I am interested in designing a 400 kg scale using the Sparkfun load cells - SEN-10245. There is little mechanical information available though. I have some 10 mm steel plate in which I plan to embed the cells. They will need some clearance but there is no indication as to how much. I could just give it 5 mm but that would seriously degrade the stiffness of the plate. It needs to be the bare minimum.
Just how much does the load cell deflect when loaded with 50 kg?
Hi Errol.
Unfortunately we don’t have that data but from using these I can say that you don’t need much clearance.
2.5mm would probably do the trick but you’d need to test one under load to be sure.
Thanks for the reply Chris. I am most surprised that this question hasn’t been asked and answered before. It is not a new product as far as I can tell, and it is a fundamental parameter that is very hard to neglect in a design. I suppose I’ll just have to find a way to measure it.
I recommend using four 100 kg load cells instead of trying to balance the eight you’d need to reach 400 kg.
I am inclined to agree with you brow. Attempting to have each cell share the load would be quite difficult given the expected variation in load cell heights