battery powered scale to weigh the first three throws basically to verify nothing has gone awry. I don't worry if the scale varies from one day to another bu a couple tenths as long as I know I'm loading with the same VOLUME. Most don't realize this but powder weight will vary as humidity increases or decreases but volume is constant

I have a high end balance scale but nowadays it never leaves it's drawer

 

[The Bushmaster]

And Fluorescent lights don't effect my Ol' Powder Pro. Have a 4 tube light over the work bench.

 

[Walkalong]

I do like Krochus.

I record every setting/charge weight on every load using my Redding 10X or BR-30 measure. I just dial back to it as long as I am using the same lot number of powder. I triple check my setting, and check a throw or two on the scale before loading a batch.

Oh, I use a beam scale.........

 

[loadedround]

As a retired Chemical Engineeer I have had experience with expensive two pan balances and the first mechanical single pan balances that came on the market. The two pan balances(one side was for the individual weights, the right side for the sample) were much more accurate than the single mechanical balances for analytical work. With the advent of ELECTRONIC single pan balances, the situation changed with the electronic balances making the two pan balance almost obsolete, and they are obsolete today. In reloading, it has taken a while for the electronic balances to catch on because of their original price. Now that the pricing of the mechanical balance beam and electronical balances almost equal, the better balance is the single pan electronic balance; simply stated, either battery or line operated, they are more accurate and have have better reproducibility. However stick with the better ones like Ohaus, RCBS(made by Ohaus), Lyman, or Pact. The cheaper balances, especially ones under 50.00 are junk and you will be wasting your money on one. Most are made in China and can not reproduce the same weight 5 times in a row. My opinion is after 38 years in the field and over forty years as a reloader.

 

[Dark Skies]

I've got a reasonably priced electronic scale bought off Ebay. I've checked it against my Lee beam scale and any innacuracy is so slight as to not be worth mentioning. Certainly within the same range of any faux pas the Lee powder measure might make between cases-which is all that matters. Providing the battery is kept fresh they're very good and reproduce the same results for the same weight five times on the trot. I generally use them to get to within a gnat's dangler when setting my case loader and then double-check with the beam scale.

 

[jfh]

What we may be seeing here is the effect of our free-market capitalism at work.

IOW, distributors / 'manufacturers' of these cheaper scales are being made in China. They probably weren't 22 years ago.

They--people such as RCBS, etc.--may even include specs about battery drift on electronics--but that is not what is provided by the factory, and nobody knows it.

Even if it is provided--or can be--the price-point marketing and profit needs simply eliminate it.

My bet is that there is a widely-available schematic for the circuit our scales need, and that the PCB manufacturer simply adapts that to his kind of line. The tight specs go by the wayside.

Jim H.

 

[The Bushmaster]

L O L Jim...22 years ago my RCBS digital scale was made by Pact (American parts assembled in America). The biggest concern back then was whether it was Amercan parts assembled in Mexico. Or assembled here. And Japanese made...

 

[Walkalong]

When I was growing up, made in Japan meant junk, now it obviously doesn't. That phrase has changed countries over the years.

Maybe I'll try a digital again one day, when my patience gets better.

 

[MCMXI]

I record every setting/charge weight on every load using my Redding 10X

I find my 10X works very well for non-extruded powders such as W231, H110 and Trail Boss, but it's horrible on Reloder 15, 19 and 22 as well as IMR 4895 so I use my RCBS ChargeMaster for those powders. I have a Uniflow with a micrometer on my progressive but I only use it for pistol calibers which are non-extruded.

At the start of every loading session I check the CM using Lyman check weights and adjust the load that I enter accordingly (if any drift has occured). However, after weeks of experimentation, I've figured out that the CM is DEAD NUTS ON between 12 and 48 hours of being turned on and that's without calibration and over a range of 0 to 100 grains. The CM is faster than me since I have to put a case in the press, grab a bullet, place it, seat it, remove the loaded rounded, measure the COL and place it back in the loading block. All the CM has to do is dispense powder so I see no advantage to using the volume method (10X, Uniflow etc) in terms of speed or accuracy for rifle calibers. For pistol caliber loads I definitely see the advantage of using the 10X so that's what I use since it's faster and easily accurate enough (with fine, non-extruded powders).

I can't stand it when an extruded grain gets "chopped" during the dispensing process using a 10X, Uniflow etc.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Whatever you buy you need to have a set of reference weights to calibrate and confirm what you are seeing.

RCBS sells a set for around 40 bucks.

Sets include: Standard set of 60.5 grains for powder charges (2x20, 1x10, 1x5, 2x2, 1x1, 1x.5)