Actual weight of lead weights

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BEM

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Location
1000 Island Parkway, Ontario, Canada
# of dives
I just bought a digital balance to weigh our bags when travelling. It goes up to 50 lbs and I’ve been weighing everything in the house! It appears to be pretty accurate as I’ve weighed objects with known weights and it checks out.

But when I started to see what the actual weight of lead weights were, there is a variation, especially in the 3 pound weights!

lead weights:

marked as 3 lb = from 2 lb 6 oz to 3 lb 3 oz
So if you used five 3 pound weights (15 lbs), you could be anywhere from 11 lb 14 oz to 15 lb 15 oz
That’s a difference of 13 oz per weight or: 4 lb 1 oz for five weights!!!!!

Other weights (I have)

2 lb (US Divers) = 1 lb 14 oz
2 lb (no-name) = 2 lb
4 lb (no-name) = 3 lb 9 oz
6 lb (no-name) = 5 lb 14 oz
9 lb (no-name) = 8 lb 13 oz

So most weights are actually under – and I paid by the pound. I wonder if this common practise – I only paid a few dollars extra, but if you take into account all the lead weights sold……

ankle weights (black lead shot with clips size L) marked as 1 lb 12 oz each = 2 lb each


And just in case you were wondering:

Sony remote (50” HDTV) = 5 oz
Ceramic (Banyan Networks) coffee mug = 14 oz.
wastepaper basket = 10 oz

Apollo L fin (spring strap) = 3 lb 6 oz
Apollo S fin (spring strap) = 2 lb 10 oz

341 ml beer (11.5 oz , in a bottle) & soon to be empty! = 1 lb 6 oz
 
Interesting, but not unexpected, since dive weights are really given "nominal" designations. Paying for dive weights "by the pound" is a misnomer, as you've demonstrated. :)

Dave C
 
I just bought a digital balance to weigh our bags when travelling.

But when I started to see what the actual weight of lead weights were, there is a variation, especially in the 3 pound weights!

You're weighing Canadian weights on an American scale.

You musta' slept through chapter six.

You're not checking your weights into airline luggage, are you?

(what kind of beer was that?)
 
Not sure where the weights are cast.... But the scale wasn't made in the US or Canada, not much is anymore - it was made in China. It can read in imperical and metric - I still am not accustomed to metric.

No - I don't take weights on flights (except for my SS backplate.)

I believe that if a weight is marked 4 lbs, it should be pretty close to it. Almost like going to the supermarket and buying a 3 lb T-bone steak (mmmmmmmmm!) and then finding out it was a little over 2 lbs. If it wasn't a store mistake and was their regular practice, I'd feel ripped off and wouldn't shop there anymore.

Anyway - I was surprized at the variances and wonder if it is intentional or ......

Oh yeah, the beer was a Moosehead ( T-bone steak and Moosehead mmmmmmmm)
 
What is the capacity of this balance first of all? If you are talking about a digital bathroom scale with something like a 300 pound capacity you are working in the lower 1-2% of the range. Accuracy will suffer in this case.

Secondly is it repeatable? Take the same weight and weigh it 10 times, is the result consistent?

These are the some aspects of a Gauge R&R (Resolution & Repeatability) study or an MSA (Measurement System Analysis).

Have I gotten carried away?

Getting back to the weights, yes they are known to vary. According to the sea pearls website: Weight tolerance is -0 to +0.025 pound.

Pete
 
It measures up to 50 lbs, in pound and ounce increments and is a small digital hand-held device. I've measured a few things with known weights and it appears to be pretty accurate. I did weight the weights a few times and similar weights weighed the same and the repititions never varied.

I went from the light to the heavy 3 pound weights and it was consistent in showing the differences. Maybe I got a bad batch of weights!!!!
 
Interesting!

I'll have to weigh my weights... then again, who cares as long as I can sink! :D
Yup! Also keep in mind that, the weights themselves displace some water, so they would be slightly lighter when immersed. This is probably why the ankle weights are much heavier, proportionally, than the other weights, or even the beer bottle.

I suppose the next step is to get a fish scale and start measuring everything on land and in the water...

Then again, as long as you can sink... :D
 
It measures up to 50 lbs, in pound and ounce increments and is a small digital hand-held device. I've measured a few things with known weights and it appears to be pretty accurate. I did weight the weights a few times and similar weights weighed the same and the repititions never varied.

I went from the light to the heavy 3 pound weights and it was consistent in showing the differences. Maybe I got a bad batch of weights!!!!

Do they happen to be Sea Pearles Branded? As I mentioned they are toleranced. I would not expect that same quality from a garage producer.

Pete
 
I picked up what turned out to be 81.5 pounds of 2-5 lbs homemade, uncoated, lead scuba weights on e-bay for about 50 cents a pound (delivered). WAY more weight than my wife and I need, but we have extra for when the kids dive with us. First thing I did was weigh each weight on a digital scale and mark its true weight. Some were off by 1/2 lbs, some were right on.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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