Digital scales are an essential tool for food processing, as they allow for precise measurement of ingredients and ensure consistent quality in the final product. Many of these are also considered scales for washdown areas since they are designed to weigh items and then be cleaned.
A couple of important aspects to consider when selecting a digital scale for food processing is its approvals and its water resistance rating. Approvals might be things such as NSF or NTEP. For washdown ratings you will often see this listed as something like IP66 or NEMA 4X for example.
Important Scale Approvals for Water Resistant Scales
We almost always recommend scales that have earned NTEP legal for trade status with a CoC #. And, when it comes to washdown scales, it’s usually a good idea to choose a NSF certified item as well. Almost all of you have probably seen their circle shaped logo on some item that you’ve crossed paths with.
The truth is NSF certification is an important thing for a lot of items (not just scales). Choosing a product certified by NSF lets you know the company that built that item adheres to the standards and procedures imposed by NSF.
From extensive product testing and material analysis to unannounced plant inspections, every aspect of a product’s development is thoroughly evaluated before it can earn certification. NSF certification is not just a one time thing. It involves regular on-site inspections of manufacturing facilities and regular re-testing of products.
Products that earn NSF certification are said to be “NSF certified” or “NSF listed” and display the applicable NSF certification mark to show that they have been tested by one of the most respected independent product testing organizations.
What is a Washdown Scale?
Washdown scales are available in multiple platform sizes and capacities. The “washdown” simply means the scales are designed to withstand being washed down after you use them for weighing. Typical locations that use a washdown scale might include a poultry facility, seafood processing, and even a pizza shop for weighing & measuring ingredients for consistency and accuracy.
Water resistance is a crucial feature for digital scales used in food processing environments, as they will probably come into contact with liquids during the production process. This can include anything from spills and splashes to high pressure cleaning and sanitizing.
Some washdown scale advice to consider… the customer or prospective buyer usually knows how intense their environment truly is. If your environment is fairly clean and is mostly a wipe down type of processing, then a scale with a lower rating such as IP65 might work ok. Meanwhile, if you are in a full speed food processing location with heavy wash down and cleaning on a regular basis, you will likely need to be shopping for IP69K rated stainless steel scales.
Do You Have Any Waterproof Scales for Washdown Areas?
Any time that we talk about washdown scales, we always like to mention the term “waterproof scales“. Technically there isn’t any truly 100% waterproof scales that we know of. We use the term every now and then because folks like you are searching for it. The closest thing we have to “waterproof” would be one of our IP69K rated scales.
If you are looking for wash down weighing equipment, in our opinion the higher rated scales typically do better. So an IP69K is better than a IP67. An IP68 is better than IP66.
WashDown Floor Scales
It’s also worth noting that washdown floor scales are typically stainless steel and should include the top rated stainless steel load cells available. One area that you may want to research is the type of load cell that’s used in your washdown floor scale. Typical load cells are environmentally sealed. For better protection, a welded seal load cell could be utilized. For washdown, often the best choice is a hermetically sealed load cell. Many of your “affordable” washdown floor scales are not going to have a hermetically sealed load cell due to the extra costs.
Two important points to mention regarding buying and maintaining washdown scales…
First, when shopping for the top rated washdown scales, you also want to look for the load cell protection as well. There are some scales out there in the marketplace that have a IP69 rated weight indicator, which is great! But then they are paired with a washdown bench scale base which has an aluminum IP66 rated load cell to save money!
Second point to make revolves around any service and repairs. A lot of companies who are in the market for washdown scales also do some basic maintenance and repairs on their equipment “in house”. For example, a lot of poultry producers have their own maintenance staff who can do basic repairs and usually do a pretty good job.
But, not every maintenance worker pays attention to detail. And, a IP68 rated scale weight indicator is a great choice for washdown environments. However, that protection goes away pretty fast if any of your maintenance staff take shortcuts or forget things when performing basic maintenance and repair tasks. For example, a weight indicator might have eight screws that go in the back to seal it up and the maintenance tech only decides to use four after doing a basic repair.
There is no question that digital scales are a very important item for food processing. Most of the scales for washdown areas need to be stainless steel and water resistant. If you have questions or need a little guidance, please contact our customer service department on product recommendations.