Force Calibration Safety: The Day Three Threads Let Go A technician set up a tension calibration in a 200 000 lbf (890 kN) machine, threaded the connection together, and started applying force. Only three complete threads were engaged. The internal threads stripped, the connection separated, and everything above the failure point released at once. Three […]
Why Do Force Calibration Adapters Matter? The Measurable Cost of the Wrong Setup A load cell that reads to 0.005 % of full scale in the laboratory can degrade to 0.5 % of full scale, or worse, in the field, mounted with adapters that introduce bending, side loading, or torsion. Same cell. Same certificate on […]
How to Calibrate a Proving Ring: No Bridge to Hide Behind A digital proving ring: the displacement sensor replaces the micrometer and vibrating reed, and the indicator displays the deflection. A proving ring has no strain gauge bridge to do the thinking for you, even when a digital indicator does the reading. It is a […]
How to Calibrate a Cable Tensiometer: The Cable is Part of the Measurement A cable tensiometer never touches a load cell or a hook. It clamps onto a cable and reads the tension in it. That one difference makes it among the trickier instruments to calibrate honestly, because the cable itself becomes part of the […]
How to Calibrate a Hand Held Force Gauge: Mount it Square, Not by Hand A hand held force gauge is the most-used force instrument in most plants and the least likely to be held the way it should be. It gets pushed across a bench by hand, and the certificate inherits every wobble. Good hand […]
How to Calibrate a Crane Scale: Reproduce the Way it Hangs A crane scale spends its working life hanging from a hook with a load swinging underneath it. Calibrate it any other way and the certificate describes a scale that does not exist. That is the whole problem with crane scale calibration. The instrument is […]
How to Calibrate Aircraft and Truck Scales: The Tire is Part of the Measurement in Aircraft and Truck Scale Calibration Three different size adapters made by Morehouse on a 10 000 lbf PT300 scale. Will there be a difference in the measured values? We loaded the same truck scale to 20 000 lbf (89.0 kN) […]
How to Calibrate Button Load Cells in Compression: A Guide for Button Load Cell Calibration A button load cell looks like the easiest thing in the world to calibrate. It is small, it takes load through a domed top, and you set it under a press and push. What could go wrong 😊? Almost everything, […]
How to Calibrate an Analog Dynamometer: Set it up the Way it is Used Pictured above is a 10 000 lbf Analog Dynamometer in a Morehouse 10 000 lbf BCM. An analog dynamometer has no electronics to trust and no digital display to read for you. It has a spring element, a mechanical linkage, and […]
Common Tension Force Calibration Setups: Let the Load Find its Own Axis Pull a load cell in tension, and you introduce a problem compression may not have. The load string can twist. A thread can cock a few thousandths off center. A clevis pin can sit against one side of its hole instead of being […]
Common Compression Force Calibration Setups: Keeping the Load Line Pure Common Compression Force Calibration Setups: Keeping the Load Line Pure Intro A load cell that reads to 0.005 % of full scale on the bench can degrade to 0.5 % of full scale, or worse, once it is mounted with the wrong hardware. Same […]
Bad Load Cell Setup: Specific Load Cell Examples, Common Errors, and What to Watch for by Load Cell Type A Bad Load Cell Setup almost never starts with the readout. It starts with the mechanical load path, meaning alignment, adapters, thread engagement, and contact surfaces. When those are not controlled, you introduce off-axis forces such […]
