Digital scales are susceptible to abuse, including dust accumulation, moisture exposure and constant movement. In this case, it is important to ensure that your digital platform scale is well maintained and cared for.
Purchasing even the highest quality electronic platform scales require regular maintenance. Generally, you may need to schedule a routine calibration with your provider to ensure the accuracy and precision of the scale.
Aside from calibrating your platform scale regularly, there are many ways to maintain its integrity and utmost condition.
12 Maintenance Tips for Digital Platform Scales
1. Keep Your Platform Scale Grounded
Most digital platform scales use modern and advanced electronic mechanisms that require proper handling, installation and usage.
One way to maintain your digital platform scale is to ensure that it is securely grounded. This includes both voltage fluctuations and unwarranted lightning. However, you should make sure to connect your scale to the proper ground specifications.
2. Use Proper Storage Facilities
The next tip involves the “where and how” of storing digital platform scales. First, make sure that the storage area should be clean with a levelled flooring. Second, if the storage is different from the working area, make sure to move the scale carefully.
Remove the hoist and other accessories before moving the scale back and forth between the work area and storage. It helps to read the manual or datasheet of the scale for the proper way of transporting it.
3. Keeping the Foundation Debris-Free
Another way to ensure that your digital platform scale is maintained is to check the place where you will install it. Not only should it be placed on a levelled area but on a clear debris-free location, too. Even a small stone or litter underneath the scale can affect its accuracy and functionality.
4. Avoid Overloading the Scale
One way to shorten the life of your digital platform scale is to overload it. Conversely, making sure that your item loads are within the scale’s maximum capacity can make it last longer. It helps to know the maximum weight of your items or products to ensure that you purchase the right platform scale for your needs.
5. Conduct Routine Inspection
Next on the list is to conduct regular inspections. The question is - what should you inspect?
Generally, you should look for signs of fading, moisture, rusting, corrosion and other forms of damage on the scale. By knowing these problems, you’ll know what repairs or maintenance procedures to perform. This can also help prevent further damages that may warrant higher repair costs.
6. Use Clean and Undented Pans
If your business requires the use of weighing pans, always make sure that they are clean, undamaged, rust-free and undented. This is to ensure that when you weigh products, the reading will not be affected by these pan issues.
7. Test, Calibrate and Adjust
Similar to a routine inspection, you should also have your digital platform scale tested, calibrated and adjusted regularly. Just like any other electrical device, digital scales may suffer from the wear and tear of time, so it helps to ensure that they perform with optimum accuracy and precision.
8. Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Quarterly Maintenance
The best way to maintain a digital platform scale is to check it daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. The daily maintenance should include a visual inspection of the platform. For weekly maintenance, on the other hand, check the scale and load cell assemblies, especially for dust and debris accumulation.
It is highly recommended that maintenance be performed monthly to check the edges of the foundations and the side and end frames of the platform for any “ponding” of water or debris build-up.
Lastly, a quarterly check for structural damages such as cracks is proper. This should also include load cell cables for surface-mounted digital platform scales.
9. Power Source Check
Many digital scales are powered by batteries, but the more innovative platform scales are powered directly with electricity. It helps to check the power source often to ensure that your digital platform scale will perform optimally.
10. Immediate Repair
If you find issues that need immediate repair, it helps to schedule them right away. Putting them off to another day can aggravate the problems and incur further damages, not to mention higher repair expenses.
You may contact a scale and load cell provider near you for the best platform scale services.
11. Proper Use of the Platform Scale
Another helpful tip is to make sure that you use your digital scale according to the specification in its manual or datasheet. When you use your platform scale properly, not only will you prolong its usability but also yield accurate results.
12. Keep Away From Moisture Exposure
One of the many adversaries of digital platform scales is moisture exposure. Issues with moisture or condensation can significantly impact the mechanisms of highly complex electrical devices such as digital scales. If you need a moisture-resistant scale, make sure that it has the highest rating of IP69.
Maintaining digital platform scales requires diligence to ensure that they perform optimally and accurately. It also helps to find a reliable scale provider that has established its name over the years.
Choose Meltrons Australia for the most durable and reliable platform scales!