Advantages & Disadvantages of Hydraulic Load Cells Used in Weighing Scales

In today's video, we're going to discuss a couple of positives and a couple of negatives when it comes to hydraulic load cells.

We'll start off with some of the positives regarding hydraulic load cells. One of the main reasons that customers choose a hydraulic truck scale is the lightning protection.

Unlike other load cell technologies like analog strain gauge load cells, hydraulic load cells are virtually immune to damage resulting from lightning strikes or other electrical surges. Hydraulic load cells have neither strain gauges nor wiring like other load cell technologies making them unaffected by lightning strikes, which is one of the most common reasons for load cell failure.

The second positive I'll mention is the overall performance and value. Hydraulic load cells actually have a long history of being used in scales. Hydraulic cells have not been as popular as less expensive strain gauge versions of the load cell, primarily due to the upfront costs. But when you look at the overall costs, better performance in certain geographic areas and the warranty, hydraulic load cells can be a good choice for some customers.

There are also several negatives or concerns that we have to mention when it comes to hydraulic load cells. First, you have to mention the cost. The cells are quite a bit more expensive than a standard analog load cell.

Also, there are only a few scale manufacturers offering this technology. Therefore, not every scale company or technician works on this type of technology regularly. Hydraulic cells are marketed as having a lifetime warranty. However, once the original hydraulic load cell is replaced in a scale, the warranty covering the replacement load cell is often for a lesser duration.

And finally, the current choices for hydraulic load cells consist of two suppliers. If one or both of those have any supply chain issues, it could leave customers in a very precarious situation if they were to have any scale failure.

I hope this video has helped you better understand some of the advantages and disadvantages of hydraulic load cells. Thanks for watching.



Resources:
https://www.centralcarolinascale.com/...

https://www.centralcarolinascale.com/...

https://www.centralcarolinascale.com/...