Monthly Archives: June 2024

5 Reasons You Should Consider Hydrostatic Cells for Your Next Tank, Hopper, Silo, or Vessel Weighing Application

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Most of the time when you think about tank scales or hopper style scales you often think of load cell mounts or weigh modules with strain gauge load cells placed under the vessel. But in today’s entry we take a look at a few of the advantages of using a hydraulic load cell instead. Out of all the weighing technologies available, hydrostatic load cells often standout as one of the most robust and dependable solutions on the market today. Let’s take a look at five of the advantages of choosing a hydraulic load cell system for placing under your tank.

Durability and Resilience 

Hydrostatic load cells are engineered with simplicity and resilience in mind. Unlike electronic load cells which contain delicate components vulnerable to environmental factors such as temperature fluctuations, moisture, and electromagnetic interference. This inherent simplicity not only reduces the risk of component failure but also enhances longevity, making hydrostatic load cells ideal for harsh industrial environments where reliability is crucial. The factory believes in the quality and durability of the hydrostatic load cells so much that they offer a lifetime load cell guarantee. 

Minimal Maintenance Requirements

Electronic load cells sometimes require periodic calibration and maintenance to ensure accuracy and performance. In contrast, hydrostatic load cells have minimal maintenance requirements. This translates to reduced downtime and lower maintenance costs, providing a clear advantage for businesses seeking efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Accuracy and Precision

Hydrostatic load cells offer exceptional accuracy and precision, even in demanding conditions. As a result, users can rely on hydrostatic load cells to deliver precise measurements with confidence, whether for process control, material testing, or other critical applications.

emery winslow tank load cell

Intrinsically Safe Design

In environments where explosive gases or flammable materials are present, safety is of utmost concern. Hydrostatic load cells offer an intrinsically safe design, with no electrical components in direct contact with the measured load. For industries such as oil and gas, chemical processing, or mining, where safety is non-negotiable, hydrostatic load cells provide a reliable solution for accurate weight measurement without compromising safety.

Cost Effectiveness 

With minimal maintenance requirements, extended durability, and reliable performance, hydrostatic loadcells offer excellent long-term value. Businesses can benefit from reduced downtime, lower maintenance costs, and improved operational efficiency, leading to a higher return on investment (ROI).

So those are some of the advantages of using hydrostatic load cells under your tank. Now to be fair there can be some disadvantages to choosing a system like this.  A hydrostatic system like this can cost more than a traditional weigh module kit with strain gauge load cells. And, installation and regular maintenance would need to be handled by a local scale company with hydraulic load cell experience. In other words, not every scale company out there has experience with this type of weighing equipment. 

If you are interested in learning more or getting a quote on a 120 Series or 136 Series. Please contact our sales department via the RFQ form on our website.  We look forward to working with you.

 

Mistakes to Avoid When Purchasing a Truck Weight Scale

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A truck scale is a rather large investment for most businesses. So, it’s one of those purchases that you want to take your time with and do your homework. Needing a truck scale in a hurry is not a good situation to be in. Especially since most purchasing managers have never been involved in choosing and installing a 70 or 80 foot long scale for weighing trucks. So, you’re probably wondering what mistakes should folks avoid?  Well here are a few to think about.

Lack of Planning

A truck scale is a rather large investment. It also takes time from start to finish. It also has multiple key moments. The customer needs to have a manager or point of contact. Ideally one or two people. Questions and timelines will come up. 

Folks will ask, when is the truck scale arriving? Do we have power at the scale location? Are all the cables and conduits ready?  Is the customer ordering the crane to offload the scale?  When does the crane need to be there? Is the foundation ready for the scale?  The point of contact and the scale sales person / installer need to discuss the timeline so there are no huge surprises. 

Overlooking the Scale Foundation

Most customers around the Carolinas are going to choose an above ground truck scale. Back in the day customers would choose a mechanical truck scale and it would be installed in a pit since it had levers and took up a lot of space. However, that was back then… Most customers today choose to have a concrete foundation poured and place the scale on that. Otherwise, you are having to dig a hole and pour a lot of concrete. And of course the pit is going to collect a lot of water and then you’re looking at drains and pumps and that is usually not what we would recommend in most cases. 

You do want to make sure that you or the scale company use a reputable concrete person to pour and form the scale foundation. The last thing you want is the foundation cracking and not able to withstand the weight of the truck scale the trucks being weighed.

