Acculab VIC-123 scale problems

[geordiesniper]

Hi All. I use the Acculab VIC-123 digital scale and I have read the 10 rules located somewhere on this site.
However, what I want to know is, is it worth it to get a line conditioner/surge protector?
As the unit works of 12volts DC would a line conditioner make any difference for this scale?
It sometimes will drift quite a bit and other times it is quite stable, but drifts when I want to do some weighing.
I keep the doors shut, no heat/air vents nearby, no mobile phone in the room, wi fi is a distance away, the unit is cleaned with an anti static sheet, unit is always switched on, no vibration to cause problems, calibrate before use, zero it often.
Maybe whatever I do, it will still be subject to drift and I will just have to get used to it, or try a different type (Gempro etc).
Any info appreciated.
Les

 

[ChipEckardt]

Could there be a fluorescent light close? That caused an issue for me.

Chip

 

[jp]

Which way is it drifting up only? or both up and down?. the reason i ask I bought 2 of them and they both drifted up and up and up. So I called the manufacturer and they told me that they had received a batch of bad circuit boards. So they sent me a replacement. It works better but still drifts, so I put it up on the shelf to collect dust. 3 out of 3. I have went through all of the steps to prevent them from drifting and it was a waste of my money. I know there will be people who will say nay, but ....All I can say is they do have a very good customer service program in place.. And easy to deal with. Just wish my scales had worked better.
Best of luck to you...

 

[geordiesniper]

Hi JP, thanks for that info, the faulty circuit board could be a possible reason for the drift which is always upwards.
Once zeroed and the pan and the load is checked on the scale and is correct, as soon as I remove it, the reading never goes back to zero usually 0.04, so now I am not sure if my load is correct at 56 grains. I rezero and put the load back on and it shows a different load. Other times it behaves itself so it is not exactly consistent which is a real pain. For weighing bullets/brass it is pretty stable, it is just with weighing powder and taking the pan on and off which causes problems.
I bought it from Sinclairs about 9 months or so (maybe more) so not sure about any returns policy as I live in England. Might give them a ring later on to check.
Les

 

[geordiesniper]

Could there be a fluorescent light close? That caused an issue for me.

Chip

Hi Chip, no fluorescent light in the room but thanks for the info.
Les

 

[shooter63]

i shut off all vents put something under crack in dr only use overhead light & wear amask to keep from breathing on mine never weigh with washing machine running or dryer & calibrate every time i use them i have aset of rangemaster750 rcbs that have given excellent service & still do but got a wild hare for gempro 250 they lasted 2 hr. maybe before i returned them the bottom fell off the calibration weight first then when i got set up i couldnt for the life of me get ahold of the little plastic pan i could see myself spilling powder all in it so it went back the same day i got it waiting on my new new 1500 chargemaster to arrive regards shooter63

 

[jp]

the serial # on 1 of the ones I have is 25155197. I do not know how many were made but if your's is close to this # it may be defective. If I knew someone or a company that made the replacement board for them I would try it myself. Because at the cost of these units. I would like to be able to use at least one of them.
You can't sell them when they do not work either. Unless some one needed parts..

 

[deadlyswift]

I have never own the Acculab 123 or now the AY 123. The AY 123 is the same scale as the Acculab it's just now White and called the Sartorius AY 123. To my understanding the reason you have drift with the Acculab 123 is because it is a strain guage scale and all strain guage scales will always have some drift problems. The link below is a article that can explain things a lot better than myself. Scroll down to the last video.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/sartorius-magnetic-scale-is-fast-ultra-precise/

 

[itchyTF]

Assuming you don't have a defective board......

I'm not 100% sure but I think it has an autozero option. If so, you might try it. Put the pan on, zero it and turn on autozero. It should maintain zero. However, you can't trickle at this point (not sure why you would need to). The scale will interpret the trickling as drift and return to zero. But once you dump a charge, it will accept trickling.

 

[Scott Harris]

Drift is no big deal. The VIC-123/AY-123 is a good scale and very accurate and reliable. You just need to recognize that you have to re-zero it any time it does not settle on zero before you throw the next charge. If you re-zero the scale regularly as you weigh, then it works quite well. When I did own the VIC-123, I would check over and over throughout a weighing session with a check weight. As long as the scale was zeroed, it ALWAYS read the same correct weight. If re-zeroing regularly is unacceptable to you, then spend 3x the money and get the GD-503.

