Repairs and Rentals
Specializing in Electronics
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Repairs and Rentals
Specializing in Electronics
FREE CONSULTATION
INDUSTRIAL SCALE BLOG IN MODESTO, CALIFORNIA
The Typical Capacities of Loads
Any industrial scale is going to have a maximum capacity that you need to take note of when you're in the market for equipment for your facility. If you go over the weight capacity of a scale, it will both compromise the accuracy of the reading and create a potential safety hazard.
Choose a scale with a weight capacity that is high enough above the maximum weight load you're going to be weighing so that you have a lot of leeway. Don't push it with industrial scales. As scales get older, they will experience wear and tear when weights are placed on them regularly. The wear and tear will make the scale approach maximum capacity.
That includes the cables, the junction boxes, and the all-important load cells. A single lightning strike can lead to issues with calibration and weight miscalculations. At worst, a lightning strike can lead to full system failure. Occasionally, it's an irreparable failure. Lightning can wipe out your full investment in a truck scale, and all the business associated with the scale.
Beyond the damage to the scale itself, lightning can cause other effects. These effects, in turn, can do damage to your truck scale, such as:
• Fried wiring
• Power surges
• Voltage sags
Any of these things can lead to downtime while you seek repairs.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Truck Scale From Lightning
There's nothing anybody can do to stop lightning, but there are a few options available to help protect your truck scale.
Warranties and Service Guarantees
Your truck scale manufacturer may offer a warranty that can help you deal with repairs after a lightning strike. However, the warranty will likely not account for your downtime or loss of income.
Before relying on a warranty, make sure you're fully aware of what it includes and what it doesn't. A warranty or service agreement can help a great deal if lightning strikes, but it's better to mitigate the damage from lightning to begin with.
Grounding Systems
A good grounding system can help mitigate potential lightning damage. It can take the energy from a lightning strike and ground it without damage to your scale or its systems.
It can become costly to add a full grounding system to a scale, and they're not guaranteed to protect all the sensitive parts of your scale system. If you find a grounding system from a reputable manufacturer, then it's worth considering.
A good grounding system comes with a professional installation, rigorous shield testing, and proper cable routing. If the installation isn't professional, the grounding system can cause more problems than it’s worth.
For example, if the cable routing mixes the low and high voltage lines of the grounding system, it can create severe interference. That, in turn, can cause malfunctions and other damage.
Transient and Surge Protection Packages
Transient protection aims to react to sudden changes in voltage. This form of surge protection exists as a series of DC and AC protection methods inside the scale house and on the junction boxes of the scale itself.
Many modern truck scale systems come with some degree of transient protection already. Older scales may need surge protection added. Even if you have a system that comes with transient protection, it's important you have the system inspected to make sure it's operating as it should.
Upgrades to Your Load Cells
Hydraulic and hydrostatic load cells can prevent damage from lightning. Various other scale systems come with lightning protection built into their designs. Swapping load cells, or even swapping your whole truck scale system, can become prohibitively pricey. It's up to you to weigh the upfront costs against the long-term benefits.
What We Can Do to Help
Lightning isn't the only danger truck scales face. Even while you're defending against the potential damage from lightning, you also have to worry about other sources of possible failure.
You will need the services of a company that knows industrial scales and how best to service them.
At Carlson Scale Inc., we provide industrial scale products to suit your needs and your budget. We offer industrial scale service and repair options. If you want to protect your truck scale or discuss how best to upgrade it, contact us today.
Below, you'll find a guide to some steps you can take in order to maintain an industrial scale. Following these suggestions will help guarantee that you can benefit from maximum equipment performance and can also put you in a position to fully secure your daily operations.
Surface Cleaning
Most industrial setups involve a fair amount of dust, dirt and grime. It can be easy to simply learn to live with a dirty reality rather than slow down the process in an attempt to clean everything up, but some shortcuts can represent a serious risk. A dirty deck on your scale might interfere with your readings in more substantial ways than you even realize, making the supposed delay well worth living through.
A dirty deck surface can cause substantial damage to any products or equipment that are placed on the scale. Some kinds of industrial dirt might even cling to your inventory and cause contamination to be spread throughout your facility, creating more substantial damage than might otherwise have occurred. Small particles might even work their way from the deck surface into the more delicate internal machinery of your scale, creating mechanical issues that may be difficult to diagnose and then repair.
Environmental Adjustments
In some cases, maintaining your industrial scales is less about a focus on mechanical defects and more about figuring out how to correctly interpret data. It's important to remember that air temperature, humidity and other environmental conditions can all have an effect on the sensitivity of your scale. Since most industrial scales are now digital and rely on an interpretation of electronic data in order to provide accurate measurements, it's vital that you're prepared to adjust for those effects.
