Pit Scale Washdown Process
Your scale’s Ingress Protection (IP) rating is key since it will tell you exactly what it will protect against. An IP rating is used to define the levels of sealing effectiveness against moisture, dirt and other foreign bodies on electrical enclosures. These ratings will specifically indicate how much resistance there is to water and water pressure, which makes scales with a higher IP rating ideal for washdown environments. They are available as bench, floor and retail scales.
When scales require frequent cleaning there is also a lot of handling of the scale itself. Regardless of what type of scale (floor scale in a pit, above ground, or axle weighing scales), all should be frequently maintained by going
through a thorough washdown and cleanout process, especially any scales that are weighing food. Maintaining hygiene and compliance is crucial to day-to-day efficiency when producing high quality products.
HOW MUCH YOUR SCALE CAN HANDLE
As many processes and technologies have evolved through the years, maintaining scales is no different. Servicing and cleaning floor scales the traditional way no longer works for creating an efficient and safe environment for technicians. The traditional method consisted of a thick piece of tread plate welded to structural channel that needed lifted to clean underneath, which was not an easy task. Before, a technician had to lift the scale every time to get a thorough cleaning. In fact, the technician would many times need a crane to lift the entire scale out of the pit. This is also a safety concern because the technician would have to clean under the scale while it was hanging above. If the load weighments consisted of food products, the technician would have to clean and sanitize on a regular schedule meaning this process would need to be completed as regularly as once a month.
