Industrial and university researchers who require their measurements be accurate right down to 0.0001 grams need an analytical balance. Choosing a balance however, needs an understanding of the features that are available and your needs in the lab. Analytical balances are useful in many instances from piece counting to pipette calibration. Being sensitive and expensive instruments it is advisable to correlate your needs in the lab to the features available. Depending on the exact range of functions and constraints that you operate under consider the following.

A feature to look out for is the single cell weighing technology. This cell is made from a single block which ensures that the material is stable during temperature variations. It also facilitates faster stabilization of the machine and features shock-proof construction. Such weighing cells allow for materials to be placed even at the edge of the measuring cell and have its weight accurately measured.

Because of the level of accuracy that is characteristic of these machines, programmable automatic recalibration is another feature to look out for. When exposed to temperature fluctuations [0.5 degrees Centigrade (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit)] this needs to be done every few hours. This automatic recalibration is also required when the machine is shifted from standby to weighing mode or if the machine has lost connection to a power source. Look for an analytical balance that lets out a warning sound when a recalibration is going to take place.

There are several other features that would work well depending on your needs. One typical requirement is pipette calibration. This is the ability to control measuring equipment according to the directives of ISO 9001 and LGP. The process pairs the analytical balance with a PC-based pipette calibration process which will make all the necessary calculations and provide you with a comparison of defined tolerances. These records can then be archived or saved on the computer.

Another very useful accessory is the electrostatic discharge ionizer. This feature is necessary if most of the products you are measuring emit an electromagnetic discharge which affects the accuracy of the machine. With ionizers that are mounted next to the balance, this effect can be countered. It can also be done by manually turning the ionizers towards the balance. It’s a simple way to ensure that you get the most accurate of measurements from your analytical balance.

Depending on your use you can also invest in analytical balances that store individual tare weights and as well as those of the samples in separate memories. With this, you can add up all the weights of individual components in a mix. This can be done without the weight of the tare cup. This feature is also available with a print option. It organizes all the ingredients into the formulation and prints the number and weight of each one.

Some additional features you can look at when buying analytical balances are those that include:

* Piece counting
* Determining the deviation percentage of a particular sample from a reference weight
* Underside suspended weighing abilities
* GLP/ISO record-keeping ability
* Larger LCD displays
* Metric or non-metric measurement systems

Author Bio: Dr. Bob Sandor is a Director at Tovatech, a leading North American supplier of analytical balances. When not busy running his company, he explores his fascination with the many aspects of various scientific & industrial devices. For more details on the above you can reach him through the analytical balance section of his website.

Category: Advice
Keywords: analytical balance, choosing analytical balance,analytical balance feature