Avery Weigh-Tronix ZM305 Scale Indicator FAQ

We put together a top ten list of frequently asked questions on the Avery Weigh Tronix 305 and 305 GTN Inbound-Outbound Indicators. The ZM305 Standard weight indicator is ideal for floor scales, batching, vessels and for in motion conveyors. Meanwhile, the ZM305 GTN Inbound-Outbound model is ideal for use with Truck Scales and Weighbridges and offers users the ability to store Gross, Tare and Net weights against up to 1000 container/vehicle IDs, providing inbound/outbound weighing. This rugged indicator features a unique Harmonizer filtering system which corrects for environmental noise and vibration which commonly occur in these applications. Let’s take a look at the list below.

10.  The 305 series is comprised of 2 different products, what are they?
The first choice is the ZM305 Standard stainless steel IP69K desktop with multiple built-in weighing applications with IBN display. The second choice is the ZM305 GTN Inbound-Outbound stainless steel IP69K with IBN display (Great for truck scales)

9. What is an IBN display?
This display technology provides tremendous contrast between its illuminated digits and surrounding background. It is used within the automotive industry to improve viewing in both bright and dimly lit environments.

8. What power source is required?
These indicators can operate on 90-264 VAC (110-240 VAC nominal), 50 or 60 Hz, 12 to 36 VDC or from the optional external battery pack ZM-BAT.

7. How long will the optional external battery pack power the scale?
The external optional battery pack ZM-BAT utilizes (4) D cell batteries. Fresh batteries will maintain operation of a single weight sensor system for six hours, or a four weight sensor system for four hours, and one hour with systems with eight weight sensors. The ZQ-BAT option with auto shut-off has selectable sleep mode choices in the Supervisor menu which will extend battery life if enabled.

6. Is the IP69K stainless steel a standard feature and what exactly is IP69K?
The ZM305 is enclosed in a stainless steel assembly with a IP69K certified rating. IP69K is a worldwide recognized standard which defines ingress protection of the enclosure. The ZM305 indicators are certified by a third party to meet this standard. Tip: Do not be misled by brands that claim their products are designed or equal to IP69K. Continue reading

Satellite Unattended Weighing Kiosk For Truck Scales

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to have a truck scale without anyone actually manning the scale? If so, take a look at the Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Satellite series unattended weighing kiosks.

These provide the ultimate experience in unmanned truck scale efficiency and streamlined data integration. The lockable, weather-proof enclosure features an articulating arm to retract the kiosk away from truck traffic when its not in use.

Select a Satellite model with the features you need including a high-speed thermal cutbar tape printer, proximity badge reader (AWID and HID), rainhood/sun deflector, and 240 x 64 pixel blue backlit LCD or 640 x 480 pixel backlit color touch screen LCD. The weatherproof QWERTY keyboard with navigation arrow keys and main soft keys provides driver input prompting controls.

Features
Articulating Arm Allows Kiosk to be Retracted
Data Integration with WinVRS Available
Easy to Refill Paper Rolls
High-Speed Thermal Cutbar Printer
Internal Heater with Thermostat in Printer
Cabinet Kiosk May be Pole or Wall-Mounted
Lockable Outdoor-Grade Enclosure
Main Soft Keys Provide Driver Input
Prompting Controls Reduces Risk Associated with Drivers Walking Across Platforms Weatherproof QWERTY Keyboard and Navigation Arrow Keys

FC6300 Formula Control Scale Video Overview

What would it be like to be in total control? Imagine saving at least 2.1% of your yearly ingredient costs. What would that be worth to you? Picture having an extra supervisor watching over your employees’ shoulders monitoring and controlling the formulation process. What effect would that have on your product consistency and production efficiency? Well actually the Doran FC6300 Formula Control System puts you in total control and can pay for itself in four months or less!

Field-Proven Ingredient Savings
In today’s competitive marketplace, reducing production costs is a sure path to greater profits. Doran’s Formula Control has been guiding production plants along that path with ingredient savings of at least 2.1%—even more. Combine lower ingredient costs with the elimination of the money wasted on bad batches, and you can understand why successful companies are investing in the FC6300 Formula Control System.

