Florescent lights and electronic scales?

[encoreguy]

I have been looking at reloading benches and some that I like have a florescent light over the top which I like, however I know that they can affect the accuracy of the digital scale / load combo's like the chargemaster or Lee DPS III. Should I be concerned about this? How far do I need to have my digital powder measure?

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

Turn your florescent light off when using your digital scale. It will mess with the readings when it's in the same roon, or even if it's on the same circuit. I've seen people driven crazy by digital scales when a refrigerator or furnace cut in while they were weighing charges with one. Your best bet for the utmost reliability would be to have the scale wired on a dedicated line hooked up with an uninterruptable power supply or power conditioner.

 

[dmickey]

I never heard of florescent lights affecting an electronic scale/dispenser combo! I have nothing but florescent lights in the basement where I reload! I do not notice any problems. I also have a halogen light above the table where the scale/dispenser is. No problem with that either. When the EPA has its way, florescents will be all you can have any way. Get used to it!

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

I never heard of florescent lights affecting an electronic scale/dispenser combo! I have nothing but florescent lights in the basement where I reload! I do not notice any problems. I also have a halogen light above the table where the scale/dispenser is. No problem with that either. When the EPA has its way, florescents will be all you can have any way. Get used to it!

You're probably fortunate in that you have good quality florescent lights. I don't know that halogen lights can cause any problems. The problem with florescents seems to rear its ugly head when users of digital scales are using poorly shielded,probably cheap) florescent lights or have a bad ballast in the fixture. I'm told that there's an electromagnetic field that can emanate from some of these poorly shielded fixtures and that will really mess with sensitive electronics.

Anyway, I've observed the phenomenon myself and heard about it from other reloaders whose word I implicitly trust, FWIW.

 

[encoreguy]

Thanks for the replies. The room is well lit and I can use other lighting sources. I think I Will steer away from the bench with a florescent light.

 

[Rust]

As stated in the post above, the use of a quality power conditioner is the minimum you want to go with. And all uniteruptible power supplies are not created equal either, you would want one with the output closest to a true sine wave. You don't want to be on the same curcuit as you lights.

Otherwise, turn on your powder measure about a half hour before you calibrate the scale to get it warmed up.

Been using an RCBS since they came out, had the first very early production one replaced under warranty, no problems since although I still keep the old 10-10 handy as a reference. It makes loading a bunch of best quality loads a LOT more enjoyable and saves a LOT of time

 

[ar15topgun]

I know one thing for sure do not have a cell phone anywhere near an electronic scale. Talking/sending/receiving text on one will make the scale go nuts. I prefer LED lights over the fluorescent lights as they produce a better light.

 

[Laurie]

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/?s=electronic+scales+tips&submit=Search

If you do a search on both the forum and the daily bulletin, you will find a great deal more information, much of it from laboratory and professional electronics scales users and experts.

 

[USMCDOC]

Zombies Awakened!

 

[Comrade Terry]

Zombies Awakened!

Threads that just won't die.

 

[Killick]

Fluorescent lights and digital scales...Myth Busted! I have a cheapo Fluorescent light 3' over my reloading bench where I load my 1,000 yd. F-Class ammo and I get X ring elevation with it. My Gempro might wander .02 in 50 rounds and all I do is punch the Tare button and I'm good for another 50.

 

[dcali]

Like this thread, this is an urban legend that can't be killed. Aim for the brain, I guess.

 

[Tuxedo007]

I never heard of florescent lights affecting an electronic scale/dispenser combo! I have nothing but florescent lights in the basement where I reload! I do not notice any problems. I also have a halogen light above the table where the scale/dispenser is. No problem with that either. When the EPA has its way, florescents will be all you can have any way. Get used to it!

So far, you've been lucky! In a room w/nothing but either sunlight or incandescents, I still check w/a balance beam scale! In areas where fluorescent are located, I use battery power only & check very often! LED's are a good light source, long lasting which amortizes their cost over a longer time period!

 

[GAnderson]

You're probably fortunate in that you have good quality florescent lights. I don't know that halogen lights can cause any problems. The problem with florescents seems to rear its ugly head when users of digital scales are using poorly shielded,probably cheap) florescent lights or have a bad ballast in the fixture. I'm told that there's an electromagnetic field that can emanate from some of these poorly shielded fixtures and that will really mess with sensitive electronics.

Anyway, I've observed the phenomenon myself and heard about it from other reloaders whose word I implicitly trust, FWIW.

There are two types of ballasts...there are electric ballasts and magnetic ballasts...generally the newer florescent lights all now have the electric ballasts...a lot of the older florescent lights run with the magnetic ballast and maybe that is where the interference is coming from...??? My entire reloading room is florescent lights...all newer ones... and never had a problem with my lights effecting the scales.

 

[davecb]

I'm no expert and darn sure don't know as much as a lot of folks on here but I had issues with my scales wandering. Here's what fixed mine. First, I grounded my bench top and replaced my fluorescent lights with LED's. I then bought a good Tripplite line conditioner. This seemed to help a lot but I still had issues sometimes. As I would reach forward close to the scale, it would wander nearly every time. I wound up purchasing some cheap ferrite beads and wrapped the power cords through them. The ferrite beads did more to stop the wandering than any of the other more expensive additions. No matter what I do now, I can't get my scales to wander at all(RCBS chargemaster and Gempro 250).

Dave

 

[Bugs]

I'm no electronics engineer but I did sell balances into the laboratory and industrial marketplace for 32 years (Mettler, Sartorius, Ohaus and Denver Instruments) where a lot of applications make loading competitive 1000 yard ammunition look like child's play. I'm convinced that this business about fluorescent lights is nothing but an old wive's tale.