UNDERSTANDING THE DANGERS OF LIGHTNING TO YOUR TRUCK SCALE

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.