How accurate are your scales?

[Rusty]

I’ll be interested to see how many responses this post generates, not many I suspect.

 

All AN’ers who own a set of fishing scales please zero them, weigh a 1kg bag of sugar and post the readout here.

[JV44]

I’ll be interested to see how many responses this post generates, not many I suspect.

 

All AN’ers who own a set of fishing scales please zero them, weigh a 1kg bag of sugar and post the readout here.

Will have a go tomorrow mate

[Anderoo]

I think all the bags of sugar will weigh slightly different amounts, so I'm not sure this would prove much. An agreed volume of water (with the container zero'd) would be better.

[Rusty]

I think all the bags of sugar will weigh slightly different amounts, so I'm not sure this would prove much. An agreed volume of water (with the container zero'd) would be better.

 

Firstly 1kg bags of sugar are sold all over the country (the world?) and the discrepancies in weight cannot be so great as to cause consumers any concern. We would have heard about it if that was the case.

 

Secondly any possible discrepancy in sugar bags pales when compared to the angst generated by weighing a roach which might reach the holy grail. I’d suggest that the differences in accuracy of the numerous fishing scales on the market is more significant.

 

Sugar is a pretty good control measurement for most of us I think and it's readily available.

[Steve Burke]

I did similar tests a few years ago. However I found that how you weigh something is equally important as the scales themselves. This can make a big difference, commonly weighing quite a bit light.

 

For this reason I had, like Ayjay, to downgrade a fish, in my case a 4lb+ perch to 3-13. I can't even remember without checking how much over 4lbs it was, but just remember the lower weight of 3-13. And this was 20 years ago when a 4lber made headlines!

 

So important is this point about how you weigh, and what to look for in scales I'm adding this link. It's a long topic, again started by Anderoo, but I suggest you read it before posting here. If you're short of time start at post 29. Go to http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/220013-scales/.

[EdgbastonBreamBasher]

I don't currently have a bag of unopened sugar but I will buy one when I next go shopping and then weigh it on a zero'd sling whilst it is still inside its paper packaging, naming the brand of sugar etc, just to be as anal as possible. This will be done on one set of flyweights, one set of Avons and one set of Reuben digitals.

 

For the record in reference to Anderoo mentioning 1 litre of water, I performed this test today on both a set of Avons and a set of Reuben digitals, and again just now on some Flyweights, not to forget before I returned some scales today I also performed this exact test on Reuben Heaton specimen hunter dials, so I have included that result too.

 

Zero'd sling with empty bottle inside, 1 litre of water added slowly and as accurately as possible to the bottle after scales were zero'd.

 

Result 1: Avon scales 40lb x 1oz weighed 1 litre of water at 2lb 3oz approx.

 

Result 2: Reuben Heaton digitals 66lb x 1oz weighed 1 litre of water at 2lb 2oz approx.

 

Result 3: Reuben Heaton flyweights 40lb x 1oz weighed 1 litre of water at 2lb 3oz approx.

 

Result 4: Reuben Heaton Specimen hunter 30lb x 1/2 weighed 1 litre of water at 2lb 2 1/2oz approx.

 

 

Things to note from my tests...

 

The flyweights take some time to get as close to zero as possible, the Avons take a little effort but not as much as the flyweights, the Specimen hunter Reuben dial were very easy to zero and the Reuben digis was just a press of a button and took no effort at all.

 

My flyweights are 5 years old and show it.

My Avons are an unknown age but in excellent condition.

My Reuben digis are less than 1 day old

The Reuben specimen hunter are no longer in my possession (see thread created by me for details why not).

Edited January 7, 2014 by EdgbastonBreamBasher

[Vagabond]

For those that prefer the traditional imperial measure

 

" A pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter"

 

(or, multiplying by eight for the benefit of pike fishers, one gallon weighs ten pounds)

[snakey1]

If you really want to know how accurate your scales are send them to a UKAS accredited lab and get them calibrated properly, unfortunately it will probably cost you more than your scales did in the first place to do so but at least you'll know how accurate they truely are.

Edited January 8, 2014 by snakey1

[ayjay]

I don't currently have a bag of unopened sugar

Nor me, or even an opened one, (don't really use any sugar from one month to the next) but I have several different sets of scales available and can surely get an agreed weight for 1 kilo of something - tomorrow.

[philocalist]

Dunno about bags of suger, but as I've just postd on your other thread:

 

Just for a laugh - and the fact it's 3.40am and I can't sleep - I've just hung my Fox Digi's off a very substantial Benbo tripod out in the garage (FOUR degrees centigrade!)

A VERY carefully measured 1 litre of water is giving me bang-on 1000g (1KG) time after time after time. I've got the same degree of accuracy up to 10 litres / 10KG ... gave up after that as it was getting a bit parky