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Olaf · August 11, 2005, 11:28 PM

If it's doing as you describe...hanging up below the balance point....then above...with EXACTLY the same weight in the pan.....and ALL else being equal....then you have a perplexing problem,indeed. I would check for any signs of damage. I would also check for any foreign substance (dirt, etc.) at the balance "blade" and at the magnetic damper. Are you certain that nothing is being moved (I mean the "tenths" slider)..or that the beam is not being banged around excessively ? Do you mean that it hangs up, while the beam is swinging....with the same charge in the pan ? (It swings up, hangs up...then swings down, hangs up.....like that ?) If THAT is what it's doing, the problem MUST be with the magnetic damper. This has no moving parts to get out of adjustment - so I would check for damage. As well, as I mentioned before, the beam on the balance point can get a bit "out of kilter" (though not all by itself) and cause the steel pc. and the magnet to be too close together. This is what it sounds like to me - except that, somehow, it is (perhaps) doing this on two separate phases of the swing. In any case, the blade on the end of the beam should be in the middle of the slot (in the base), between the magnets. If not, then the pivot (balance point) is causing the problem....or the beam is somehow bent (and I don't see how). Or, perhaps, the steel "blade" at the end of the beam has moved on it's attachment point, thus changing it's orientation to the beam.

That's as far as my thinking takes me. It's a very simple device. It simply HAS to be one of the causes described above.

One more thing that I just thought of....as I'm sitting here playing with my Lee scale, trying to duplicate your problem. This scale is VERY sensitive to being out of level....and to vibration. Are you sure that you have the scale set up on a level surface ?....and a heavy, sturdy surface that is not moving around AT ALL ? This sort of thing could affect the scale in weird ways. Also, if you've moved the location of the scale...in conjunction with the things mentioned just above..that could have an effect.

August 11, 2005, 11:28 PM	#8
Olaf Senior Member Join Date: June 12, 2005 Location: not from Svalbard Posts: 346	If it's doing as you describe...hanging up below the balance point....then above...with EXACTLY the same weight in the pan.....and ALL else being equal....then you have a perplexing problem,indeed. I would check for any signs of damage. I would also check for any foreign substance (dirt, etc.) at the balance "blade" and at the magnetic damper. Are you certain that nothing is being moved (I mean the "tenths" slider)..or that the beam is not being banged around excessively ? Do you mean that it hangs up, while the beam is swinging....with the same charge in the pan ? (It swings up, hangs up...then swings down, hangs up.....like that ?) If THAT is what it's doing, the problem MUST be with the magnetic damper. This has no moving parts to get out of adjustment - so I would check for damage. As well, as I mentioned before, the beam on the balance point can get a bit "out of kilter" (though not all by itself) and cause the steel pc. and the magnet to be too close together. This is what it sounds like to me - except that, somehow, it is (perhaps) doing this on two separate phases of the swing. In any case, the blade on the end of the beam should be in the middle of the slot (in the base), between the magnets. If not, then the pivot (balance point) is causing the problem....or the beam is somehow bent (and I don't see how). Or, perhaps, the steel "blade" at the end of the beam has moved on it's attachment point, thus changing it's orientation to the beam. That's as far as my thinking takes me. It's a very simple device. It simply HAS to be one of the causes described above. One more thing that I just thought of....as I'm sitting here playing with my Lee scale, trying to duplicate your problem. This scale is VERY sensitive to being out of level....and to vibration. Are you sure that you have the scale set up on a level surface ?....and a heavy, sturdy surface that is not moving around AT ALL ? This sort of thing could affect the scale in weird ways. Also, if you've moved the location of the scale...in conjunction with the things mentioned just above..that could have an effect.