Take a look at the savings one company experienced with the FC6300. This plant realized that improving the performance of their formula scaling could lead to a significant impact on profitability. Additionally they were averaging one bad batch a week due to errors that were traced back to the scaling process. They turned to Doran Scales to reduce costs from wasted ingredients and bad batches—the solution was the FC6300 Formula Control System. Return on investment due to ingredient cost savings was achieved in just four months, and the net one-year effect on profit margin was $27,068.71. It’s no wonder that plant managers at this company’s other location suddenly became interested in the FC6300 Formula Control System.

Consistent Batches—Guaranteed!
Reduction of ingredient costs is easy to see, but the costs associated with bad batches are often overlooked. Like a dripping faucet, those bad batches can gradually drain your plant’s profits. Production downtime to clean production lines and discard the bad batch, along with cost of wasted ingredients, can add up. Our field studies show that bad batches cost a company $837 per incident. With guaranteed consistent batches, your plant will run more efficiently, adding to your profitably.

Because the system prompts the user through the formula, the correct ingredients are accurately scaled every time. Each ingredient of the formula is weighed within a tolerance that you define. The color-coded Accu-Track display on the bright LCD screen ensures that added ingredients are within those tolerances. Each step of the formula is clearly labeled with batch ID, batch name, the step number, ingredient name, target weight, and actual weight. Accurate scaling can be achieved with or without experienced production employees.

Ensures Employee Accountability
Formula Loader is a standard component of the FC6300 Formula Control system. This Windows™-compatible software is used to configure formulas as well as to provide production reports. Standard Formula Loader reports can be used to evaluate scale operator efficiency and ingredient usage. Using scale operator ID’s, the FC6300 tracks when a user logs in and out of the scale. Management can easily determine how long the scale operators are taking to prepare each formula and how accurately it was done. It’s like having the plant manager watching over your employees’ shoulders 24/7.

For more information on this exciting product from Doran, please fill out our request form on the website with your particular requirements and specifications.

Common Applications for Peak Hold Feature In Digital Scales

In today’s entry we would like to discuss the peak hold function. It’s a popular topic since we are usually asked about this capability at least every week or so. In these examples we will focus primarily on the Doran Scale product line. The Excel Series 2200, 2200CW, 4300, 7000XL, 7400, and 8000XL scales from Doran represent a scale line that you can rely on to fill a wide variety of weighing applications. From a battery powered 2200CW checkweigh scale for a food manufacturer, to an 8000XL series scale with a wireless Ethernet option for a seafood company, the flexibility of the Excel Series scales can help you achieve accurate results time after time. The Peak Hold feature is another example of how the Excel Series from Doran provides value added weighing solutions.

Doran 2200CW stainless steel checkweigher

Customers Using Peak Hold 
Many industries use Peak Hold in their quality control process. Peak Hold is when weight or force is applied to determine the highest amount of force a product can withstand. Maintaining a consistent specification in production results in cost savings, increased safety, and minimizes exposure to product liability litigation. Peak Hold allows for maximum sensitivity and accurate weight or force readings too quick for the eye to see and because it is digitally held, a displayed peak value will not decay or drift. Continue reading

Digital Weight Indicator For Scales With USB Port and Micro SD Card?

Happy New Year!  It’s our goal to provide great service to you again this year and to bring you some really nice products that make your job easier. Cardinal Scale Manufacturing in Webb City Missouri has a digital weight indicator product line that is very popular with our customers. Cardinal’s weight indicators provide easy, convenient scale operation and accurate, reliable measurements. From basic truck scale weighing to complex process automation, Cardinal Scale probably makes a weight indicator for your application. Whether operators need an easy-to-maintain wash-down indicator or an indicator that provides highly visible scale readouts, a Cardinal indicator from Central Carolina Scale usually has an option available to suit a wide range of weighing needs.