We have also seen situations where a potential scale buyer doesn’t have a good grasp on the location around where the scale will be located. There could be environmental issues as well as things like drainage lines nearby, etc…

Overlooking the Scale Location

Deciding where to place your new truck scale can sometimes be really easy and other times can be very challenging. It can be even more difficult when you have a half dozen folks involved with the truck scale buyer. Sometimes it can be a good idea to put someone in charge from your company so there aren’t too many folks involved in the decision making.

Generally speaking with truck scales, you want to place the scale in the correct area for your traffic flow. You also need to try hard to not place the scale in a low area where water is going to bring all kind of debris. One of the biggest problems that above ground truck scales struggle with is buildup that gets lodged under the weighbridge.

Not Choosing the Proper Load Cell Technology

In most situations these days, a truck scale buyer has three distinct types of technology to consider. Hydraulic, Digital or Analog truck scales.  Each has it’s place. We suggest that you discuss these options with your scale sales person to determine which is best for you.

Choosing the Wrong Scale Platform

Likewise, you also need to choose the scale platform material. Truck scales are exposed to various environmental conditions, including extreme temperatures, snow, ice, heavy rain… and on top of that possibly heavy traffic everyday!

If you are placing a truck scale in certain environments like HEAVY amounts of daily traffic or possibly weighing really corrosive materials… you might want to discuss this with your scale sales person first before you actually purchase the scale. If you discuss this first, you can likely take care of this with solutions like possibly a concrete scale deck instead of steel. Or you can perhaps get the “HD” version truck scale instead of just the “standard duty” version.

snow around a truck scale weighbridge

Not Slowing Down & Thinking About the Scale and Your Trucks

Before you place the order for a truck scale, be sure to measure your trucks and be certain what size scale you need. And, what about truck scale accuracy?  Most customers choose a 70, 80 or 100 foot long truck scale. Width is normally 11 feet wide. The other thing to think about is the number of trucks you expect to be weighing daily. Think about what this number will be five years from now. In other words if you think that you’ll be weighing well over 250 trucks a day, don’t buy a light duty truck scale. 

Not Choosing the Right Scale Company

Over the forty plus years we’ve been in business we have installed and worked on A LOT of truck scales. You name the town and we have probably worked on one near there. We have installed digital truck scales, analog truck scales, and even hydraulic truck scales. We’ve even had competitors tell customers that we’re out of business, just so they can sneak in and take the sale. Maybe we’ll talk about that in more detail some time…. but continuing on.

In our opinion, these days too many purchasing managers or QC managers worry about certain certifications and not enough about proven experience. Think about it, who would you want installing your truck scale… two state certified scale technicians who have a combined 35 years of experience OR two scale technicians with maybe 10 years of experience total, but with lots of badges and approvals that they might have earned by watching a video. We’ll take the experienced techs everyday! 

Not Investing the Money… The Scale Should Last for Decades So Spend the Money

Look, we all shop the internet for deals. All of us can find cheaper items for just about everything. Just remember, this truck scale that you’re looking to purchase is designed to last you for decades. Don’t be afraid to spend a little more money now to get a scale that might last an extra five or ten years. We see cheap scales everyday. There are some scale manufacturers overseas that can cut corners like you wouldn’t believe!  But do you really want to purchase a cheap truck scale that is built on price and reaching a certain “price point”? 

Focus on quality and the overall truck scale lifespan. Remember this is a scale that is going to have 80,000 lb vehicles driven over it everyday for years. Add in the outdoor elements and you want to make sure you buy a quality product that can last you two or three decades. Many times when customers choose a low end truck scale they often have to replace the scale much earlier than they would have with a traditional high quality truck scale.

Conclusion

Buying a truck scale whether it’s a 70 foot or 100 foot long is a large investment. It’s something that most folks only do once or twice in their professional career. Try to avoid the mistakes when purchasing a truck weighing scale that we have presented in this entry. By avoiding some of these common oversights many of you should be able to choose a high quality truck scale that will provide you with decades of quality weighing. If you would like to get buying advice or price quotes from us, please complete the RFQ form and we look forward to working with you.

CANNABIS… What Scales Do You Need for Production, Distributing, or Selling?

