Frankford Arsenal Digital Scale

[peredehuit]

I use a Frankford Arsenal digital scale and it doesn’t appear to keep its zero. I calibrate it and it appears to be fine but once I hit “Tare” with the measure on it I get some variation. (Yes, the measure is empty.) It isn’t much, but I wonder if anyone else is using the same device and is seeing this issue.

 

[6.5SH]

Can happen with any electronic scale.
Warm it up for at least 30 minutes prior to use. Wipe it down with a dryer sheet to help with static. Make sure other sources of RFI aren't near it. Ensure you don't have sources of air movement affecting it; AC vent, ceiling fan etc.
Lastly use of a UPS with AVR can help if the issue is dirty power.

 

[straightshooter1]

I use a Frankford Arsenal digital scale and it doesn’t appear to keep its zero. I calibrate it and it appears to be fine but once I hit “Tare” with the measure on it I get some variation. (Yes, the measure is empty.) It isn’t much, but I wonder if anyone else is using the same device and is seeing this issue.

There a few things that can be at work that causes that. As mentioned, static is a big one and need to be sure there's not static on or around the devise.

Here's some other things that can also be involved to some extent or another:

1. Air movement in the room when heating or air-conditioning is on.

2. Electrical noise in the power cord could be interfering. That can be solve with a cord that has a ferrite core cord noise suppressor wrapped around the cord.

3. Florescent lighting will have balasts that produce electrical fields that's reach out and upset an electrical scale.

Often it takes some time for an electronic scale to warm up and stabilize. 30 minutes is often suggested, but many people report that several hours works better to have them stabilize.

4. Other electrical devises near it, like cell phones, microwave ovens, television or computers put out electromagnetic fields that will affect the delicate electronics of the scale.

 

[Len5E1]

So here's my take. I think the frankford scale is GARBAGE and I don't know why so many people like it. I love frankford products, but that scale is just crap. Here's the problem, it only displays up to .1 grain increments which means when the scale says 12.1 grains it could be 12.01 or 12.19 which is a huge variation. It's also a scale calibrated at a higher weight and made to handle larger weight as well which makes it far less accurate at lower weights (such as pistol and small rifle cartridges)

When it comes to these tiny scales I would suggest just buying the cheap gemini-20 scale because nothing in the price range up to that is going to be compete in my opinion. It's a 20 gram scale which makes it far more accurate in the charge weights you're going to put on it. Have you ever tried weighting a 5 pound or less object on a body scale? it's terribly inaccurate. Same as trying to weigh some business cards on a smaller kitchen scale that's rated up to 10lbs. Most scales are the most accurate in the middle of their weight range so a 100 gram scale will be most accurate around the 50gram mark which is like a whole case of ammo. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule, especially with higher end scales, but when it comes to normal use scales and budget micro scales that's pretty much how it works. The only way to really know for sure would be to test against a beam scale to find out how accurate your scale stays between low and high weights.

As for the frankford I just don't like not knowing where in the .1 grain range it's weighting. All I know is if I take a weight that says 8.2 on the frankford and put it on any of my other 3 scales it's off by over half a grain and if I take several of the same weight charge and put it on a more sensitive scale you will see how inaccurate that .1 grain display really is from charge to charge.