APPLICATION GUIDE

Title: Troubleshooting a Belt Scale Loadcell AG070319

Objective: To be able to determine if a Siemens Milltronics Belt Scale Load cell is

healthy or has failed, using a multimeter or an integrator.

Equipment MLFB/A5E Number

7MH7126, 7MH7123, 7MH7125, 7MH7122, 7MH7185
Belt Scale load Cells

While every effort was made to verify the following information, no warranty of accuracy or usability is
expressed or implied.

Explaination

A loadcell can be examined by multimeter and/or diagnostic parameters in the integrator. For the
sake of this application guide we are going to consider the MSI loadcell and a BW500 or BW500/L as
they are the most common. We also need to first understand a bit about how the loadcell and the
loadcell processing circuits are working to make sense of the data we are collecting.

The load cell:

The loadcell consists of strain gauges, tiny wafer-thin resistive element that are bonded to a steel
beam that flexes, as the beam flexes the resistance of the strain gauge changes. Each of the load
cells that we use on our Belt Scales have 4 strain gauges connected in a whetstone bridge
configuration as shown in figure 1 below.

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1954 Technology Drive, P.O. Box 4225 Tel.: (705) 745-2431
Peterborough, Ontario [Link]/sensorsystems
K9J 7B1 / Canada
 APPLICATION GUIDE
Title: Troubleshooting a Belt Scale Loadcell

Figure 1

Figure 1 also shows the expected resistance values for each of the 6 wire pairings. These resistances
can be measured with a multimeter on a loadcell that is not connected to an integrator and recorded in
a table like table 1 below. This test can also help us determine if the loadcells colour code is not as
shown in figure 1 as some of our load cell models have a different colour code.

Wire Colour Pairs Resistance reading

Red – Green 1)
Green – Black 1)
Black – White 1)
Red – White 1)
White – Green 2)
Red – Black 3)
Notes; 1) the 4 reading across the strain gauges should all be the same +/- 2 ohms and close to 283 ohms

2) this reading should be 350ohms +/- 1 ohm

3) this reading should be 389 ohms +/- 5 ohms

Table 1

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 APPLICATION GUIDE
Title: Troubleshooting a Belt Scale Loadcell

The loadcell circuit:

Our integrators provide a highly regulated 10 Vdc excitation voltage to our loadcells. The sensitivity of
our loadcells is 2.000 mV/V. So, the output from our loadcells is an analog signal from 0 – 20 mVdc
where 0 is no load and 20 is at the design capacity of the loadcell. The analog mV signal is converted
into a 20-bit digital signal for each loadcell and then further processed in a 32-bit microprocessor
giving us a very stable high-resolution load cell reference signal.

The mV reading can be seen on a multimeter or on PAR 940 (indexed -01 to -04 for loadcells A-D).
Our digital reference numbers can only be viewed on PAR 943 (indexed -01 to -07 for A+B, C+D,
A+B+C+D, A, B, C, D). For example, PAR 943-04 for loadcell A will give us a reading of
approximately 262144 for a loadcell reading of 0.0mV and will increase by approximately 5242 for
each additional 1.0 mV increase. PAR 943-01 is loadcell A and B added together and is approximately
524288 counts with 0.0 mV on both loadcells.

Loadcell Failures:

When a loadcell fails, it will either fail to a constant 0 output or to a very high reading that is outside
the rated output range causing the loadcell processing circuit to go into saturation, this saturated
reading can be either positive or negative depending on the nature of the failure. These failures can
be caused by mechanical overload (shock loading, lifting or side loading), electrical overload
(electrical welding near the loadcell, lightning strike or wiring errors) or damage to the loadcell cable
(severed or shorted cables).

Loadcell test:

The simplest test is the best, take a look at the mV and Digital readings on PAR 940-01 & -02 and
PAR 943-01 when the loadcell is unloaded and then again when loaded with a known weight. This
test should be done with an empty belt and the belt stopped for safety reasons. The following table 2
can be filled out for further analysis.

Test Weight Position PAR 940-01 PAR 940-02 PAR 943-01

No test weight
1 weight on A side
1 weight on B side

Table 2

First of all, a known weight should give us a predictable mV reading given the loadcells capacity.

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 APPLICATION GUIDE
Title: Troubleshooting a Belt Scale Loadcell

Example; if my weight is 18 lbs (approximate weight of our standard J-weight) and my loadcell
capacity is 100 lbs and the weight is sitting directly over one loadcell;

∂ 18 lbs/100 lbs = 18%,

∂ 18% x 20mV = 3.6mV
∂ Therefore, with one J weight over one loadcell we should expect to see the mV reading
change by approximately 3.6mV
∂ Moving the same weight from one loadcell to the loadcell on the other side of the scale we
should also see the other loadcell signal change by 3.6 mV.
∂ The change in PAR 943-01 should be approximately 18,872 counts, no mater where the
weight is from side to side if the loadcell balancing have been done.

By analyzing these numbers using basic logic we can determine if one or both loadcells is; bad, wired
incorrectly, wiring damaged, being supported/not being allowed to deflect (i.e. shipping bracket in
place or material jammed in a pinch point), or possible mislabeling of loadcell capacity.

If we are not getting the values we are expecting to see, we should check;

∂ the 10 Vdc excitation voltage going to the loadcells, this should be checked at the BW500’s
terminals as well as at the loadcell junction box (if applicable)
∂ Sense wiring or sense jumpers are connected properly
∂ Inspect wire runs for nicks, cuts or pinches
∂ junction boxes for moisture, corrosion or loose connections
∂ scale shipping brackets for removal
∂ inspect scale pinch points for material build-up
∂ clean between the loadcell body and the loadcell cover using a hacksaw blade to ensure that
there is no debris or material build-up

Once you have determined that one of the loadcells is bad, be sure to identify which one so you are
not changing the wrong one… also, you can swap loadcell A and B connections in the BW500 to see
if the problem follows the loadcell or if the problem follows the BW500’s input, there have been some
failures of the loadcell input circuit that can look like a bad loadcell.

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