Recalibrating a Smasher

Any tips on recalibrating a smasher? Found out my smasher is off and want to recalibrate it.

You need known good reference transducers for both displacement and force. You should check at 5 points from zero to full scale, with equally spaced steps. Actual gain adjustment will depend on the signal conditioner used on your machine. If your output isn't linear, you need to replace the troublesome transducer.

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Originally Posted by MasterSbilt_Racer

You need known good reference transducers for both displacement and force. You should check at 5 points from zero to full scale, with equally spaced steps. Actual gain adjustment will depend on the signal conditioner used on your machine. If your output isn't linear, you need to replace the troublesome transducer.

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I think I figured it out. My machine has a way to recalibrate by setting the distance to 12" then to 24" then 0lbs of load and finally 1000 lbs of load. Going to try to do it later tonight.

This came up because a competitor used my smasher and said it was 100 lbs off at 2" off his. So I then took one of my shock/springs to someone elses smasher and it was a little more than 100 lbs off. I am going to go check another persons tonight who has the same brand as mine before I recalibrate or buy a new load cell.

If mine is indeed off it means I've been running way more load than I want which explains why I have been really bad in the slick. UGH,

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Originally Posted by cjsracing

I think I figured it out. My machine has a way to recalibrate by setting the distance to 12" then to 24" then 0lbs of load and finally 1000 lbs of load. Going to try to do it later tonight.

This came up because a competitor used my smasher and said it was 100 lbs off at 2" off his. So I then took one of my shock/springs to someone elses smasher and it was a little more than 100 lbs off. I am going to go check another persons tonight who has the same brand as mine before I recalibrate or buy a new load cell.

If mine is indeed off it means I've been running way more load than I want which explains why I have been really bad in the slick. UGH,

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That probably happens a lot. I've never heard anyone talk about checking their calibrations. Most of the load cells on these machines are fairly cheap. They don't last forever. If they were used in a laboratory environment, they'd be checked at 1 year intervals, or sooner.

I keep an old dummy shock around and a spring of a known rate that isn't used anymore except on the dummy to check load at 1" increments to verify smasher is close.

Easy, cheap and quick to do once a month. I just smash 1" and take readings every inch and the load should match the rate of the spring per inch

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Originally Posted by MasterSbilt_Racer

That probably happens a lot. I've never heard anyone talk about checking their calibrations. Most of the load cells on these machines are fairly cheap. They don't last forever. If they were used in a laboratory environment, they'd be checked at 1 year intervals, or sooner.

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I was told guys on the road cross check theirs with other teams once a month.

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Originally Posted by billetbirdcage

I keep an old dummy shock around and a spring of a known rate that isn't used anymore except on the dummy to check load at 1" increments to verify smasher is close.Easy, cheap and quick to do once a month. I just smash 1" and take readings every inch and the load should match the rate of the spring per inch

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I do the same. Got a old afco with a 300 on it. Has a piece of tape with 1 inch increments all the way through the range. Cheap insurance

A man with two watches is never sure of the time.

Load cells need verified/checked against a standard often. I use testing machines with certifications from US Weight and Measurements as part of my day job on these things everyday.
Side note: If you want to get real picky, your geographic area also has an effect on digital scales. That's called a Geo-Code.

I actually prefer mechanical scales for repeats personally.

I was able to get it recalibrated 3 lbs of a friends wehrs machine so I'll call it good.