electric scales vs 'dial' ones...

[joko]

i have both of these and they are both giving different readings...9lbs more!

which is most likely to be at fault and is there anything i can do to 'right' them?

my instinct is the electric are more correct...but...?

thanks

[EcclesCake]

With a difference of 9lbs I'd follow your instinct!

Can you do a crude calibration with a couple of bags of sugar and a few cans?

[R1Geezer]

The readout is largely irrelevant they are both, strain guage which is notoriously variable, I had some that could vary by a stone depending on where I stood! They won't give you and accurate wieght but if you always weigh in the same place and in the same position on the scales (draw round your feet) and he same time of day you can get some indication of weight loss/gain but your actual weight will be better measured on balance scales.

[bednobs]

are you sure you mean 9 pounds (over 1/2 a stone) or nine ounces?

[joko]

hi, no these are bathroom scales and the balance ones say im 10st and the electric ones say 10st 9lb!
thats a lot to be out eh?

so i was a bit confused!

i have had the balance ones for years and believed them...got given my mums electric ones and was quite shocked...but i also tried her new set out today and i was also 10.9lb

so i guess that means i have been using a dodgy set for years! bah!

[JonnyBoy12]

I would use space scales up in space, where we all weigh nothing! Those are my favourite type of scales.

[scotman]

Apologies if this is a silly question but do they both read zero when nothing is on them? Old style mechanical ones do tend to drift off through time and need the zero point reset. Usually a hand operated screw somewhere on the underside.

[bazwillrun]

just put something of a known weight, there must be something in your kitchen, sugar tins of something, bottles etc etc, and see which set of scales reads it as near as damnit correctly

how difficult can this be ?!

[joko]

hi, yes i always make sure ive set it to nought beforehand


baz - funnily enough i dont have 2 bags of sugar just sitting around in the kitchen...particularly given the subject of the question!

or in fact 2 identical bags of anything just sitting around...and even if i did a very much doubt a bag of sugar or a tin of beans would register on bathroom scales enough to gauge properly...they are not designed for such small amounts...

plus if you bothered to read the post properly - i have sorted it

harder than you thought obviously...

[silversky69]

Hi...Weigh something that you know the weight of..IE a bag of sugar..this will tell you how acurate the scales are...did you know that if you weigh yourself with 2 kilos of apples in your hand..obviously you,ll weigh 2 kilos more,..but if you eat 2 kilos of apples then weigh yourself straight away,,,you wont weigh 2 kilos more....strange but true..

[R1Geezer]

not starange, not true.

[nightmare]

silversky,
I would love you to explain why you believe such obvious claptrap as your weight does not increase if you eat 2kg of apples.
Is your body somehow acting as a gravitational screen ?

You will be telling us next that your weight does not decrease when you offload waste, as it were.

[stoofur]

I don't eat the core of the apple.

I imagine that will make a difference.

[heathfield]

The most accurate weight I ever obtained for myself was when I visited a public vehicle weighbridge and asked about the accuracy. I can't remember now what accuracy the operater told me, but I remember being utterly impressed. I won't say they're capable of weighing a 50p piece, but they're not far off it!! So you could always trot along to your nearest one and speak nicely to the operator and verify what your scales are telling you.

[bazwillrun]

"which is most likely to be at fault and is there anything i can do to 'right' them?

my instinct is the electric are more correct...but...? "

I did read your question and merely suggested an easy and blindingly obvious way to confirm if your scientific method of using instinct was correct

"harder than you thought obviously... " it couldnt be any easier whereas for you......

[joko]

yes, blindingly obvious - but as i stated not feasible as i had nothing to weigh of a known weight that would even register on those scales!... ...these are not kitchen scales, but bathroom scales
i would need many more than just one of any of those things you listed ...2 would not be enough and i dont have 3 or 4 or 5 ... hence why i asked the question to ask for other ways to tell...

you were being sarcastic, not merely suggesting something...but it seems you cant help that can you - "scientific method of instinct"...ooh brilliant 'comeback' ... what a ridiculous, lazy and lame comment

do me a favour and dont comment on my questions if you must be sarcastic please.

thanks to everyone else