Spent $40 on a cheap load cell for my crane scale...

I grabbed a $40 load cell off Amazon last month to replace the one I dropped on a job site and it read 200 lbs off on a test lift with a known weight. Had to re-certify the whole setup and lost a Saturday waiting on the replacement to arrive. Anyone else ever get burned by cutting corners on measurement gear like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_murray1mo agoMost Upvoted

The cheap ones drift when they get warm, happens every time.

iris5741mo ago

Stella is totally right about the drift issue, I saw the same thing with mine. What finally worked for me was going with a used name brand one off eBay, I got a Rice Lake sensor for around $70 and it's been rock solid through heat and cold. I also started keeping a calibration log on my phone with a simple spreadsheet, just the date, temp, and a test weight reading before each major job. That cheap load cell honestly cost me way more in lost time than just paying for something decent up front would have.