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Digital Scales... Prices and Quality... Recommendations?

Loarun

Well-Known Member
I have been looking to buy a scale online and have found nothing that stood out to me as the scale that was right for me.


I am looking for a scale that is portable and cheap but also acurate.
I have seen prices as low as 20$ but i do not know if these would be unreliable.:uhoh:

Thank you in advance
 
Loarun,

max

Out to lunch
I second vtac's opinion on My Weigh scales. Best quality and warranty you can get. Jennings is also an excellent brand. Beware of many brands. The market is flooded with cheaply made, no warranty made in China scales. A lot of them don't hold up. I highly recommend this site for a good overview and some reviews of good ones, and some insight on the cheapies. http://www.digitalscale.com/scalemagazine.htm

One of the best sellers- http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/ In the $20 range, a couple of good ones are the My Weigh 400Z and Triton T-2. Some models come in different versions according to weight capacity. The Jennings JS-150 (as well as the 400Z) has a top cover that doubles as a weighing tray-a great feature. Also, get the correct calibration weight for whatever scale you get. This site has 'em at good prices.
 
max,

Loarun

Well-Known Member
Thank you guys very much for the quick and useful replies :)

Thank you very much Max for the two great cheap models you suggested. I am most likely going to be purchasing one of the two models after i take a closer look.

I am a complete and total scale novice, except for chemistry in high school, your comment about calibration weights, "Also, get the correct calibration weight for whatever scale you get." made me realize just how little i know about scales. I though that a scale would come calibrated for the factory and there would be options to calibrate a scale for a tray or dish. But i really have no idea.


vtac the PalmScale 7.0 looks really sleek and futuristic. Would you recommend this scale over cheaper choices or are the looks what the extra money is going to?



Thank you guys again for the great advice:)
:peace:
 
Loarun,

max

Out to lunch
Loarun, you'll need a calibration weight if you want to remain accurate with the cheaper scales. My first My Weigh scale was one in the $20-30 range (.1g accuracy), and I had to use the 100g weight to recalibrate several times. It only gets off calibration a little bit, but still, if you're weighing small quantities... If you're just weighing quarter ounces and up, it's not as important. When I sold it and bought a My Weigh Durascale (.01g accuracy), it came with a 50g calibration weight but I've never had to use it.

The Palmscale 7.0 is almost in the Durascale price range and comes in 700g capacity (Advance 700) and .1g accuracy, or 200g capacity (Advance 200) with .01g accuracy. Which do you need? Capacity or accuracy? Personally, in this price range I'd go for the .01g accuracy. The lower priced scales can do high capacity.

I thought that a scale would come calibrated for the factory and there would be options to calibrate a scale for a tray or dish.
Yeah they're calibrated, but apparently the higher priced models, with more expensive guts, do a better job of staying calibrated.

"Unlike other precision pocket scales, the Durscale uses TRUE 10,000 DIVISION (D-100) German-Made HBM Sensors." I don't really know what that means, but I do know as you go up in price (with a good brand), you get more sophisticated internal construction.

As for the tray calibration, that's the 'tare' feature. You place the tray/cover on the scale, press the tare button, and the scale goes back to zero.

What you get in the higher priced scales like the Palmscale and Durascale, besides better guts, is higher accuracy and more features. If weighing herb is your main use, I'd just make sure you get a top that can double as a tray with the tare feature, and then decide on capacity and .1g vs. .01g. You probably won't need the other features that come on higher priced models. Some are useful, like counting parts. Others are mostly glitz.
 
max,

EitherOr

Well-Known Member
Just received my new Palmscale 7(Advance 200), it really is a very nice scale. I ordered through Old Will Knott and they sent this "anti-vibration" pad along with the scale, have any of y'all used these pads before? I'm probably just going to stick it in my knick-knack drawer as I don't see it as necessary.
 
EitherOr,

max

Out to lunch
EitherOr said:
Just received my new Palmscale 7(Advance 200), it really is a very nice scale. I ordered through Old Will Knott and they sent this "anti-vibration" pad along with the scale, have any of y'all used these pads before? I'm probably just going to stick it in my knick-knack drawer as I don't see it as necessary.
I got one of the VibraKill pads with a scale I bought for a gift. It does help to isolate the scale from vibrations, but if your display stays steady without it....


mrshock486 said:
Hm, I perused the links and came across the Jennings 150g c/c scale in the $30 range: http://www.businessvision.net/edge/Main ? goryID=398
It's max is only 150g but definitely beyond my needs and it's accurate to 0.05g. Anyway, as my first scale, I think it's a good start. Anyway, will let ya'll know how it works out.
Unless you need different specs down the road, it should last you a long time. Jennings has a 20 yr. warranty.
 
max,

SpiralArchitect

? & beyond
I ordered a .01 scale from Hong Kong for $1. Shipping was ~3$.

It weighs *perfectly*. A dollar registers precisely a .96 and all my calibration scales are spot on. It's sturdy, well designed and uses 2xAAA's.....

It just goes to show you don't have to pay a fortune.... ;)

edit//

I've ordered from Knott's a few times before, great place... never used the pads.
 

HiC

Well-Known Member
SpiralArchitect said:
I ordered a .01 scale from Hong Kong for $1. Shipping was ~3$.
Archi, any chance you could post a link to this amazing deal or at least give the name of the scale?
 
