Floor Scales And Weighing A Heavy Pallet, Tote Or Tank Using Industrial Scales

By Author: John Tang
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The weight of a pallet, tote or tank is often of high importance. This data may be required for determining the shipping costs of product. Or it may be necessary to double check the weight of items being received to see if they match the amount on the shipping manifest. Often a specific amount of material must be loaded into a tank.

In all of these cases, a large floor scale is appropriate for determining the weight. These scales come in a wide variety of sizes. The most common has a platform size of 4' x 4', with a capacity of 5000 lb. This is suitable for many standard size pallets. But smaller sizes may be more suitable for a smaller tank. Platforms with sizes of 3' x 3' for a vertical tank, or 3' x 4' for a horizontal tank are common. In this case, the capacity will generally be 2500 lb with a greater sensitivity that the 5000 lb scales. But for some applications, 5000 lb will also be available.

Large pallets may be weighed on industrial scales with platforms that match. Some industrial scale manufacturers, such as Arlyn Scales, offer any size platform to match the desired load. Some other sizes include 5' ...
... x 5', 4' x 6', 5' x 7', and 6' x 8'. These larger sizes may be ordered with capacities of 10,000 lb or even 20,000 lb. For special applications, such as large chemical tanks or equipment weighing, the special size platforms may be even larger.

But the features required on all of these digital scales are often the same, regardless of the platform size and capacity. Most importantly, the load sensors must be quite rugged. The pallet loads are often place on the scale with a fork lift. Even when care is being taken, it is not unusual for the lift to occasionally hit the loaded scale from the size. This causes very high instantaneous loads on the load cell, and may easily damage it. While many load cells are made from tool steel that has been nickel plated, the higher quality floor scales will incorporate stainless steel for the load cells. Not only are they more water resistant and corrosion resistant, but stainless steel has a higher modulus of elasticity, so it will tolerate higher levels of side load, overload and shock load.

Another important quality of the pallet scale is the type of coating applied to the scale platform. Generally, it is either painted with enamel paint, or is powder coated. Both of these industrial finishes will protect the scale from rust. But as soon as the scale is scratched, rust can form where the paint has been scratched away, and can even migrate under the paint coating. Higher quality scales, such as those offered by Arlyn Scales, coat the scale with an epoxy that is rich in zinc. These scale platforms are more resistant to scratching than a painted platform, a forklift will also eventually scratch this coating. But the zinc in the epoxy will undergo preferential oxidation, and will protect the scale from rusting for a much longer period of time.

In some environments, a steel platform will not be suitable despite the special epoxy coating. In these cases, the scales are also offered with stainless steel construction. This type of floor scale will be considerably more expensive than the steel type, but they will be able to handle situations where there may be acids or other strong chemicals, or even harsh fumes.

All digital floor scales will offer a digital indicator. This will enable the scale operator to view the weight on the platform. Often, the user will be able to choose the unit of measure, such as pounds or kilograms. Another common feature is a net / gross switch, so that the weight of any container or tank on the scale platform may be subtracted. The more advanced scales feature digital indicators that incorporate a graphics display. These are usually much larger and bolder than the typical numeric indicator, allowing an operator to read the display from his seat on a forklift, or from across a room.

A wide variety of communication interfaces may be offered to connect the electronic scale to a printer, or a computer, or directly into a network. Some standard interfaces are RS-232, USB (Universal Serial Bus) or Ethernet.
Arlyn Scales's goal is to provide clients with superiority in equipment and service unrivaled in the scale industry. For almost 30 years Arlyn has manufactured top of the line industrial weighing equipment with an accent on quality, accuracy, advanced technology and durability. From Industrial Scales to Floor Scales and Weighing a Heavy Pallet, Tote or Tank using Industrial Scales and everything in between, Arlyn Scales has it all.