Zero Bathroom Scales

[Kanoe]

I have a set of Beurer GS 58 bathroom scales.

They are still in working order but the batteries needed replacing and after doing so the scales need to be recalibrated so that they read zero correctly.

This is the issue, last time I changed the battery it was a complete faff but I did, more by luck than judgement, manage to get them to zero again.

This time having spend over an hour on it I can't get them to do so.

The manual is not very helpful, has three little pictures to explain what to do but not written instructions.

Ideally would like to avoid having to buy another set of scales as these do work and don't want to be creating waste when I don't need to.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

[Jonatron]

The diagram in the instructions looks like if you just press one foot on the scale for one second, then take your foot off, it should zero.

[Kanoe]

Yup, you would think, but it didn't

Even took to using a stop watch to time 1 second.

[DAS man]

Not helpful in this instance, and likely unpopular on a technical forum, but I would recommend good old analogue scales, with a physical zero adjustment. One of my pet hates, but most domestic digital scales are rubbish, averaging multiple pressure sensors in the feet (ground contact). Adjusting your position, such as getting off and on, gives a different reading. Some digital scales, 'know' people don't like that, so return the last reading if a second measurement is made close to the last and of similar weight. My wife had some digital scales, and by leaning forward or backwards slightly, I could weigh 20% more or less. At least with an analogue scale you see the dial wobbling if your moving position slightly, and can mentally adjust the reading. I got some second hand analogue, medical scales - robust, accurate, and no battery needed.

[Kanoe]

Yeah I was wishing it had a button to zero it instead of a combination that is harder to enter than a NES cheat code.

[kalniel]

Let them settle, note the reading, add a post-it note that reminds you to +/- the non-zero amount

[BobF64]

Looks to me like you step on it for 1 second, then wait 10 seconds for it to turn off, then its calibrated.

A previous digital scale I had turned on if you just pressed down on it, without standing on it, to recalibrate.

[Saracen999]

How far off zero is it, and how consistent is the non-zero reading? If it's pretty consistent in being non-zero, then I'd go with Kalniel's idea. Also, if t's out by a few ounces, I wouldn't worry. If it's a long way out, or wildly inconsistent .... tricky.

It might be silly, but ....tried different new batteries? Just in case one or more cells you put in are faulty?

Also, bear in mind all scales find zero the trickiest reading to get right. and we'd always start the verification process with a dummy load to take them a bit off zero (a dummy load of a known value, which was built in the the process as 'zero' is notoriously tricky).

Finally, just about all scales can be VERY sensitive to virbration. Even with heavy steel workbenches, someone leaning on it (the bench, not the scale) several feel away was enough to make getting a stable reading hard.

[Kanoe]

It reads 7kg consistently which is the weight of the scales, the only problem is it thinks that there is something to measure if you cant get it to zero at rest so turns itself on every 40 seconds to give you a reading which is going to be an issue.

I tried 3 different sets of batteries, all different brands from generics to duracell and that didnt help.

Cheers all anyway.