Moving around your digital scale?

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OAS5
OAS5 Posts: 376 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What are your thoughts on moving around your digital scale daily? I never thought anything of it till about a month ago my scale went crazy. I move my scale everyday from underneath the bed to the bathroom where I weigh myself. A month or so ago the scale went crazy and was wildly swinging between weigh ins. I then contacted the manufacturer and they told me how to re-calibrate it. I noticed after that, they recommend not moving it around much and really if you can leave it in one place. I can't do that so I tap it, let it zero out and then step on it. What do you guys think of this subject?
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Replies

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    My scale gets moved weekly because it stays in the middle of the living room so when my apartment gets cleaned, it does get moved and then later put back. It seems to handle it well. It usually is a few pounds off when I first step on it, but then afterwards it will read the same reading as I had before it was moved. So since it doesn't cause any issues for me, I'm fine with it. But it does mess with some scales.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
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    I've never moved mine except when moving residence.
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
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    I travel about 3 weeks a month and have considered taking mine with me, but I understood that it's not good to move digital scales. I wish there was one that weighed consistently and was lightweight and super cheap :)
  • bjkoziara
    bjkoziara Posts: 158 Member
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    I didn't know that scales aren't supposed to be moved, but mine hasn't budged more than an inch from its little corner in my kitchen, so I guess that's good.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    I move mine daily. Re-calibrating is as easy as lifting up an end of it while it is on and putting it back on the floor. I have never had any problems with odd weights from one day to the next outside of normal fluctuations. It is the only one I have ever had that matched both me and my wife perfectly to a manual scale which is not crucial but unusual.
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
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    MikePTY wrote: »
    My scale gets moved weekly because it stays in the middle of the living room so when my apartment gets cleaned, it does get moved and then later put back. It seems to handle it well. It usually is a few pounds off when I first step on it, but then afterwards it will read the same reading as I had before it was moved. So since it doesn't cause any issues for me, I'm fine with it. But it does mess with some scales.

    In the middle of your living room? That is an unusual interior design decision!
  • OAS5
    OAS5 Posts: 376 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    I move mine daily. Re-calibrating is as easy as lifting up an end of it while it is on and putting it back on the floor. I have never had any problems with odd weights from one day to the next outside of normal fluctuations. It is the only one I have ever had that matched both me and my wife perfectly to a manual scale which is not crucial but unusual.

    Oh man mine went nuts at one point. I could step on it 3 times within a 20 second period and get 3 different numbers.
    I have no choice but to move it from the bedroom to the bathroom everyday because I just have no room to leave it in the bathroom, plus a 6 year old. Broken glass from the scale all over the floor is not an ideal situation. 😁
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,074 Member
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    nooboots wrote: »
    MikePTY wrote: »
    My scale gets moved weekly because it stays in the middle of the living room so when my apartment gets cleaned, it does get moved and then later put back. It seems to handle it well. It usually is a few pounds off when I first step on it, but then afterwards it will read the same reading as I had before it was moved. So since it doesn't cause any issues for me, I'm fine with it. But it does mess with some scales.

    In the middle of your living room? That is an unusual interior design decision!

    The only thing that struck me in this message is that you move your scale to clean the floor. My scale is in my living room and has been there for years. Other than the kitchen it is the only place in my house that has tile and it does not get in the way of daily activity.
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
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    I started near the top of my scale's range and just breathing would make it float. I got one of those big balance scales you used to find in Dr office off ebay and just love it. So precise and I know if I gained or lost if I have to slide the weights up or down.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
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    My current place only has tile in the water closet part of the bathroom, so there isn't enough room to leave the scale in place. I stow it behind the door and set it down when I go to use it. I simply do the calibration step before weighing, and it works just fine. Even if I could leave it in place I'd still do the calibration routine periodically.
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited June 2019
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    I move my digital scale daily, from cabinet to floor and back to cabinet, because I do not have the bathroom floor space to dedicate to it. I do place it in the same spot on that hard surface floor to weigh, though. More out of woo woo voodoo superstition than any actual, factual reason.

    It's also a travel scale (marketed as such), but are there really vastly different technologies used to make scales depending on how it's marketed? I would be surprised if that were true. It has been remarkably consistent regardless of where I weigh - home, hotel room, shower room of a campground, etc.

    When my scale "goes weird", I replace the battery and so far that has fixed the problem. I already automatically periodically recalibrate as all scales (and dial thermometers) I've ever worked with or owned required it. Almost five years now since purchased and going strong; the longest I've had a cheap scale do its job without problems that necessitated buying a new one.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    I only weigh once a week, the natural daily fluctuations drive me mad. I weigh at roughly the same time, with no clothes for consistency. I always put the scales on the same bit of tiled floor and weigh at least twice - when the battery starts to go they get erratic, so not getting the same numbers shows this up. Weighing on carpet gives wildly fluctuating results. And then I put them away, stood on their side behind the sink leaning against the wall. I never see the issues mentioned here!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,984 Member
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    I store mine in the closet and pull it out once a week for weigh-ins, putting it as close as I can to the same spot on the (wooden) floor each time. I tap it to get a zero reading before using it, because that's what the direction say to do, regardless of whether you're moving it or not.

    After six years of logging CICO and weight, I am seldom surprised by what I see when I step on the scale. It usually has moved in the direction I would expect based on my CICO for the previous week, and if the week wasn't an inflection point (change in among states of deficit/maintenance/surplus), the change in my scale reading is usually spot-on or within a half pound of what my logging would have me expect. (Weigh-ins after changing among deficit/maintenance/surplus are harder to predict because water weight changes have a greater effect than the body mass changes.)

    I think suggestions to change the battery are definitely worth considering.
  • pjwrt
    pjwrt Posts: 166 Member
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    My scale doesn't move, but I think it's a liar. To prove it, I bought another one and set it next to the suspect. Sure enough, the old scale was off by 1-2 pounds until I reset it. Also, it would read 174 every morning until reset.

    Now, 1-2 pounds isn't a big deal, but it's annoying. I'm keeping both scales until I get bored.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
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    I line mine up with my floor tiles so it is in the exact same spot every time I weigh. I move it weekly to clean under, but that's it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,984 Member
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    pjwrt wrote: »
    My scale doesn't move, but I think it's a liar. To prove it, I bought another one and set it next to the suspect. Sure enough, the old scale was off by 1-2 pounds until I reset it. Also, it would read 174 every morning until reset.

    Now, 1-2 pounds isn't a big deal, but it's annoying. I'm keeping both scales until I get bored.

    On what basis do you assume the new one is right, and not the old one? Or neither?
  • MrsTitus2
    MrsTitus2 Posts: 61 Member
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    I dont have the floor space to keep my scale out . I have experienced it going really low, like my goalweivbt low and in my heart I was leaping for joy thinking it was a miracle. But I weighed again and it was accurate.

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