once in a while, the problem really IS the scale!
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zebasschick
Posts: 910 Member
the short version - my old scale after 8 years really was inaccurate, the new one is accurate.
the longer version - most less expensive digital scales have a memory feature so if you are within a half pound of your previous weight, it will just show you your previous weight. my scale had started doing that for up to a pound and a half, possibly two, and the changes it did show weren't accurate any more.
my new scale shows the changing weight accurately when i pick up two pound weight or a five pound weight or drink two cups of water. it makes me feel good to have accurate tools, so i'm happier now.
the longer version - most less expensive digital scales have a memory feature so if you are within a half pound of your previous weight, it will just show you your previous weight. my scale had started doing that for up to a pound and a half, possibly two, and the changes it did show weren't accurate any more.
my new scale shows the changing weight accurately when i pick up two pound weight or a five pound weight or drink two cups of water. it makes me feel good to have accurate tools, so i'm happier now.
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Replies
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Mine starts getting unreliable when the battery gets low, bouncing all over the place.2
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I've been trying to find a new scale that doesn't have that memory feature. It's annoying. And preferably, one not made in China. So far, no luck.3
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ExistingFish wrote: »Mine starts getting unreliable when the battery gets low, bouncing all over the place.
Mine does the same thing and that is how I know to change the battery. I could step on the scale 3 times in a row and get a different number. Change the batteries and everything is good again.1 -
My scales are only a few years old and they've become really unreliable. I have to do the best of 3 before it agrees with itself. Some mornings it tells me I way a kg more than the number it settles on. I've changed the batteries but it hasn't helped and have now got some new ones. I've got all the old data on the old scales app so now I've got two sets running, which is ridiculous I know! When the old scales are correct, they give me a value 0.2 kg lower than the new ones. (Perhaps that is the real reason I haven't fully switched!)
Dumb question perhaps, but is it any more accurate in kgs/g because a half pound is 0.22 kg, and my scales (in kg) show to the nearest .05 kg.
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Although scales are only part of the equation in the journey, I do recall one digital scale that would give several slightly different readings. I used to average it out over three attempts. My new scale is rock solid. One weight no matter how many times you jump on it...during the same weigh in period.0
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I got a used doctors office scale for like $30. I check to make sure it’s balanced (is it in the middle), then I get on and manually move the weight until it rebalances with me on it.
It does get unbalanced fairly often, but it’s easy to fix and it’s highly accurate, so I’ll stick with that!2 -
My husband and I both use the same scale. Since he weighs 50 lbs. more than I do, it doesn't have a memory issue. I like the fact that it is digital and tells me to the nearest .1. It is almost never the same two days in a row.0
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spiriteagle99 wrote: »My husband and I both use the same scale. Since he weighs 50 lbs. more than I do, it doesn't have a memory issue. I like the fact that it is digital and tells me to the nearest .1. It is almost never the same two days in a row.
What scale do you have?0 -
I’ve learned to take the weight that any scale gives me with the possibility that there may be a small margin of error. My clothes however will always tell me the truth
so I also factor in how my clothes are fitting because a weight gain of 3-5 pounds on me goes right to my spare tire and I feel those waistbands getting snugger. That’s when I know I need to reel myself in and start logging again to get beck to my goal weight. This approach has been a part of maintaining my goal weight for almost 7 years so it’s working for me 
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That seems like a terrible 'feature' to have on a scale! I've never heard of that before ... but then again I've been using the Eatsmart digital scale for years and years. No frills, no hokey "body fat" calculations. No wifi. But it most definitely gives a fresh honest accurate weight each time. I highly recommend2
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Although scales are only part of the equation in the journey, I do recall one digital scale that would give several slightly different readings. I used to average it out over three attempts. My new scale is rock solid. One weight no matter how many times you jump on it...during the same weigh in period.
See, this is why the scales developed that memory feature. I guarantee your new scale has it, since it is so consistent during the same weigh-in period. It isn’t any more accurate, it is just lying to say it reads the same weight every time within (often an hour, sometimes more or less) in order to look accurate. And in your case it worked, it convinced you.
No home digital scale is accurate to within 1 - 3 percent. It just isn’t possible based on the way they are made. If you weigh 150 lbs, that’s quite a lot of weight. However, almost all scales are accurate enough to themselves that over a period of time, a substantial trend up or down will be visible.2 -
What really annoys me about my scale is that it can give different readings if not kept in the exact same place all of the time.2
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first thing i did when i saw weirdness with the old scale was change the battery. it didn't make a difference.
today, the old scale is 1.6 pounds more than the new scale, yesterday is was 3 pounds more an average. for 2 days after i got the new scale, no matter what i'd eat, drink or when i'd use the restroom, after sleep, the old scale showed me the exact same weight and new scale showed variations that one would expect.
btw, this is the new scale, and i used the $2 off coupon on the page. manufacturer rep in the questions said it has no memory. it is made in china, but it's one of the very few less expensive digital scales that don't have that memory feature. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HBC4QUO/That seems like a terrible 'feature' to have on a scale! I've never heard of that before ... but then again I've been using the Eatsmart digital scale for years and years. No frills, no hokey "body fat" calculations. No wifi. But it most definitely gives a fresh honest accurate weight each time. I highly recommend
i've owned eatsmart scales with that feature. in fact, the one i'm replacing has that feature.
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Meh.
Even if measured accurately, daily weight is pretty much a coincidence (with a statistical central tendency) anyway. For weight management purposes, it's the trend that matters. Over time, any reasonable percentage of random error is pretty unimportant: Just governs how bumpy the road is, not where that road takes me.
I admit that some level of accuracy may help with assessing hydration strategies during exercise, though. 😆1 -
The idea of the scale not showing tiny changes is called hysteresis. It's intentional since people trying the scale will notice that the numbers are never consistent due to sensor error. They then return the scale to the store because the numbers aren't consistent. You can't have zero sensor error, so in order to sell scales they design them with hysteresis. There's hysteresis in your hot water cylinder as well because the relay turning on and off the heater would burn out in months due to constant switching. I think that it's set to about 5 degrees.
If you want to get rid of the hysteresis for a second reading weigh yourself with one foot or hold something heavy then weigh yourself normally again.1 -
The idea of the scale not showing tiny changes is called hysteresis. It's intentional since people trying the scale will notice that the numbers are never consistent due to sensor error. They then return the scale to the store because the numbers aren't consistent. You can't have zero sensor error, so in order to sell scales they design them with hysteresis. There's hysteresis in your hot water cylinder as well because the relay turning on and off the heater would burn out in months due to constant switching. I think that it's set to about 5 degrees.
If you want to get rid of the hysteresis for a second reading weigh yourself with one foot or hold something heavy then weigh yourself normally again.
This is exactly what I have to do with my current scale - weight myself, weigh my foot and then weigh myself again. I usually do 3 passes and average the results.0
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