Analytical Balance – They are designed to measure small mass at great precision and are used to find out the amount of percentage of one or more constituents of a sample mixture. They are made extremely sensitive which means that even an air current can affect the measurement. That’s the reason behind providing a draft shield to prevent inaccurate readings. In order to prevent environmental interference, a designated place should be dedicated to the analytical balance. They find their application mainly in chemistry and pharmaceutical labs.
Precision Balance – Also known as top-loading balances and are considered as semi-analytical balances. In terms of accuracy, the precision balances are less accurate than a standard analytical balance. They are capable of measuring the samples ranging from several grams up to kilogram and also they are less costlier than analytical balances. Also, they do not get affected by environmental conditions and give reading within seconds.
To maintain these balances certain steps should be followed, such as
- Keeping it clean – It is important to thoroughly clean the balance, in order to avoid the serious challenges and keep it free of debris, as any foreign material present under the weighing platform can cause negative impact on the accuracy of the balance. To avoid contamination the platform should be cleaned after every use, but safety measures should be taken while cleaning chemical substances.
- Calibration – For ensuring the overall accuracy of the balance, it has to be calibrated regularly. This will give maximum accuracy and provide consistent results. However, it seems to be a very small mistake, to avoid calibration but it can become a huge challenge, as the precision of equipment drops and gradually becomes inconsistent.
- Reading instructions Carefully – Every equipment comes with a user manual, so it is very important to go through the manual in order to better understand the product. Usually, these manuals are thought to be useless, but these are really important documents. For general queries and other functionalities and the product should be maintained and calibrated, everything is provided by the company through this user manual. So, one should give a close and careful look at these instruction manuals
- Log Record – The log record should be maintained in the laboratory. It should be clearly mentioned in the log that who used the log and what was the task for which it is used and what are the upcoming tasks which will require the same balance. It is really very crucial and important to keep track of activities when there are more than one person is using the balance.
- Professional Consulting – Suppose if each of your effort goes in vain to maintain the balance, then maybe it’s the right time to contact the manufacturer or the supplier. As most of them, can provide knowledgeable guidance to all your queries through expert technical team.
Many of these above-mentioned steps are common practices in the laboratories, however, it is better to forget about them, during a hectic lab environment. The precision of lab balances is vital to multiple applications, so it is worth to go through the above factors before someone begins measuring.
