Which reading is correct on the scales?

amiwills

When I weigh myself on my scales it starts off by giving a weight 2kg heavier, and then all of the subsequent reading will be the same. For example this morning it read 62.4, 60.80, 60.80, 60.80. I put my 6kg on the scale after getting 60.80 three times and it read as exactly 6.00. I don't think it's possible for me to weigh 62 or more, but still I don't know why my scales would show that first. I did another test by turning it off and on again, placing the 6kg dumbbell on it 4 times. The first time it read as over a kg heavier and the next 3 times it weighed as 6kg.

So am I right to dismiss the first reading and go with the readings that follow? I'm not gonna get too hung up on the scales, I weigh once a week to log it but would like to know I'm doing it properly and plus it's a great feeling to see the number go down.

If it matters, I am taking it out of the box which is stood upright and then placing it on the floor to weigh myself. And in a tiled, even floor bathroom.

Thanks everyone!

evildeadedd

Some newer digital scales lose calibration if not kept flat. You said it stored upright, so that could cause issues with it. When I bought my new scale there was a warning right in the instructions to never store it upright, always flat. To your question, I would guess the first reading is off, if you got the exact same reading 3 other times I would take that one.

Machka9

Yes, I would try keeping it flat in the location where you weigh yourself every day.

ladyreva78

I always step on my scale and right off to activate it, let it tare to 0 and then only weight.

It gets moved around a lot during the day (access to a cabinet/shower/bathroom door) meaning by the time I weigh myself again, the poor thing is a bit confused about where it is and just gives me a random number (+/- 5kg).

Try letting it tare first and see if it helps

amiwills

Thanks everyone, off I go to lay them flat! Was worried about my little one playing with them so will have to find somewhere she can't see them.

yirara

Sometimes a weight can get stuck in a digital scale. I store my scale in a shelf (flat) and put it on exactly the same spot each morning. Then step on it and wait for the weight, while still on it I grab a big box standing on that shelf and wait for the new weight, then put the box aside again and use that weight. It's often the same as the first measurement, but on other days it's about 100grams lower. Not that it makes much of a difference...

SolotoCEO

If you move the scales you need to balance them before weighing. Try stepping on them once - not full weight, to get them to balance out. Then when you step on them you should get the same reading every time. I have to move mine every day - there is no space on the bathroom floor to leave them all day.

MelodyandBarbells

I store mine sideways too, due to space constraints. Also from the instructions in the literature that came with the scale, I step on with just one foot and then step off. When all the lights go off, step on to weigh myself

MultipleHigh5s

I would get a new scale

Jams009

Oh I didn't know that; I've kept mine upright for years... Might need to invest in a new set.

amiwills

Almost ashamed to say I did not read the manual before I used them! I only bought these this week, I had been weighing at the gym every Sunday previously. Now that I've read the manual I can see that if the scales have been moved I need to 'initialise' them again, by pressing with my foot, letting it turn on and then waiting for it to turn off again before weighing myself. I had been using them straight away for the first measurement.

Thanks again everyone!