Chris Schafale on wed 30 dec 98
I have an Ohaus triple beam balance that has never worked properly --
the "flag" tends to bind between the damping magnets, so the pointer
sticks. It's usable but very irritating. The company I bought it
from insisted that it is a warranty problem and that I should send it
to Ohaus for repair (in spite of the fact that it was defective when
it arrived). I talked to someone at Ohaus, and I can certainly send
it back, but I don't really want to be without it for what I suspect
would be weeks on end. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it
successfully? If so, how? Thanks for any suggestions.
Chris
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@nuteknet.com
Jennifer Boyer on fri 1 jan 99
HI Chris,
I think your problem might be the opposite of the one that developed with
my VERY old Ohaus: but my lo-tech solution might inspire you: duct tape.
My Ohaus pointer started sticking when it was UP. It was getting stuck at
the very top of it's reach, so I blocked the top of the channel with duct
tape: problem solved. The pointer now bumps on the tap instead of getting
stuck. If your pointer is getting stuck at the bottom, you might be able
to block the bottom of the channel in a similar way.
Hope this helps
Jennifer, seemingly unable to go into my studio. But I know this too will
pass. Simply post holiday madetoomanypotsitis........
Chris Schafale wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I have an Ohaus triple beam balance that has never worked properly --
> the "flag" tends to bind between the damping magnets, so the pointer
> sticks. It's usable but very irritating. The company I bought it
> from insisted that it is a warranty problem and that I should send it
> to Ohaus for repair (in spite of the fact that it was defective when
> it arrived). I talked to someone at Ohaus, and I can certainly send
> it back, but I don't really want to be without it for what I suspect
> would be weeks on end. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it
> successfully? If so, how? Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Chris
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> candle@nuteknet.com
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer jboyer@plainfield.bypass.com
Thistle Hill Pottery
Vermont USA
http://www.vermontcrafts.com/members/JenniBoy892.html
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Bob and Hulda on fri 1 jan 99
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Schafale
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: 30 December 1998 14:26
Subject: Fixing Ohaus scales
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I have an Ohaus triple beam balance that has never worked properly --
the "flag" tends to bind between the damping magnets, so the pointer
sticks. It's usable but very irritating. The company I bought it
from insisted that it is a warranty problem and that I should send it
to Ohaus for repair (in spite of the fact that it was defective when
it arrived). I talked to someone at Ohaus, and I can certainly send
it back, but I don't really want to be without it for what I suspect
would be weeks on end. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it
successfully? If so, how? Thanks for any suggestions.
Chris
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@nuteknet.com
Dear Chris,
I had this problem with new Ohaus scales which I bought
some years ago,the problem turned out to be the "V" blocks on which the
balance bar pivots,one was cracked,I took the good one to a local man who
has a small engineering workshop and had two made up in steel whilst I
waited.Got home,put them in and it has been working perfect ever since.
The silver coloured metal covers which cover the pivots slide
upwards and you can then gently lift the beam and examine these blocks.
Regards,
Bob Hollis
Vicki Katz on sat 2 jan 99
Chris,
Word of Warning - if you attempt to "fix it" and fail, chances are the
warrenty will no longer be honored.
Vicki Katz
Jonathan Kaplan on sun 3 jan 99
On some of the newer triple beam Ohaus scales, the dampening magnets and
pointer scaleare containted in a sort of adjustable "tower". This tower is
held onto the scale base with one or two screws and is some what adjustable
on a horizontal plane by loosening the screws and aligning as necessary.
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan, president
Ceramic Design Group LTD/Production Services
PO Box 775112
Steamboat Springs CO 80477
plant location
1280 13th Street Unit 13
Steamboat Springs CO 80487
(970) 879-9139 voice and fax
jonathan@csn.net
http://www.sni.net/ceramicdesign/
Evan Dresel on sun 3 jan 99
Yes warranty repair can be inconvenient, but I think it's the way to go.
The Ohaus triple beam balance may seem lo-tech but it is a precision
instrument and IMO should be treated with respect. It is your most
accurate piece of equipment -- say you are weighing 100 grams, you can
do that to .1 gram or a tenth of a percent and you can weigh a kilogram
to a hundredth of a percent if you think it's necessary.
I guess it's the chemist in me (in the laboratory I have used a balance
to calibrate individual flasks to improve the accuracy). I always keep
my balance clean, dry, covered to keep dust off, and with enough weight
on the beam so the pan doesn't swing around when I move it.
Some folks may love their chain saws (they scare the piss out of me) but
I love a good precision measuring device.
-- Evan in West Richland WA who's perking up after being under the
weather so the new year came in with a whimper.
Chris Schafale wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I have an Ohaus triple beam balance that has never worked properly --
> the "flag" tends to bind between the damping magnets, so the pointer
> sticks. It's usable but very irritating. The company I bought it
> from insisted that it is a warranty problem and that I should send it
> to Ohaus for repair (in spite of the fact that it was defective when
> it arrived). I talked to someone at Ohaus, and I can certainly send
> it back, but I don't really want to be without it for what I suspect
> would be weeks on end. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it
> successfully? If so, how? Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Chris
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> candle@nuteknet.com
Mike Obrien on mon 4 jan 99
Anyone in business for themself has to learn how to fix their equipment to
survive. Trust your own ingenuity. I am still using the Ohaus I bought in
1982 and it works great. It got stuck every time I used it in the beginning.
So, I bent the damn thing until it worked. That is, until about 1994 when I
dropped it and all of the little bee bees spilled out all over the floor. I
put as many of them back in the counter-balance as I could and recalibrated
it based on "anything I know to be true", ie. 500 milliliters of water weighs
500 grams. I had to ad a penny to the container and remove 3 bee bees to get
it back on balance. The idea is never doubt your own intelligence. The
people that make these things don't necessarily know anything that you can't
figure out.
You can spend the rest of your life sending equipment back to be repaired.
The real test, is does it give the same result in your glaze, etc. time after
time. There is only one reason to measure anything in ceramics.
REPEATABILITY.
Bend the damn thing and make it work. Mike O'Brien
Ron Wright on tue 5 jan 99
I have an Ohaus triple beam scale for sale, $40 plus shipping. Somehow I
ended up with 2 of them and I only use one.
Ron Wright
3 Dogs Pottery - Chicago
http://www.concentric.net/~wrright
Louis Katz on tue 5 jan 99
It may not be worth your while to do so, but
Ohaus sells replacement bearings for thier scales. The bearings are little cubes
of plastic with vshaped grooves in them and live under the metal covers at the
pivot points.
I have replaced them on several scales and improved some of these scales ability
to weigh small amounts accurately for tests. My take is that it is not worth th
effort unless you have many scales that are pretty beat up. The bearings cost
about $10.00
Louis
--
Louis Katz
lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
NCECA Director At Large
Texas A&M-CC Division of Visual and Performing Arts Webmaster (512) 994-5987
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