BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish

Subject: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,daisy
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 11:06 AM

I'm trying to find some scales that are actually accurate! I've tried 4 sets so far and they all give different readings. Two electronic ones both give very different readings after only a short time i.e. an hour later you've gained 6 pounds. One of them gives a 4 pound difference if you move it 2 inches!
Any recommendations that won't cost a fortune and are a) consistent and b) ACCURATE!
?

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 11:50 AM

Can't see around the bump to find if they are accurate nowadays
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,daisy
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 12:50 PM

Big help, Jim

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 12:59 PM

Daisy,ours are Salter, not electronic, and quite basic. However they seem to be consistent with their readings. I think they cost about £10. My husband doesn't understand 'stones', only kilos, and these scales have both on the dial. I've tried electronic ones and they were perfectly useless.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 01:05 PM

"Big help, Jim "
Big certainly - but no help
I understand that the digital scales are better that the old spring-loaded.
My doctor advised that the greatest problem with bathroom scales are when they are used on a mat or other such surface.
He says he wouldn't swap any of them for the old-fashioned arm with the sliding weights type - he says his wife has been known to use it for her cooking
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 01:09 PM

I always imagine our poor scales silently screaming as I prepare to stand on them. I have to get my husband to read them and tell me the unwelcome news, as I'm too fat to see the dial. Just like you in fact Jim!

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 01:15 PM

My bathroom scales consistently show me as being I am heavier than I ought to be. Even if I change them, the next ones are just the same. I agree – they are rubbish.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 01:18 PM

Bathrooom scales, as I've seen them, are very simple devices and ALL COMMONLY SOLD IN THE US have a small "button" or "knob" you can use to "zero" the reading with nothing on the scale, after which they are quite generally accurate within one or two pounds - within their rated range.

I would expect that UK scales would have the same kind of adjustment.

On some scales, especially cheaper ones, there is sufficient "stiction" to make the "zero" point ambiguous, so you need to push down (4 or 5 pounds) and release quickly, so that they can "wiggle their way" back to zero, before using the knob to make them say zero when they're at zero.

The majority of cheaper bathroom scales here are "rated" for a maximum of abour 250 pounds (115 kg?) although some have numbers beyond their rated range. If you weigh more than the rated capacity, the "spring" can be bent, rendering them less accurate, although within the range shown on the dial the error is fairly small. Higher capacity scales, up to about 500 pounds (225 kg?) are generally available although not all sellers stock them regularly.

"Electronic" scales can also sometimes be rendered useless by getting soaked with water, and some may have errors due to a dying battery (especially if the battery came with the scale and it was "on the shelf" for a long time).

A fairly mediocre "balance beam" scale (movable weights on a beam) eliminates the few likely sources of error in typical "spring scales," although they still need to be "zeroed" occasionally. If you're heavy enough to "bend the spring" your local veterinary supply house probably can get you a "small livestock scale" with capacity up to about 1,000 pounds (450 kg), although one of those will be significantly more expensive than the usual bathroom scale. Scales of this kind (in lower capacities) were commonly used in medical offices, but have been mostly replaced by "electronic" ones (less consistently accurate than the home bathroom scales IMO) so you might find a good one at an antique shop/junk store.

I don't have Jim's problem of seeing past the bump, but sometimes have to put my glasses on to see as far as floor level where the dial is. I blame the day-to-day vairations on the differences in my several pairs of eyeball stretchers.

John

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 01:29 PM

'a small livestock scale...' hahahaha! Just the thing for me I reckon!

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 03:38 PM

Eliza -

For those who need something beyond the small stock scale, many truck stops in the US have "pay to weigh" scales so that truckers can check their weight before they cross the state line and hit a weigh station. (A couple of bucks gets you some assurance, and the fines for being overweight can be $$$$$$ - hundreds.)

The real question here is how one decides whether the scale is inaccurate. A daily variation of a few pounds is fairly normal for most people, which is one reason the diet docs tell them not to weigh themselves more often than once weekly.

When I explained to one friend the method for "wiggling the scale to zero" and adjusting so that was where it said zero, this one person developed a technique of "steadying the hand" with a thumb on top of the scale while turning the knob, thus making the "zero" indication actually at about 2 or 3 pounds, and began reporting a "significant weight loss" since her scale thus indicated a couple of pounds less than actual.

Our group, for a while, called the little adjustment knob the "liar button" in her honor.

"Diet scales" for weighing food portions generally have a very simple "zero adjustment" so that you can put the plate on, zero the scale, and then add the food to get an accurate meausre of how much you've prepared.

Dial type "Kitchen thermometers" of the kind you stick into the meat nearly all have a "zero adjuster," often requiring a wrench that sometimes is built into the "sheath" they store in, to "turn the dial." If you haven't "set to 212F (100C) in boiling water" these thermometers are extremely variable - and inaccurate - "off the shelf." For some unkown reason, few people seem to be aware that you can "set them right."

