The Hammer vs The Digital Load Cell

The digital capacitive load cell has many advantages over the strain gage load cell in terms of measurement accuracy, resolution, simplicity of installation, and robustness and much more. Part of the much more is its exciting ability to withstand shocks, vibrations and tough environments without the need for constant maintenance and repair. With its non-contact ceramic sensor mounted within the load cell body, the load cell is largely unaffected by overloads and vibrations many times in magnitude than can be tolerated with a regular strain gage load cell.

This fact is highlighted at every exhibition that Eilersen attends to. All visitors are invited to the Eilersen booth to see the strength and robustness of the digital load cells first hand. The stage is normally set with a digital SD beam load cell with rated capacity 100 kg and a clear digital readout set above for all to see. The objective of the demonstration is to show what happens when the Eilersen load cell is hit forcefully with a hammer.

With a strain gage load cell you can expect to see a spike in the readout and then anything from ERROR flashing on the readout to even worse, an inaccurate fluctuating measurement even at resting state. However with an almighty thwack of the hammer, with a peak force at impact in excess of 1.000 kg, the Eilersen digital load cell behaves entirely differently. The readout instantly increased at the moment the hammer was brought down onto the load cell surface and then just as quickly disappeared as the force dissipated and settled right back down to a resting state. No recalibration is required and the load cell is treated to this demonstration all through the exhibition and survives in the same working order as it came.

The only warning here is “Don’t try this with a strain gage load cell!”.