What's a good digital scale at a reasonable cost?

[brian steinberger]

I'm looking for a new scale for measuring out dry chems. I'm looking for a reasonably priced digital scale under $50 or so. I know they make them good and cheap now. I have one now I've had for a few years but it seems ready to die. I'd like something that's accurate, that's the most important thing. I don't mind if it will only last me a few years. I need something to measure to .1 gram and maybe up to a few hundred grams.

 

[aaronmichael]

I'm looking for a new scale for measuring out dry chems. I'm looking for a reasonably priced digital scale under $50 or so. I know they make them good and cheap now. I have one now I've had for a few years but it seems ready to die. I'd like something that's accurate, that's the most important thing. I don't mind if it will only last me a few years. I need something to measure to .1 gram and maybe up to a few hundred grams.

Don't know if this particular one would work but I just did a quick search on Amazon for digital scales and this one got pretty good reviews and goes down to the .1 gram mark. Cheap too.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Black-Digital-Pocket/dp/B0012N1NAA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[Moopheus]

I've used a My Weigh scale in my kitchen for about 6-7 years now and it's been great. I got it from this dealer: http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/. They make a range of jeweler's/precision scales that will do what you want. Even though my old scale still works, I'm now tempted to upgrade to one of the newer scales that can keep track of baker's percentages.

 

[ntenny]

I've also gotten a cheap digital scale from Old Will Knott and been happy with it. It claims 0.01 g accuracy; at the low price point I'm not sure I believe it, but I believe it's good enough for my purposes (I'm generally measuring whole grams). There are a lot of similar Chinese-made digital scales---indeed *so* similar that I wonder if they aren't made in the same factory in a lot of cases---that seem to be OK for photo-chem purposes.

-NT

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I got a 'Chinese Weigh' 20g x 1mg scale recently

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012TDNAM

It works surprisingly well and is indeed repeatable to 1mg.

I have a Tiscali general purpose scale which works fine but has a really annoying auto-off feature - when it turn's itself off it forgets the tare.

 

[brian steinberger]

Thanks guys. This gives me some good ideas. I guess there's no concern over accuracy of these cheap digital scales?

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

The scales have a calibration feature and many come with a calibration weight. You can just as easily use a 10g or 100g weight from a double-pan balance.

The balances all use a strain gauges which are quite linear so when calibrated at two points - 0 and 100g say - the accuracy will be very good. The linearity of the electronics won't be any problem.

 

[mgb74]

Most scales promise a certain level of precision or resolution, not accuracy. Without a calibration weight similar to the weight of what you are measuring, you can't be completely sure.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Take a look:
http://s.dealextreme.com/search/Digital+scale
Dead Link Removed

 

[RalphLambrecht]

As with thermometers, I think precision is more important than accuracy, because you want repeatable results. Being slightly off certain target values is less of a concern than not being able to reproduce a fine-tuned 'recipe'. I had the opportunity to check a bunch of different electronic scales in your price range a year ago, and I must say they were all very accurate and precise! They repeatably produced the same result even between scales of different manufacturers. I was amazed.

 

[hrst]

I have two of these, work perfectly, repeatable to +/- 0.01 g even after a year of use,
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/precision-digital-pocket-scale-300g-max-0-01g-resolution-15004

Get a calibration weight at the same time because they are cheap too:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/digital-scale-calibration-weight-100-grams-15761

 

[johnnywalker]

I have had a "My Weigh" MX300 for a few years. It was very reasonably priced. I bought it with a 100g check weight, and it is both accurate and precise.
I don't know if they make that particular model any more, but check out their website.

http://www.myweigh.com/all.html