Sciencemadness Discussion Board

cheap 0.01g and 0.001g scales from Ebay

thelonious - 11-5-2012 at 17:53

I was looking for a scale online and I found these on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/0-01g-x-500g-Precision-Electronic-Jew...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20g-x-0-001g-LCD-Digital-Electronic-P...

Seeing as they're about 13 bucks each, I have my doubts as to the quality. Has anyone had experience with these scales? Are they any good?

sargent1015 - 11-5-2012 at 20:11

I use the 0.01g scale and I think it works just fine. I don't do anything too analytical, so I don't really need the more precise one.

I do have to point out that they mine is rather small, just large enough to hold a weigh boat. They also have a 1 minute power saving mode, which is great for battery life, not great for tarring something and wanting to come right back to it.

But, for $13 bucks? Take it and run! :D

Hoped that helped your decision.

mycotheologist - 12-5-2012 at 02:04

I bought a 0.01g scale for €20 on ebay a couple of years ago and it still works fine. Heres the one I have though:


[Edited on 12-5-2012 by mycotheologist]

vmelkon - 21-6-2012 at 09:55

Quote: Originally posted by mycotheologist  
I bought a 0.01g scale for €20 on ebay a couple of years ago and it still works fine. Heres the one I have though:


[Edited on 12-5-2012 by mycotheologist]


What is the maximum that you can weight? Does it maintain its accuracy of 0.01g all the way up to the maximum or does it switch over to 0.05 g?

Wizzard - 21-6-2012 at 10:34

My .01g scale is quite easy to manipulate- Only costs $25 on Ebay, but it's accuracy is questionable! I guess I got what I paid for.

vmelkon - 21-6-2012 at 12:37

Why don't you calibrate it?

sargent1015 - 21-6-2012 at 14:59

Quote: Originally posted by vmelkon  
Why don't you calibrate it?



I doubt you can, they are very cheap scales! I know, I own one

vmelkon - 22-6-2012 at 05:34

I bought this one http://www.ebay.ca/itm/270948303211?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT...

You can't see the text well on that picture but I did some google searches and found a larger resolution. There are instructions for how to do it and you need 100 g and 500 g masses.

So whatever you buy, there should be instructions for it.
If there isn't, the manufacturer doesn't know what it is manufacturing.

Mailinmypocket - 22-6-2012 at 07:42

www.dx.com has a good selection of scales, reasonably priced and free shipping. I have bought two so far (0.01g and 0.001g) the milligram scale is listed as a jewelers scale, has a 50 gram max load and weighs in milligram increments. The one I bought came with adjustable feet, a built in fish eye level and two 20g calibration weights. I can reliably measure in milligram quantities with +\- 0.003 variance (I have an Ohaus milligram calibration set and the 100mg weight is displayed as 0.100-0.102). No drifting either and has a windshield as well as blue backlit display. Costed me 48$!!

Highly recommend it:

http://dx.com/p/1-7-lcd-high-precision-digital-jewelry-scale...

[Edited on 22-6-2012 by Mailinmypocket]

[Edited on 22-6-2012 by Mailinmypocket]

vmelkon - 22-6-2012 at 17:29

Yes, I saw such mg scales on ebay (no the exact model as yours) but I wasn't sure if they would be reliable. There was a 10 g version and 20 g version and 50 g.

One thing you have to watch out for is as the guy on their forum says, when you add small amount of weight, it "self-adjusts" and doesn't register what you have added.

You better weight something multiple times to be sure.

Maybe next time, I'll get a mg scale.

Bronstein - 23-6-2012 at 11:28

This scale looks like it's much better than those cheap scales from china:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item...

1mg precision, runs on AC, has with a windscreen, and still only £55.

Mailinmypocket - 23-6-2012 at 11:54

Ooo that is a really nice looking one! Although for that price it's probably also from china... Then again, what isn't? :P

Swede - 24-6-2012 at 07:07

Going from 0.01 to 0.001 is a big leap in terms of accuracy vs dollars. The cheap "jeweler's" milligram scales can be really hit or miss. One way to at least partially confirm it's a decent scale is to check repeatability. If 2.355 g remains 2.355 g after repeated weighings, then it's probably decent, and if calibrated, would do good work. But more often, the really inexpensive jobs would weigh 2.355, then 2.350, then 2.358, etc, so the milligrams digit can be pretty suspect.

In other words, when weighing out an accurate 0.005 grams really matters, then the scale is probably going to cost some hefty $$.

That $49 eBay scale does look interesting. One other option are inexpensive mechanical powder scales as used by reloaders. You usually have to covert grams to grains, but that's no big deal.

Mailinmypocket - 24-6-2012 at 14:29

Quote: Originally posted by Swede  
Going from 0.01 to 0.001 is a big leap in terms of accuracy vs dollars. The cheap "jeweler's" milligram scales can be really hit or miss. One way to at least partially confirm it's a decent scale is to check repeatability. If 2.355 g remains 2.355 g after repeated weighings, then it's probably decent, and if calibrated, would do good work. But more often, the really inexpensive jobs would weigh 2.355, then 2.350, then 2.358, etc, so the milligrams digit can be pretty suspect.

In other words, when weighing out an accurate 0.005 grams really matters, then the scale is probably going to cost some hefty $$.

That $49 eBay scale does look interesting. One other option are inexpensive mechanical powder scales as used by reloaders. You usually have to covert grams to grains, but that's no big deal.


Thats exactly it, if were to be doing analytical stuff that absolutely needs to be accurate to the milligram, I wouldnt trust these cheap things. For weighing out somewhat expensive chemicals like luminol for small scale experiments it is nice to know how close to the nearest .010g (give or take a few mg's) you are at instead of the scale rounding up or down.