LindaC

Am I doing something wrong or is my scale just too small to measure out this much weight? It's a pocket scale a JS-300V 300 g x 0.1g capacity. I'm not use to these scales at all, is it correct to be getting a negative value when weighing out grams? I'm getting a minus beside the number all the time.

I meausred out the KH2PO4 first and new I was going to have a problem after that. Do I have to buy another scale or can I just measure out small amounts at a time, equaling out to be 59 grams, 65 grams and then 80 grams for the CSM + B. Maybe I need to go back to business school

What if I put it in a paper cup and then put it on the scale and just subtract for the cup, would it still be accurate?

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

Edward

Does it come with a Manual or User instructions?

LindaC

Just the basics, it says it's calibrated, doesn't say anything why I keep getting a negative symbol. I thought it might have been my computer so I moved elsewhere but that still didn't help.

I think if I add it to a paper cup and then weigh it and then subtract the weight of the cup I should be okay.

dennis

If it has a 300g capacity, you should not have an issue. If this is the scale you have... http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/in...PROD&ProdID=65 there is even a Tare feature so you don;t have to subtract the weight of the cup. It will automatically do it for you. Now, the 300g capacity also counts any tare so if you have a 250g container and push tare, you'll only be able to weight an additional 50g. Anyway, it is possible that the sign your seeing does not mean negative. I would try weighting something you know the weight of. For example, 4 quarters should weight about 22-23grams. If you put 4 quarters on the scale and the readout says somewhere in that neighborhood, you should be fine and that symbol does not mead negative

Obviously, my weight for 4 quarters may be a little different than yours, depending on quarter age, wear, etc. It should be around that though.

LindaC

Hi Dennis, yes that is the exact scale I have, they must have left out the directions and the small amount of literature that was in the box isn't very helpful.

I weighed out 4 quarters and got 22.5 and the minus sign was there, boy is my face red.... Where do I find the tare feature? It shouldn't be too hard, I mean there's only 4 buttons, not including the light button on the bottom.


In my own defense, I have never used a digital scale, what exactly does the minus symbol mean? Oh and if this were your scale, how would you go about weighing out 80 grams of CSM+B?

I just read up more on the scale via the link you posted above and I think I may be able to figure out how to use the tare feature, I'll have to play around with it a bit but at least I know it's accurate.

John N.

Sounds like your scale is weighting things out properly according to the "quarter" method.

The tare button looks to be the one circled in green:


To confirm, or find the button, place something on the scale, and hit the buttons. The weight reading should come out to zero when you hit the correct tare button. Tare buttons "zeros" the scale, or in other words subtracts the current weight of the item ontop of the scale.

After you find the tare button, you can measure out the ferts.

1) Place a small piece of paper on the scale
2) Hit the tare button (reading with the paper on it will go to zero)
3) Place ferts on the paper until reading comes out to the desired grams
4) Repeat process with other ferts

Good luck,

-John N.

dennis

John's right on. I will say though, weighting 80 grams may be to large for the paper method. You can try any small, lightweight container. Dixie cups, Nyquil caps and cut off soda bottles are all good ideas. Technically, these things are called "boats" and paper is called weighting paper. You can buy real fancy stuff for lab use that is smooth, water repellent and not staticy but there is no reason to do that for our purposes.

Lastly, reading that site I link to... it may be that the minus you see is actually the bar indicating how much capacity your scale has left, which seems like a useless function to me. That may explain it at least though

LindaC

Thanks John, I appreciate the help and spelling it out in layman's terms.

LindaC

I think your right about the sign Dennis. Thanks to both of you for the help, it's much appreciated.

snickle

I use plastic dixie cups they work great.