collect scale weights on usb thumb drive

The latest announcement from Cardinal Scale is very exciting for those of us in the weighing industry. Over the years customers have always asked us “can I send weight data to my pc” or “we need to send scale data to the computer”. And the answer that we usually told customers was well, yes you can…… but it might require some additional software or yes… but it might require some other type of hurdle or challenge. Over the years it has gotten easier but depending on the product and what you are trying to connect to, it could be a real challenge to send weight data reliably and consistently to a computer. But, now with the new Cardinal 2XX-USBA option board which is listed as USB-A Card, 2 USB-A Ports, One Micro SD Port – you have the ability to add a USB flash drive to a select group of Cardinal indicators like the 205, 210 and 225 and easily collect weighing data. For example, with one 4GB flash drive, you could literally collect millions of weight transactions. Then once you’re ready to view the transactions, you remove the flash drive and take a look at the CSV file on your computer. It’s easy to add titles to the columns and sum the weight column to determine the total amount of weight that you’ve weighed over a period of time. Continue reading

Digital Scale With Email Alerts

Cardinal Scale leads the weighing industry with their digital weight indicator product line. Cardinal’s weight indicators provide easy, convenient scale operation and accurate, reliable measurements. From basic truck scale weighing to complex process automation, Cardinal Scale has a weight indicator for your application.

Cardinal Scale’s 825 Spectrum weight indicator can send automatic e-mail alerts through an Ethernet connection to the client’s internal SMTP e-mail server for submission to up to three recipients per scale. The 825 features up to 10 scale inputs per indicator by installing additional option cards to the multiple slots available, and each of the scales connected has completely-individual configuration for the e-mail alerts.

Originally programmed for a company to use with a series of tank scales, this 825 custom application allows users to receive instant notification on stocking levels, such as when it’s time to order refills.

Cardinal Scale 825 Spectrum Digital IndicatorEasy set-up for this application is enabled through the 825’s touchscreen LCD and QWERTY keyboard where users may assign the e-mail address the alerts are sent from, which also acts as a return address (any address may be configured). There are four preset weights available per scale for user-definable targets such as Over, Accept, Under (Reorder), and Extremely Low, which may be labeled whatever the user chooses. Continue reading

Rice Lake Adds New 480 Legend Indicator To Lineup

The flagship of Rice Lake’s Legend Series, the 480 digital weight indicator has been perfected to provide the very best in performance and value.

Advance to Rice Lake’s Legend Series—classic Rice Lake quality and design with new ideas for tomorrow. As the flagship of Rice Lake’s Legend Series, the 480 digital weight indicator has been perfected to provide the very best in performance and value.

With its stainless steel enclosure and advanced gasket system, the industrial-strength 480 is built for dirty, wet environments and demanding workplaces, inside or out. Advanced circuitry also withstands electrical noise, power disturbances and transient spikes that are common to industrial applications.

Rice Lake’s 480 is the industry’s first choice for readability. With its large, ultra-bright LED display, 0.8 inch digits and sharp contrast, the 480 provides superior display visibility. Its six-button tactile keypad allows for quick navigation and programming. Connect the 480 to a printer, PC or remote display and make use of configurable print formats, time and date function, and local/remote capability.

Whether it’s used in heavy capacity or batching operations, the 480 powers as many as ten 350 ohm load cells in parallel. Engineered with Rice Lake’s advanced digital filtering, the 480 Legend Series promises top speed without sacrificing weight stability.

New DIN Rail Weight Transmitter with PLC Connectivity

cardinal 201There’s all kind of cliche’s that come to mind with the new Cardinal 201 like good things come in small packages. That is definitely the case for this new item from Cardinal Scale. The Cardinal Scale model 201 weight transmitter is a fast, accurate instrument for process control-based static and dynamic weighing applications. The 201 is capable of powering up to (8) 350 ohm load cells and comes with a 35-mm DIN rail mounting bracket. The 201 transmitter built by Cardinal Scale out of Webb City, Missouri features a 0.5-inch-high, six-digit, transflective LCD display with up to (7) different colors and is viewable in all lighting levels from direct light to total darkness. A variety of mounting options and ColorZONE control options make it ideal for quick visual verification of weight status.

The Cardinal Scale model 201 weight indicator offers sample rates of up to 200 samples per second and standard communication protocols include serial interface RS232/RS485, mini USB-B, Analog (0-10V or 4-20mA), Ethernet TCP/IP, EIP, and Modbus TCP, making it easy to connect to a PC, PLC, and other smart devices. Four programmable digital inputs and outputs are included to make it even more flexible. Connectivity set-up is simple using the printed legend on the front of the 201 enclosure. Setup and calibration of the model 201 weight controller is fast and easy using both the on-screen indicator menu prompts or Web browser interface via IP address.