John

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,cookieless sandra in sydney
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 08:09 PM

I recently sent fancy expensive electronic scales to landfill. Normally I'd give unwanted stuff to a charity shop, but ...

I'd had them about 10 years & they measured weight, fat & water & as an earlier post noted could give different figures 5 minutes apart - SOMETIMES. The way I found this out was by seeing a huge weight gain (NO!!!) or huge loss (YA GOTTA BE JOKING!!!) & weighing myself again a few minutes later. Even tho the batteries were not low I replaced them & still got inconsistent readings - sometimes.

I eventually got fed up with this little feature (geek talk) or bug (normal person talk) & bought a new set that only measures weight & am now a happy little camper.

They are made by Soehnle & were the cheapest set in the electrical goods shop, tho I could have spent even less in a chain store. Prices ranged from $30 to several hundreds. Chain stores had very basic scales for around $10.

I hadn't realised Soehnle had so many styles & so many features - gosh, I must live in a different world to most of their clients, I could only tick off 2 options, digital personal & safety glass.

Scroll down the page to see the scale showing a sheep holding a sign saying "Ich hab schwere Wolle!" (I have heavy wool!) I wish my shop had this design, I'd have bought it cos I collect sheep, & also have heavy wool.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: gnu
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 08:50 PM

But a cheapo. Weigh yourself. Weigh yourself with a known weight in your hands... a turkey sold by weight. If the difference is accurate, you have a tare weight for yourself ant the actual weight don't matter squat..... only what comes off the scale during your diet.

IF you are looking to lose weight, there are threads on Mudcat that can help far more than any "diets" on the net or otherwise.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 09:32 PM

Make sure that the scales are on the same level spot. Be sure to stand in the same posture on the same part of the scales every time. If you want to monitor your weight, weigh yourself at the same time of day, when you get up or before bed work nicely. Those instructions came with my scales. They seem to work OK.

Keep this in mind from JiK.
"The real question here is how one decides whether the scale is inaccurate. A daily variation of a few pounds is fairly normal for most people, which is one reason the diet docs tell them not to weigh themselves more often than once weekly."

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 10:28 PM

It also seems to matter whether one's feet are forward or far back. (Learned that back in the days when I weighed meself.)

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Bert
Date: 08 Feb 14 - 10:37 PM

Go to a thrift store or jumble sale and get yourself an old mechanical scale. Take the back off and clean it and oil it lightly. Then you will have a scale that will be consistent if not completely accurate.

Hey Eliza, we love you as you are, on Mudcat we can't see that you may not be anorexic.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 06:08 AM

Oh Bert, thank you very much! You've made my day! (Actually, I'm a young, slim and curvy blonde in fishnet tights and high heels. But don't blow my cover.)

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 11:14 AM

Daisy, I've just found the scales we have on Amazon. They're
'Mechanical Bathroom Scale With Magnifying Lens, Salter 484.'
And they cost just £7-49. Hope this may be of use to you.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Leadfingers
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 11:37 AM

Bear in mind that the scales should NOT be on a bath mat or such , but on a hard level surface and in the same place each time . I have a Salter Electronic that takes a 9 volt battery and has been reasonably accurate for about twenty years !

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,daisy
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 12:04 PM

Thanks, Guest Eliza, I'll get some.
And thanks to you guys who gave positive suggestions.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 01:14 PM

I just got this last week. Measures in pounds and kilograms. Has an adjuster knob. Appears to work fine.

Pointless to make the ckicky as it is the last one on ebay.co.uk. Just copy and paste.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/White-Retro-130kg-20st-Mechanical-Bathroom-Weighing-Scales-Non-Slip-Finish-/121093080037

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Irene M
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 02:36 PM

They all seem to do their own thing.
However, consider this.
The Kilo that is supposed to be the reference kilo weight is reported to have lost weight!
I suggest that all is relative.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 04:43 PM

The kilo is not a reference weight. It's a reference mass.

What it weighs (in Newtons or dynes) depends on where you are relative to the lumps in the gravity field.

(You actually do "weigh" less in Denver than in Tampa, since the "g" field (usually) decreases with altitude.}

John

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Van
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 10:00 PM

The way to lose weight is to adjust the little wheel to reset the zero!!

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Bert
Date: 09 Feb 14 - 10:06 PM

I'm lusting after you Eliza, I won't blow your cover if you won't tell my wife.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Amos
Date: 10 Feb 14 - 12:44 AM

Just keep walking. Rinse and repeat.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 10 Feb 14 - 08:46 AM

Bert, hahahaha!
(I wonder if men come with an adjustable knob...? Maybe Amazon can help...)

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 10 Feb 14 - 09:13 AM

I found the old railway Speak your Weight machines were no good: they kept saying "One at a time, please". I used to go to Boots the Chemists but they barred me from stripping off and trying to get in that little basket, plus the mesh left marks. Now I use a public weighbridge.(Boom Boom).
I cherish an old Fougasse cartoon from Punch which showed a fat man on the scales. In frame 2 he couldn't bend down to read the weight so he put his specs on, in the final frame he got off the scales and weighed the specs!