Consult with your scale manufacturer to determine the effect that environmental conditions might have on the accuracy of your readings. Make sure that that information is filtered down through anyone who may use the scale and needs to have access to the proper adjustments. In some situations, you might even consider installing your scale indoors in order to put yourself in a better position to control any environmental factors.
Regular Calibration
While industrial scales are designed to be durable and reliable under difficult circumstances, some wear and tear may be inevitable. Small defects in the scale deck or challenges in the electronics may leave you with a scale that provides readings which need to be brought back within tolerance.
Scheduling regular calibrations can help guarantee that your scale isn't incorrectly accommodating for problems and still provides reliable information. Work with your installer to develop a maintenance plan that will be sure to carefully and securely achieve those goals and keep your scale functioning properly.
Carlson Scale Inc. has the necessary experience to provide you with the precise scale that will best serve your business. Turning to a company that understands industrial challenges will give you substantial peace of mind and can help guarantee that your scale purchase is one you can be satisfied with for years to come.
The Typical Capacities of Loads
Any industrial scale is going to have a maximum capacity that you need to take note of when you're in the market for equipment for your facility. If you go over the weight capacity of a scale, it will both compromise the accuracy of the reading and create a potential safety hazard.
Choose a scale with a weight capacity that is high enough above the maximum weight load you're going to be weighing so that you have a lot of leeway. Don't push it with industrial scales. As scales get older, they will experience wear and tear when weights are placed on them regularly. The wear and tear will make the scale approach maximum capacity.
That includes the cables, the junction boxes, and the all-important load cells. A single lightning strike can lead to issues with calibration and weight miscalculations. At worst, a lightning strike can lead to full system failure. Occasionally, it's an irreparable failure. Lightning can wipe out your full investment in a truck scale, and all the business associated with the scale.
Beyond the damage to the scale itself, lightning can cause other effects. These effects, in turn, can do damage to your truck scale, such as:
• Fried wiring
• Power surges
• Voltage sags
Any of these things can lead to downtime while you seek repairs.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Truck Scale From Lightning
There's nothing anybody can do to stop lightning, but there are a few options available to help protect your truck scale.
Warranties and Service Guarantees
Your truck scale manufacturer may offer a warranty that can help you deal with repairs after a lightning strike. However, the warranty will likely not account for your downtime or loss of income.
Before relying on a warranty, make sure you're fully aware of what it includes and what it doesn't. A warranty or service agreement can help a great deal if lightning strikes, but it's better to mitigate the damage from lightning to begin with.
Grounding Systems
A good grounding system can help mitigate potential lightning damage. It can take the energy from a lightning strike and ground it without damage to your scale or its systems.
It can become costly to add a full grounding system to a scale, and they're not guaranteed to protect all the sensitive parts of your scale system. If you find a grounding system from a reputable manufacturer, then it's worth considering.
A good grounding system comes with a professional installation, rigorous shield testing, and proper cable routing. If the installation isn't professional, the grounding system can cause more problems than it’s worth.
For example, if the cable routing mixes the low and high voltage lines of the grounding system, it can create severe interference. That, in turn, can cause malfunctions and other damage.
Transient and Surge Protection Packages
Transient protection aims to react to sudden changes in voltage. This form of surge protection exists as a series of DC and AC protection methods inside the scale house and on the junction boxes of the scale itself.
Many modern truck scale systems come with some degree of transient protection already. Older scales may need surge protection added. Even if you have a system that comes with transient protection, it's important you have the system inspected to make sure it's operating as it should.
Upgrades to Your Load Cells
Hydraulic and hydrostatic load cells can prevent damage from lightning. Various other scale systems come with lightning protection built into their designs. Swapping load cells, or even swapping your whole truck scale system, can become prohibitively pricey. It's up to you to weigh the upfront costs against the long-term benefits.
What We Can Do to Help
Lightning isn't the only danger truck scales face. Even while you're defending against the potential damage from lightning, you also have to worry about other sources of possible failure.
You will need the services of a company that knows industrial scales and how best to service them.
At Carlson Scale Inc., we provide industrial scale products to suit your needs and your budget. We offer industrial scale service and repair options. If you want to protect your truck scale or discuss how best to upgrade it, contact us today.
Contact Information
Regular Business Hours
| Mon-Fri | 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM |
| Sat-Sun | Close |
Public Scale Hours
| Mon-Wed | 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM |
| Thurs Fri |
By appointment only 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM |