A few years ago I bought an O'Haus 505 scale. It was an older scale but unused in the box. In other words new - old stock. Worked wonderfully for a long time. Set it aside to dabble with electronic scales. An electronic scale can have drift and are very delicate I decided to get the 505 beam scale out and it now has a problem. The beam "sticks" in the lower half of its travel/swing. I have tried cleaning the agate V blocks, stoning the knife edges, graphiting the knife edges(rubbing with pencil lead). Now I am at a loss. I would like to have it working reliably to allow double checking the electronic scale periodically. Is there anything else I could do? Thanks in advance.
beam scale mystery
- Thread starter strut64
- Start date
Money right there. The tail bends rather easily when put up for storage.
i had the same issue , my old scale worked great for many years then it didn't. I couldn't figure it out so i bought a new rcbs and i love it. Cheap but very accurate.
If it has the silver spring underneath the base that helps it ( beam ) lift off , it could be that... I only have experience with the rcbs 10/10 and it has an adjustment screw ( tiny ) mine would stay down , then move up some like it was stuck , then take off like a rocket and of course be to much powder and was a pain... I tried everything like you and found that flat spring , put it in proper adjustment and the scale works fine... I don't know if this will help you but I thought I would mention it....
EDIT... The spring isn't a regular coil spring it's a flat spring....I can't see how this spring could effect the scales accuracy but of course re-check it's accuracy after fixing it with check weights or your other scale... When that spring was adjusted correctly the beam would not sit on the scale base when it was actually set to a weighing weight like it does when it's set to zero weight adjustment... Hope this helps you...
EDIT... The spring isn't a regular coil spring it's a flat spring....I can't see how this spring could effect the scales accuracy but of course re-check it's accuracy after fixing it with check weights or your other scale... When that spring was adjusted correctly the beam would not sit on the scale base when it was actually set to a weighing weight like it does when it's set to zero weight adjustment... Hope this helps you...
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Sorry I forget to tag you , please see my above post on springs... Not sure if it applies to your scale but fixed mine....
Thanks for posting the pics guys...it was hard for me to put into words.... Like I said not sure if your scale would have one , I only have the 10/10 but was having that problem I believe and that's what fixed it for me...
Edit.. .SPJ you might look around yours , may be in a different location or something OR have a slightly different setup.... I am sure someone with a little bit more knowledge will chime in on that particular scale.... It sure sounds like you guys are having the same problem I was.... Everyone keep telling me it was the agit ( spelling ) bearings the knife edges ride on were wore out but it was from me letting the beam drop to hard when set at zero weighing weight in my opinion.... My scale was fairly new and I didn't think it was those bearings but rcbs said they were a wearable item and do need replacing sometimes... Maybe that could be it also for you guys..?
Edit.. .SPJ you might look around yours , may be in a different location or something OR have a slightly different setup.... I am sure someone with a little bit more knowledge will chime in on that particular scale.... It sure sounds like you guys are having the same problem I was.... Everyone keep telling me it was the agit ( spelling ) bearings the knife edges ride on were wore out but it was from me letting the beam drop to hard when set at zero weighing weight in my opinion.... My scale was fairly new and I didn't think it was those bearings but rcbs said they were a wearable item and do need replacing sometimes... Maybe that could be it also for you guys..?
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Ok - I think there's a bit of wire crossing here. Confusingly, there are three different scales marked as Ohaus 505's. There is the one similar to the Lyman M5, RCBS 10/10 style with the plastic cover and the other two are like the RCBS 502 and 505, one a two poise scale and the other a three poise.
None of these scales have the "approach to weight" flat spring fitted - The only scales with this feature are the Ohaus/RCBS 10/10, 5-10 and the Lee scales.
If you can identify your scales from the photos I'm sure we can help.
I have a RCBS 505 scale, made by OHAUS - it has no spring and has magnetic dampening. The copper vane thingy that passes thru the magnetic field has a real close fit to one side of the scale and might have been bent so it slams (scrapes) up against one side of the scale. My scale was a gift made to me in the 1980's and has given perfect service. I used a felt tip pen to trace its foot-print on my bench so I can locate it at a fixed position. Is your scale level in all directions?
Forgot his name but isn’t/ wasn’t there a guy on here that accurized those scales?
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