Tech Support

Your scale and indicator talk through one cable. Most errors, like 6, UUUUU, nnnnn, a zero that will not hold, or numbers that run, start here: a loose plug, a pin pushed back, a pinched or cut cable, or water in the connector. A cable that is moved, stepped on or driven over wears out fastest.

1. Turn the indicator off.
2. Unplug the cable at the indicator and at the scale or junction box, check the pins, and plug it back in firmly.
3. Look along the whole cable for cuts, crush marks or wet spots.
4. If the numbers jump when you wiggle the cable, the cable is bad. Do the continuity test.

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If the cable is cut, you can shorten it and reconnect it at the junction box. Power off first, then recalibrate. This is a short-term fix; order a replacement cable for a lasting one.

Home run cable to the junction box

Calibration teaches the indicator what a known weight looks like. It must be done again after a new cable, a new load cell, a new indicator, a factory reset, or when readings drift. Use real known weight, at least 200 lb on a floor scale. A person or an object you have weighed works.

1. Clear the scale and let it settle.
2. Follow the video for your indicator: whole numbers if the screen moves in 1 lb steps, decimals if it shows 0.1 or 0.5.
3. Check with the known weight afterwards. If calibration will not take, go back to the cable, then test the load cells.

A scale used to sell by weight (legal for trade) must be calibrated and sealed by a registered scale technician. Check your state rules.

Load cells are the sensors under the scale that feel the weight. One bad cell can stop the whole scale or make it read wrong. Overloads, shock loads, welding on the scale, water and a damaged cell cable are the usual causes. A simple meter test tells you which cell is bad in about two minutes.

1. Watch the load cell test video.
2. Measure each cell and write the readings down.
3. A cell that reads far from the others is the bad one. The cable on a load cell goes straight into the cell and cannot be replaced, so a damaged cell cable means a new cell.

Water in a connector, the junction box, a load cell or the indicator causes errors, drifting numbers and dead cells, sometimes days after the scale got wet. Indicators are not made to be left outdoors, and pressure washing a scale that is not rated for washdown pushes water into the parts.

1. Dry the connectors and the junction box, then reseat the plugs.
2. If errors stay, test the load cells: water damage shows up there.
3. Keep the indicator out of rain and spray. For wet places, ask about our water resistant and washdown options.

Inside the scale, each load cell wires into the junction box. A loose screw terminal, a corroded wire or a wire in the wrong place gives the same errors as a bad cable. This is common after a cell or the junction box was replaced.

1. Open the junction box with the power off.
2. Check every wire is tight and in its marked place.
3. Compare with the junction box video.

If the indicator will not turn on or hold a charge, it is usually the battery, then the adapter, then the chip or the faceplate. The scale cable has nothing to do with the indicator turning on.

1. Plug it into the wall. Works plugged in but not on battery: replace the battery.
2. Nothing at all: try the right adapter and a known good outlet.
3. Screen broken, keys dead or still no start: the chip or the faceplate.