Question 2 Scales: Both weigh 10 pound and 14.8 kettlebells accurately- Me: 10 pound difference

LiveLoveRunFar

I have an old "professional Health O Meter" analogue scale. It weighs consistently. I bought a digital scale and it weighs consistently. Here's the dilemma. Both scales weigh my kettlebells at accurate weights. I put the 14.8 kettlebell pound on each, and they each weigh it at just below 15 on the analogue and at 14.8 on the digital. Yet when I get on the scale, the analogue weighs me at 169 (which has been consistent this week) and the digital weighs me at 179. Last night the analogue (after checking with the kettlebell) weighed me at 172 and the digital (after checking with the kettlebell) weighed me at 182. Anyone know why they both would be consistent with the kettlebell but differ by 10 pounds with me???

charlenechaz

Did anyone ever have am answer for this? I have the same issue with digital vs analogue.

rose2_0

After 3.5 years maybe someone does now.

30kgin2017

I saw people talking about digital scales having a memory on here the other day but they I think most seemed to say that weighing something else reset it if the scale had a memory.

lorrpb

Because OP is not a KB. OP weighs 10-12 times what the KB does and weight is distributed differently on the scale platform, so there is opportunity for different kinds of variations.

Either I'm pretty smart for being the first one to have an answer in 4 years or pretty stupid for responding at all.

JeromeBarry1

The other appropriate response is "Use only one scale". You're not paying to ship yourself. You're just using the scale to get an idea of a trend.

AnvilHead

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

The other appropriate response is "Use only one scale". You're not paying to ship yourself. You're just using the scale to get an idea of a trend.

"Man with one watch knows what time it is. Man with two watches is never sure."

That bit of ancient wisdom aside, the advice is good to only use one scale to track your readings. Preferably at the same time of the day, wearing the same clothing (or lack thereof), under similar feeding/hydration conditions.

As to the original question (even though it's 3.5 years old), the error on a scale can be proportional to the weight measured, rather than a fixed amount of error. So hypothetically, if it weighs a 10 lb. object at 9.5 lbs., it may weigh a 100 lb. object at 95 pounds. And a 200 lb. object at 190 pounds. And so on.

It's difficult to tell what a scale's error is without precise calibration equipment (which most of us don't have access to) - but at least by using the same scale every time, you're dealing with the same calibration/margin of error.