Load Cell Calibration, Millivolt Source

Guys,
Does anyone know of a Millivolt source unit that is pretty accurate for simulating a load cell that is working off of 0-10volt?
Eli

Fluke makes a loop calibrator ( 729 I think, I don't have it right now) and that is our standard. it will do t/c, millivolts, volts, and ma signals.
it's not cheap.
there may be others that use something else.

regards,
james

An inexpensive route would be to make your own.
http://elect.wikispaces.com/Low+cost+DC+millivolt+source

Just a thought...

Do you have a weight indicator? This would be your best bet if you are putting it on a scale. Otherwise you need a solid 0-10V source. I've honestly never heard of "calibrating" a load cell. Usually you do this with weights.

Assemble the scale.

Power up the source.

Mark this as "Zero Weight"

Put on your weight (generally 1/2-3/4 of scale capacity). If it is for commercial use you will have to use certified weights.

Mark this point as your "calibration" point.

Then you have a scale to work off of. Honestly, a cheap weight indicator would save a lot of time/effort depending on what you are doing.

I just realized you want to simulate a load cell. You will want a 0-10V power source and a decade box.

We use these from Rinstrum. Excellent value for money and does the job well as advertised
http://www.rinstrum.com/downloads/14/78/0051-600-142.pdf

HJTRBO said:

We use these from Rinstrum. Excellent value for money and does the job well as advertised
http://www.rinstrum.com/downloads/14/78/0051-600-142.pdf

Click to expand...

That is awesome. Decade box with in a built in voltage source . We always just use an indicator as our voltage source.

HJTRBO said:

We use these from Rinstrum. Excellent value for money and does the job well as advertised
http://www.rinstrum.com/downloads/14/78/0051-600-142.pdf

Click to expand...

I use that one as well - but it doesn't have a built in voltage source. It's just a dummy (variable) load cell that you can connect up to your transmitter to simulate a changing weight.

Elijah58 said:

Guys,
Does anyone know of a Millivolt source unit that is pretty accurate for simulating a load cell that is working off of 0-10volt?
Eli

Click to expand...

But as I see, the 0-10 volt come through some transmitter. The load cell should be some Wheatstone bridge, and you'll normally need some resistors to simulate it. So if you need to check the loop after the transmitter, you'll need loop calibrator, there are many in the stores (not cheap, as James mentioned).
But if you want to calibrate the weight transmitter, in laboratory , you need resistors, on the machine you'll need known weights, as you have to count a little mechanics in the equation. Normally I give 0 and some known weight near full scale weight, so I can set 0 and span, and after this check with some values between.