Those cheap Chinese load cells off Amazon almost killed my coworker

I dropped $80 on a set of wireless load cells from some no-name brand last spring. Used them on a lift of concrete panels over by the new hospital project. The display showed 7,200 pounds which was well within the 10,000 pound limit. Halfway through the pick the numbers started jumping all over the place. Turned out the calibration was off by nearly 40% on one of them. My spotter noticed the crane was straining and yelled for me to stop. We swapped in the company's $1,200 load cell setup and found the real weight was 9,800 pounds. That cheap crap could have taken the whole rig down if we didn't catch it. Anyone else had a close call with bargain lift gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

reesemoore25d ago

Damn man, that's terrifying. I'm glad your spotter was paying attention because that could have gone sideways real fast. I've seen enough pictures of crane collapses to know you don't mess around with sketchy gear. Honestly, it's wild how much the calibration drifted on those cheap ones, a 40% error is basically a death sentence waiting to happen. Nobody needs that kind of stress on a job site.

oscarw8325d ago

Hold up. 40 percent off? That's not even in the ballpark, that's a different game entirely. @reesemoore you're dead right, 9,800 pounds on a 10,000 pound rig is playing with fire. That cheap display just showing 7,200 like everything's fine is criminal. I can't get over that number, almost half a ton of error just hiding in a box. Your spotter saved more than just the crane, they saved lives and probably a whole lot of lawsuits too. That kind of failure is exactly why I never let anyone bring their own gear on my sites.