This can't be right?
We were called in to double check the work of an existing calibration provider. Right away there were some red flags...
We thought we would just be in for a quick weight check and then off to the next device but it was clear that this one was going to turn into a bit of a rabbit hole... We got the large pry bar and levered the stainless steel floor scale out of the pit in the floor to see what we would be in for. It was extremely dirty and likely had not been cleaned in years. So we got to scraping the dirt, wood, plastic and gunk out of the scale pit.
While the scale was up out of the ground we do a thorough inspection and found that this device is only rated for 5,000 lb capacity and it was clear that the forklifts were driving over it regularly to set spare pallets in the area behind the scale.
You can clearly see the deck is bent so much that the thin webbing on the hole below has stretched and popped from the overloading done by the forklifts.
Here you can clearly see the popped welds on the channel below where the whole scale deck is bent and failing. This is a good example of a salesman at the other company not recommending the best product for the customers total cost of ownership and instead offering the least expensive option that would work long enough to outlive the warranty period and not much more than that.
We got the scale pit cleaned out and lowered the scale back into the pit and re-applied our test weights onto the scale so that we could see if there were any additional issues that might need to be addressed.
At 900 pounds of NIST traceable test weight the scale was reading 872 pounds... So we attempted a typical electronic adjustment of the device and noted that there was a zero shift since last calibration of over 700 pounds. This typically indicates heavy usage or overloading of the sensors when we see a zero shift of that much weight since the last zero calibration point.
Ultimately the device failed inspection and could not be brough back into tolerance so we recommended replacement due to the several damaged load sensors and deformed structural elements in the scale deck.
The customer really appreciated us coming in to go the extra distance to properly inspect the devices and advise them on the best course of action. They clearly were not receiving that level of support from our competitor.
Give us a call today to keep your existing service company honest, we'll be happy to offer our professional recommendation at your facility.