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	Floor Scale - D1130 Our price: $59.99
	Floor Scale, Dual Reading - D315 Our price: $145.00

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Buying a floor scale today means understanding some Huge Differences in Price and Quality, as opposed to the floor scale market not all that many years ago.

It's true that a certain low-profile low-cost digital model may seem, at first glance, to offer quite the terrific bargain. And industry competition is intense for the home and health care scale market, and the broad range of pricing reflects this competition. List prices on the most popular sizes have dropped dramatically in the last few years. In fact, you can now purchase a 4' x 4' low-profile model for 50% less than what the typical 4' x 4' scale sold for a decade ago.

This large price differential exists because of the introduction of numerous lightweight, light-duty floor scales. These models, in the 4' x 4' size, can often weigh as little as 180 lbs, in contrast to upwards of 320 lbs for a true heavy-duty model. To the casual observer, comparing one model to another, it may appear that the two models are practically identical on the surface - a steel platform 3" to 4" high, four beam load cells, four adjustable feet, and usually a junction box. Further muddying the waters, many of these scales are NTEP Class III, 5000d in some capacities, creating the illusion that any low-profile bathroom scale is the same as any other, and likewise will stand up to the same degree of usage. But we know they can't be all the same, and we know this through properly controlled testing and a close look at construction details can reveal exactly why. Here is a summary of the results of such testing and an explanation as to just what details you should look for in a good-quality, low-profile floor scale.

Thorough testing shows us these important items to be aware of
Engineers have conducted comprehensive floor scale testing. Many competitive floor scales designs have been rigorously tested, and when the tests were completed, there were major differences between heavy-duty floor scales such as those from Detecto, and the new breed of light-duty ones on the market.

Light-Duty vs Heavy-Duty

Light-duty floor scales are useful when weighing relatively light loads that are evenly distributed on the deck. Controlled loading of these scales is also necessary to prevent the introduction of damaging point loads from wheeled material handling equipment.

Heavy-duty models, designed from the ground up for severe use, are necessary for long-term accuracy in tougher applications such as the following:

• Concentrated loading in the center of the platform


• Off-center or edge loading with concentrated loads


• Ramp-equipped scales loaded by pallet jacks which may generate very heavy concentrated loads at the wheels


• Scales subjected to any degree of shockloading (shock of load on scale)


• Pit scales

When aggressively testing competitive low-profile models to their capacity, engineers found that the lowest-priced, lightweight models had serious problems with linearity, hysteresis, and return to zero. Many of these lightweight scale decks flexed alarmingly with concentrated test loads. This abnormal deflection significantly impacted the linearity and hysteresis of the tested scales. Also in testing, these light-duty scales would often not return to zero after capacity loading. These problems were usually caused by poor foot design that allowed extraneous forces to be applied to the load cells.


The moral of the story is this: sometimes you really DO get what you pay for. If you want yours to be accurate, and you need it to last, get a Detecto, and get it here - we have the best prices you'll find!

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