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Scales and Balances for the Cannabis Industry

As more states legalize marijuana for medical and/or recreational use, each part of the industry, from growers to dispensaries, must learn how to handle the additional focus and attention along the cannabis plant’s journey from planting the seed to reaching the actual consumer.

A big part of that process is actually weighing the product. With the high price tag per ounce attached to medical marijuana, it’s necessary to ensure that everyone is getting the correct amount.

Typical Cannabis Distribution Chain

Growers
Cultivate the plant and sometimes process the flower themselves but often sell the raw material to a processor, which also acts as a wholesaler.

Processors
Trim, dry and cure the plants to ready them for manufacture into consumer-ready products.

Manufacturers
Incorporate the processed material into products.

Dispensaries
Sell the finished product to patients and consumers.

At each level where consumer-destined cannabis is handled, the high-precision requirements for weighing are the same. Medical laboratories operate outside of the consumer-focused supply chain, but concentrate their efforts on researching all components of the cannabis plant to find their effects on the human body.

Cultivation and Harvest of Marijuana

Inventory management and profitability start at the growing facility. At this point counter top bench scales, floor scales, and pallet jack scales allow growers to capture the material handling weights at the field site, indoor growing facility, packaging plant or anywhere weight documentation is needed for cannabis logistics. Great for repetitive tasks while harvesting, loading and packing.

Processing and Extracting Cannabis

Our line of bench scales and check weighing scales are great for all the tasks of cannabis and hemp processing environments, including sanitary handling and consumer ready retail packaging. Our line of industrial scales are built well and priced right and best of all, can be custom ordered for an exact fit in just about any location and hold up to extreme cleaning procedures.

rice lake 1280

Cannabis processing, batching and automated production are taken a step further with our selection of Rice Lake 1280 digital weight indicators. Weight indicators perform a range of functions from batching to simple weight displaying to the most complex custom programming, communications and remote batch queuing. We can provide complete weighing and process control solutions for any operation from bulk batching to featherweight designer-strain derivatives.

What Kind of Scales are Required for Selling Medical Cannabis Inside Retail Shops & Dispensaries?

According to what we are hearing, in many states, scales and balances used for selling cannabis to consumers need to be NTEP Class II, meaning they must display results from 1 mg to 50 mg (0.05g) and have 10,000 – 100,000 divisions, or better. (For reference, Class I units have more than 100,000 divisions.)  We suggest contacting your state weighing and measures department to determine what state and local requirements you will have to comply with.

In selling to the public, the balances must be NTEP certified legal-for-trade. This means the scale has been approved by NCWM and has a certificate of conformance number (CoC#) and is legally approved in the U.S. for buying or selling goods by weight.

Our lineup of CAS, Brecknell, Detecto, and Rice Lake retail scales are ideal for the point of sale (POS) or retail packaging counters in cannabis storefronts and dispensaries. Legal for Trade scales allow legal selling of products by weight from the scale, according to NTEP Certification for the highest level of accuracy in weight-based transactions.

Rice Lake’s retail scales have data communicating options suitable for tracking, reporting and inventory management, and select models offer additional weight displays for transparency and customer confidence.

adam equinox analytical balance

Because dispensaries sell cannabis products in small amounts, readability of 0.01g is ideal to have. Medical laboratories often have a little more tolerance in terms of requirements since they don’t actually sell cannabis, but they often utilize balances with readability in the neighborhood of  0.0001g. For something like that, see the Adam Equipment Equinox Analytical Balance. 

As with other applications – such as biopharmaceuticals or jewelry – the small amounts of cannabis sold in most transactions require a high degree of readability to protect both the buyer and seller. Popular NTEP approved weed scales available include the Adam Equipment Highland balance along with the Ohaus SJX1502N/E, Intelligent Vibra ALE-NC balance and A&D EK series of precision balances.

legal for trade ale-nc dispensary scale

To satisfy requirements for selling cannabis derivatives, edibles and topicals by weight, our selection of Rice Lake laboratory balances are ideal for the cannabis industry and can weigh derivatives precisely to 0.001 gram. Scale data connectivity for labeling and tracking compliance is available with RS-232, Bluetooth or USB port.

We hope this entry what scales do you need for production, distributing, or selling cannabis has helped you better understand this industry. We do recommend you contact your state weighing and measurements office to determine exactly what your particular requirements are because they can differ from state to state. If you need some assistance purchasing your industrial weighing equipment, please contact us (919) 776-7737.