HiC,

DeepFried

A Legend in my Own Mind
FUCK!!! found this thread too late, just ordered Palmscale 7 from warehouse goods online on ebay for 59.99 + 14.95 shipping = 74.94, just checked old will thanks to this thread and same scale is 44.50 + about 10.00 shipping = 54.50 so paid about 20.00 too much or 27% more and no free vibrakill mat.
 
DeepFried,

illadelph

vaked fresh daily
cancel your order dude. it will be well worth it. the economy is rough and you iwll have more money for buds. :)
 
illadelph,

HiC

Well-Known Member
So I took a risk and ordered this cheap Fast Weigh TS-100 scale. I'm not sure if it sucks or if its behavior is normal. I wanted this one because it's supposed to weigh in .01 g increments but it doesn't even seem to recognize anything under .03 g. If I put the tray on the scale, zero it out and start dropping little pieces onto it, it stays at zero and then hops up to .03 g. Am I doing something wrong? Should I not expect it to actually weigh something under .03 g? Also, does anyone know how to calibrate a scale without a calibration weight? I know nickels are supposed to be 5 g. I tried a few and got slight differences of .01 - .03 g.
 
HiC,

DeepFried

A Legend in my Own Mind
HiC said:
So I took a risk and ordered this cheap Fast Weigh TS-100 scale. I'm not sure if it sucks or if its behavior is normal.
yep, that's just one example of what happens with a cheaply made scale. I received my palmscale 7 and it is very accurate, can easily weigh .01 gram worth of saran wrap increasing .01 gram at a time.

You can only calibrate with a known exact weight of the scales max capacity.
 
DeepFried,

HiC

Well-Known Member
DeepFried said:
yep, that's just one example of what happens with a cheaply made scale.
Damn. I was afraid of that. I'm totally to blame, though. I read the warnings but still went ahead and bought it cuz a few other Fast Weigh models on Amazon got decent reviews. Well, at least I've helped provide an example of what NOT to do.

EDIT: I wonder if this would be considered a defective unit and qualify for an exchange. The rest of the scales on that site are probably crap too, though.
 
HiC,

max

Out to lunch
Anyone wanting a good reference for quality scale brands should check this site- http://www.digitalscale.com/ . They have reviews, and lists of good manufacturers and reputable dealers (oldwillknottscales.com usually has the best prices). IMO there's no reason to look beyond Proscale, Jennings, and My Weigh. I have a My Weigh Durascale and with the 30 yr. warranty, it's all I'll ever need. I've also bought a few My Weigh 'Z' scales for presents. All excellent and affordable.

There are a ton of cheap made in China scales these days, and even if you get one that does the job, they're not built to last. Buyer beware.

DeepFried said:
You can only calibrate with a known exact weight of the scales max capacity.
Exactly right. Old Will Knott Scales sells calibration weights at a good price and some scales come with one.
 
max,

nostalgia

Nostalgia
I bought a cheap ass scale cause from a pawn shop because I needed one right away. It does a decent job but it only weighs down to 0.1 and for some reason has a stupid power saving feature where if there's no movement on the scale for 10 seconds it shuts down and you have to start all over. I really want to get one of the Palmscale 7's that read down to 0.01, the chrome body makes them look ubersexy.
 
nostalgia,

max

Out to lunch
a stupid power saving feature where if there's no movement on the scale for 10 seconds it shuts down and you have to start all over.
It's annoying but not stupid. People would be a lot more pissed if they came back to a scale with a dead battery because they got stoned after using it and forgot to turn it off. I would be a little surprised if it shuts down with something on the scale though. And some go into power save mode by turning off the backlighting. It's still on, just not lit up.
 
max,

HiC

Well-Known Member
Hmmm... the plot thickens. I see max mentioned Proscale as a quality brand. I was considering getting the 111 "Snake Eyes" model, but then I noticed it looks virtually the same as the crappy Fast Weigh TS-100 I just bought.

Here are some comparison pics: Proscale 111 and Fast Weigh TS-100.

Are they essentially the same scale? They look slightly different and the 111's max weight is 111 grams as opposed to 100 for the TS-100. Also, on the Old Will Knott site, it says to use a 100 gram calibration weight. How would that work for a 111 gram scale if the weight's supposed to equal the max capacity?
 
HiC,

max

Out to lunch
From Digitalscale.com- "ProScale is a quality brand of low cost digital weighing scales. Offers a low cost capacitance digital pocket scale along with other pocket digital scales." - 5 yr. warranty. I suspect the Fast Weigh may be a knockoff of the Proscale.

How would that work for a 111 gram scale if the weight's supposed to equal the max capacity?
Looks like that's a rule of thumb rather than an absolute. The 100g calibration weight is confirmed on the Proscale site- http://www.proscale.net/proscale_numbers_series.htm
 
max,

DeepFried

A Legend in my Own Mind
LOL, or use a good scale to weigh out 111 grams and then use that to calibrate.
 
DeepFried,

HiC

Well-Known Member
Sorry to keep posting every detail of my crazy scale-purchasing adventure, but I thought you all might wanna know about this. They're selling the Jennings JScale HP-100X at both Amazon and e-Bay for under $25 shipped, 100 g calibration weight included! I just bought one. I ignored the 3 star Amazon review because I figure that guy must've just gotten a defective unit.

Old Will Knott also has an e-Bay store and they're selling the Proscale 111 for $20 shipped, calibration weight included. I'm going with the Jennings because, well, it's a Jennings and has a higher retail value. It's also bigger than the Proscale and looks less like the crappy Fast Weigh I just got burned on. :mad:
 
HiC,
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