Thread: Mechanical scale wont zero

All of our school chem. labs used to have similar balances and the kids used to swap around the pans. To fix them we added or removed the little lead shot balls in the bit under the pan. Problem fixed.

Just add or remove lead shot to the pan, or you can put something underneath the front or back to get the height you need.
I bought a 2nd hand scale that needed some shot added/or the back lifting up to get it level, but once it was level I checked the accuracy of it and it was spot on with weights between 0 and 100grains.

I used this on a second hand one I had. I used shotgun pellets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHSduhaK2c8

Not new

Originally Posted by muzza

If its new - do you have the instructions sheet ? Have you assembled it correctly? The white wheel under the left hand side is for leveling it up to zero it correctly.

And if it wont level correctly - take it back to the place you bought it . New gear is covered by the Consumers Guarantee Act , that says items must be fit for purpose. A scale that wont level accurately is not fit for purpose. Dont alter the ballast or fiddle with things - get it replaced.

Why would you not alter the ballast? That's all they do with it when it's made. Just verify it against another scale or use some known weights and good to go

Originally Posted by muzza

If its new - do you have the instructions sheet ? Have you assembled it correctly? The white wheel under the left hand side is for leveling it up to zero it correctly.

And if it wont level correctly - take it back to the place you bought it . New gear is covered by the Consumers Guarantee Act , that says items must be fit for purpose. A scale that wont level accurately is not fit for purpose. Dont alter the ballast or fiddle with things - get it replaced.

He said it is second hand. Winding the white wheel will only make it worse - from the photo the adjusting wheel is already fully wound up, that's the direction it needs to go, not down. OP needs (as others have posted) to play with adjusting the ballast. Then once zeroed check repeatability with known mass eg 22 cal projectiles. Keep same one aside as a check weight. If there is no obvious damage I would say the previous owner dicked with it for some unknown reason. Sorry, my post sounds a bit like a broken record. Surprised the thread is still running.

Havn't bothered with reloads for a while as the rifle shoots corlokts sweet. Building a tops load so fixed it up last week. Ended up using some bb's for ballast. Checked weight with a couple projectiles, and my other scale. Weighs perfect.
Didn't realise how bad the lee scales actually were until I used these. So easy to adjust accurately and settles in about 1/10 of the time of the lee.

Cheers all

Loads looking promising too

I reckon that's an rcbs cradle Instead of a heavier Dillon one.