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What's up with my scale?


Kim Shook

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I have this Salter kitchen scale. It has been working just fine. Suddenly, while I was weighing flour this morning it wouldn't settle on a weight. When I tried to zero it out, it would go back and forth between 0 and 1/4 oz. When I started putting the flour on and tried to get 5 oz., it wouldn't ever settle on 5 - again back and forth between 4 7/8, 5 and 5 1/4 oz. It has a battery indicator to let you know when your power is low and that hasn't gone off. Anyone know why this is happening? I can email Salter and I will if I need to, but thought someone here might know what's going on. Ta!

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Try changing the battery.

I concur. I have a different brand but changing the battery (even though the low battery indicator had not come on) solved the problem.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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Three suggestions:

- make sure that its firmly seated. Even slight rocking of the scale or vibration of the worktop will give an unstable reading.

- beware electrical interference. Don't use it "close" to cables, other equipment, or radio transmitters like cellphones.

- and it is worth trying a fresh battery. Even if it isn't complaining.

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch ... you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan

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Thanks so much.  It was on a stable counter and not near any 'fields'.  So I'll put batteries on the shopping list!

If it has a "battery low" indicator light and that light isn't on, just try removing the battery for 10 seconds and then reinserting the battery to see if that resets it and clears up the problem.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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May be a long shot as this isn't the same brand but I have the My Weigh KD and it did exactly the same thing. I thought it was the battery but after changing it the problem continued.

It turned out that I had been picking my scale up by the top plate and this had loosened the screws inside that control the pressure plate.

I had to disassemble the whole thing and tighten all the screws. It works fine now and I always pick my scale up by the sides :rolleyes:.

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May be a long shot as this isn't the same brand but I have the My Weigh KD and it did exactly the same thing. I thought it was the battery but after changing it the problem continued.

It turned out that I had been picking my scale up by the top plate and this had loosened the screws inside that control the pressure plate.

I had to disassemble the whole thing and tighten all the screws. It works fine now and I always pick my scale up by the sides  :rolleyes:.

And the first thing you should do about your scale is to try different battery set. If this solves the problem then you can buy new batteries as this was the only thing that led to error indication.

@ eatrustic

You mentioned a very important point. Many of the kitchen appliances such a weighing scale can easily malfunction just because of the way they are used. So special care must be taken.

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  • 5 years later...

A new problem with the same scale 5 years later (not too bad, I guess).  I was unable to get it to turn on at all.  So I just put in new (and newly purchased batteries).  Still nothing.  No readout at all.  Any ideas before I email Salter?  It's only under warranty for 10 years and I have NO idea when I bought it.

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Scrub the scale's battery contacts with a pencil eraser or emery board.  Clean the contacts on your new batteries, then pop 'em in and check for power.

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

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Thanks so much!  Cleaning did the trick!  Of course, now I feel like a slob.  :wink:

 

Batteries are guaranteed not to leak or corrode.

 

But they do.

 

I think the guarantee also says any damage to your appliance, they will pay for the damage.

 

dcarch

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  • 2 months later...

When you don't properly place a scale on floor you get different weight. Because due to incline of decline of scale surface there must be a difference in weight so you must adjust your scale properly on floor to get accurate measurement.

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When you don't properly place a scale on floor you get different weight. Because due to incline of decline of scale surface there must be a difference in weight so you must adjust your scale properly on floor to get accurate measurement.

I keep mine on the counter.

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