 

[geordiesniper]

Drift is no big deal. The VIC-123/AY-123 is a good scale and very accurate and reliable. You just need to recognize that you have to re-zero it any time it does not settle on zero before you throw the next charge. If you re-zero the scale regularly as you weigh, then it works quite well. When I did own the VIC-123, I would check over and over throughout a weighing session with a check weight. As long as the scale was zeroed, it ALWAYS read the same correct weight. If re-zeroing regularly is unacceptable to you, then spend 3x the money and get the GD-503.

Hi, I have come to the conclusion that I have done everything I can to reduce anything that will stop any drift, but will have to accept that drift will occur and to re-zero more often. Thanks for the input guys.
If it still bugs me I have been offered different scales to try out.
Les

 

[geordiesniper]

However, what I want to know is, is it worth it to get a line conditioner/surge protector?

Absolutely. Be sure the unit you get is designed so the output power is always from the battery, not the type where the unit switches to battery when the main power goes out.

** Not sure what you mean Dave about a battery, as my unit has a 12v DC converter which goes between the mains socket and the unit, so as a line conditioner/surge protector goes between the mains socket and the 12v DC converter am not sure that would make any difference to the output/stability of the 12v supply to the scale?

Be certain that you weigh by adding the powder to the pan while it's empty on the scale and zeroed. I've heard of some guys who zero it once, remove the pan, add the powder then put the filled pan back on the scale and keep repeating this. The auto-zero feature never sees zero so it doesn't have a chance to work which defeats the whole system.

** Thanks for that info about auto zero (my scale has auto zero switched on) as that is where I could be going wrong as I remove the pan each time to dump my main charge and then put the filled pan back on then I trickle up, so next time I will do as per your suggestion above to see if it improves matters.
Best wishes, Les

 

[itchyTF]

I suspect Dave is referring to a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) such as these - http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

These have a battery in them and circuitry that generate 115VAC. Some will do it when the power goes out and some do it full time. I suppose you would need one that puts out 230v. Some instruments may not like the sine wave generated. Some inverters output square waves! My oscilloscope refused to power up with an inverter feeding it.

As I mentioned to GS before, if the scale is zeroed without the pan then every time the pan is lifted autozero goes into effect and does its thing. The only downside to that is your target weight is now the desired charge + the pan weight. Just a different number to remember.

 

[nhm16]

I suspect Dave is referring to a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) such as these - http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

These have a battery in them and circuitry that generate 115VAC. Some will do it when the power goes out and some do it full time. I suppose you would need one that puts out 230v. Some instruments may not like the sine wave generated. Some inverters output square waves! My oscilloscope refused to power up with an inverter feeding it.

As I mentioned to GS before, if the scale is zeroed without the pan then every time the pan is lifted autozero goes into effect and does its thing. The only downside to that is your target weight is now the desired charge + the pan weight. Just a different number to remember.

Most UPS's, especially the cheaper ones, run straight off wall power, and quickly switch to battery when the wall power goes out. What you need is a dual conversion UPS, where the wall power always is converted to DC, which charges the battery, which is then converted back to AC, so that the power fed to your equipment is always clean. However, none of those UPS's are cheap, such that it would be more cost effective to get a GD-503.

Another alternative is to run it off a big battery, but you would need one that gives it enough run-time to warm up.

I also have a VIC-123. As others have mentioned, I always re-zero if it doesn't settle back down to 0.00, but I don't get too worked up about it because a kernel of Varget or H4831SC is ~0.03gr anyways.

 

[geordiesniper]

Just a quick update. Now that I understand the functioning of autozero, the scale is now behaving itself and I zero with the empty pan, then dump a charge very close to my load into the pan on the scale and just trickle up. And lo and behold it is absolutely spot on give or take the tolerance of the scale.
Thanks itchyTF for the info.
Best wishes, Les

 

[FTRinTexas]

I also had drifting problem till I adjusted the setting per the Owner's Manual. After the setting change, I still zero it out after 5 loads.