The 4-in W x 4.2-in H x 1.9-in D compact size uses very little panel space, and the enclosure can be DIN rail mounted with the display either internal or remotely mounted on the face of the cabinet making it easy to implement into new and existing systems. The 201 weight indicator is both NTEP and Measurement Canada certified for legal-for-trade applications and is UL listed and CE certified.

Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Company has with an extensive product line of scales and weighing systems complete with a wide selection of peripheral equipment for your truck scale or weighing operation. Cardinal’s customer service and technical support center is all located at the factory headquarters in Webb City, MO. When you buy your Cardinal Scale from Central Carolina Scale you’re not just buying a high-quality — you are also putting Americans to work.

Can I Buy An American Made Digital Weight Indicator?

Quite often a customer will contact us looking to buy a scale. Often they will have a list of features that they’re looking for, most of which we are able to accommodate.  It could be that they need a large size floor scale or maybe they need a scale to be extremely accurate. Or maybe they need a scale that can connect to their computer system via USB or ethernet cable.

doran 7000xlm weight meter

However there is one question about digital weighing indicators that makes us stop and think for a few seconds. Can I buy a Made in the USA digital weight readout for my scale? You see many of our favorite U.S. scale manufacturers actually import their digital indicators.

So as of today the best choices we can come up with for true Made in the USA quality when it comes to digital weight indicators would be the following:

  • Pennsylvania Scale 7600
  • Doran Scales 7000XLM
  • Cambridge CSW-10

The Pennsylvania 7600E is a really nice indicator for truck scale customers who are looking for a nice indicator that has many great features but doesn’t cost a fortune.  The Cambridge CSW-10 is an entry level basic indicator that is great for simple weighing applications.

So there you have it. If you are serious about finding made in the U.S.A. scale equipment we can provide that for you. It may be a little tough to find sometimes and it may cost a little more than the chinese imported products but in most cases we can get you a MADE IN THE USA weighing product.

Cardinal Scale’s New 190A Weight Indicator with Axle Weighing Software

cardinal 190a with 760 axle scalesDesigned for non-legal-for-trade portable axle weighing applications such as with Cardinal’s CWL-40 and 760 series mobile wheel weighers, the 190A weight indicator features axle weighing software, traffic control mode to automatically capture accumulative axle weights without the driver having to leave the truck (when connected to a remote display with traffic lights and printer), two RS232 serial ports (for printer and remote display), optional rechargeable lithium ion battery, capacitive touch keys, and IP69K-rated wash-down enclosure (the highest protection rating possible).

The 1-inch/25-mm high backlit LCD is visible in direct sunlight and may be set to any one of 6 different customizable settings. The 190A weight indicator features 3 watertight gland connectors, quick-connect power connector, and one ID.

The 190A easily factors axle weights by pressing the PRINT key for each successive axle weight, or it can function in traffic control auto mode sensing each truck axle’s weight when connected to a remote display such as the SB500 with traffic signals and a printer such as the P150. Traffic control mode allows the truck driver to never have to leave the truck during the axle weighing process which speeds up weighing operations.

A variety of power options for the 190A enable mobile weighing on the go!

The PS190 wall adapter with US, UK, EU, and Australian plugs.
The 190DC12 car battery charger cable with 12-foot length and battery terminal eyelets (also available in 6 and 18 foot lengths).
Or the popular BP190 rechargeable lithium ion internal battery pack, which charges from the indicator through the PS190 or 190DC12 power options.

Three different modes of power give you versatile options with Cardinal’s 190A indicator.

Cardinal’s model P150 mobile high-speed direct line thermal printer is rechargeable lithium-ion battery powered (included) for use with the 190A indicator and portable scales. The P150 is compact and robust with a long-life printing head and high reliability. It features easy paper handling due to its paper drop-in style, 3.15-in/80-mm per second printing speed, 203 DPI x 203 DPI resolution, and serial and USB connectivity. There are three LEDs to indicate battery status. Charging time is 2 hours for 90 minutes of continuous use. The overall dimensions are 3.7 W x 5.3 D x 2.2 H inches (96 W x 136 D x 58 H mm). Print width is 1.89 in/48 mm, 384 dot. Standard serial printer cable provided.