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 14 - 02:49 PM

I left my doctor's office (where they weigh you in your clothes) and went straight to the department store, set down everything I hadn't been wearing or carrying when I was weighed, and tested them till I came up with one that was about the same, without having to zero it to set it. It was an inexpensive spring-type one that sits on the linoleum in my bathroom and gets used periodically. As long is it is in the same place and I step on and stand the same way, it doesn't matter if it is exactly like the doctor's office, it is relative to itself and I can tell if I've gained or lost. (Last year I lost 35, probably gained back with this awful cold weather, but plan to lose the last 20 come spring.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 10 Feb 14 - 04:15 PM

Oooh well done Stilly! Wish I could lose as much as that. Our scales stand on the hard bathroom floor, and seem to be quite accurate. I'm weighed at the doctor's every few weeks, and our scales correspond to that reading.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 01:40 AM

Roger, I have a very old Andy Capp cartoon where Florrie's larger friend tells Florrie she tipped the scales at 10 stone.

As they are walking away Andy says "Tipped? more likely bribed"

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 03:49 AM

Hahahaha Sandra! We sometimes fork out 50p in Tesco's for their weighing machine which works out your BMI. But it's a bit depressing to say the least. My husband is always well within the normal range, but me... the machine probably thinks someone's weighing a large sow.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 05:47 AM

good thing it's not a Speak Your Weight Machine!

sandra (also goddess size)

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 06:36 AM

I remember an episode of 'Men Behaving Badly' in which Tony was trying to lose weight (I can't remember why) and frantic efforts before weighing himself included peeing and cutting his finger nails.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 07:31 AM

the spring ones are inaccurate but the digital ones seem a lot better!!!

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 08:52 AM

What a good idea, topsie. I already get my husband to hold my coat and scarf before I get on the scales, but it doesn't do much good. He always laughs like a drain. It's alright for him. Mr Slim.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 12:59 PM

Saw "rubbish" and thought (hoped) that Sir jOHn was back from Hull.
SINS, disappointed

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Gurney
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 03:03 PM

Mark the place on the bathroom floor (not mat). Mark foot-shapes on the scale tread. Take the bottom off the (spring-type) scale and vacuum out and zap with CRC/WD40.
Then it should be consistent, if not accurate. As has all been said above.

Reminds me of the time we fished a match organised by a small fishing club. At the weigh-in, the official, with a VERY rusty spring balance called my pal John's catch at 3lbs. "Never in this world!" says John. The official looked at him (big man) and jerked the hand holding the balance up and down. "5lbs 2oz" he calls.
Later he approaches John and asks if John thinks that soaking the scale in oil would improve things. 'Well, says John, that's ONE of the things you could do with it."
Still don't know how I kept a straight face.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 05:25 PM

Years ago a friend worked in a Govt agency with scales that were meant for serious work. Staff loved jumping on & off while holding & releasing their breath & noting how much weight they had gained & lost!

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Feb 14 - 04:10 AM

Personally, I rather resent this obsession with sticking a number on everything; weight, height, cholesterol, BP, heart rate etc etc. And who set the parameters for what's okay and what's not? I know a very, very old lady who's quite fat, and has a so-called high cholesterol number. Her blood pressure is also terrifyingly raised. She told me recently the doctor was nagging her to reduce these things with medication and diet. She cackled like a hen, and told him to go and boil his head. She ninety-six!

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Penny S.
Date: 12 Feb 14 - 08:13 PM

I have two electronic scales, one quite expensive from John Lewis, which does fat, water, muscle and BMI. The fat, water and muscle are given in percentages, and add up to more than 100. It claims to work to an accuracy of one tenth of a pound, but it always changes in largish amounts, after sticking at the same weight for several days. (In the morning, on empty). Sometimes it sticks when I have been to the loo again, and not eaten or drunk anything. The cheap one, from Lidl, I bought to check the first by, and it has the same problem of not showing small changes. They never tell the same amount, and the Lidl one is usually a higher weight than the JL one - but not always.
I had, briefly, an old-fashioned spring operated one -it was not better.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 06 Dec 14 - 07:05 AM

I make sure my feet are placed on the scales in the exact same position each time I use them, otherwise readings can vary widely.

Also, I figure out the exact foot placement that gives the heaviest reading, to ensure that my feet are placed directly upon the pressure pads (or whatever they use) that do the weighing.

Subject: RE: BS: UK bathroom scales r rubbish
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Dec 14 - 11:40 AM

The really accurate ones have a balance beam with sliding weights. You may still find them in use in hospitals, and they're also what they use in stockyards. (For really obese patients, hospitals sometimes use scales designed for weighing livestock). A bit big for the average bathroom.

They also have the advantage that they measure mass, not weight. So if you get abducted by aliens they'll still work on Procyon III gravity.