4 Factors That Could Be Affecting the Accuracy of Your Load Cell & Torque Sensors

Oct 15
10:20

2015

Rosario Berry

Rosario Berry

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

The whole point of having a load cell & torque sensor is to be able to weigh your loads sufficiently and accurately, so when they are not giving us the accuracy that we expect, it leaves us wondering just what could be affecting the accuracy of our equipment. Well, there are a number of reasons as to why your load cell & torque sensors are not providing the high level of accuracy that you would expect, with each of them being listed below.

mediaimage

The Accuracy of the Load Cell & Torque Sensors

 

The very first thing you should be doing when you are chasing accurate weighing accuracy is to select a top quality load cell & torque sensors manufacturer. While all load cell manufacturers will proclaim that their products offer high levels of accuracy,4 Factors That Could Be Affecting the Accuracy of Your Load Cell & Torque Sensors Articles only the top brands will usually be able to deliver the best accuracy.

 

A good load cell and its torque sensors will generally have good response times (how quickly they give an accurate reading), will not react to much to temperature changes in the environment, will not suffer with creep (a change in the load reading after 2-3 minutes of being stationary), and will have very low ‘nonrepeatability’ (differences in the readings for the same load after repeated loadings).

 

Factors with the Load

 

The accuracy of a load cell & indicator reading can be affected by how the load is placed on the weighing system. To ensure an accurate reading, the load has to be applied to each load cell properly and as specified by the load cell manufacturer.

 

If a load has been applied poorly, such as the load being twisted, the load cell and weighing system will only throw up inaccurate results. To ensure complete accuracy when weighing a load, the load has to be placed in such a way that the load cells are supporting all of the loads weight proportionally.

 

Outside Forces

 

Another reason as to why accuracy might be affected on a load cell & torque sensor is the many outside forces that could be slightly altering the weight force. Wind, shock loading, vibration, and changes in temperature can all have an effect on the true accuracy of a reading.

 

A cross-wind can have an effect that the load feels lighter than it actually is while shock loading is the process of putting on more load weight than what the weight capacity of the load cells are. Vibrations from other nearby machines can also cause fluctuations in a loads weight whilst temperature changes in the environment can cause materials in the load to either expand or contract.

 

Signal Interference

 

The final way in which the accuracy of the weight of a load could be affected is through interference with the signal transmission. The load cell electrical signal can be suffer with interference from radio frequencies, electromechanical interference, and even moisture in the air can cause interference to the electrical signal.

 

Summary

 

So in order to ensure that your load cell & torque sensors are as accurate as possible; you should be well aware of just what could affect that accuracy and put measures in place to prevent those occurrences from happening. Simply use the best manufacturers of load cells & torque sensors leading brands, load them correctly, ensure that outside forces are limited, and that there is little chance of signal interference.