Digital scale suddenly looking very innaccurate...

[kcadams1980]

Hey all,

I got an Insen digital scale (with body fat %, bmi, water, etc) on Amazon once I started using my Charge HR, b/c I wanted to track body fat% as well as weight. My old scale only showed weight. It's nothing too fancy - about $30 I think - but had good reviews, and until this weekend, I've had no accuracy issues at all.

On Friday, my husband moved the scale from it's normal spot in the bathroom (mosaic tile floor) to our bedroom (also tile, but flatter porceline planks), and when I moved it back, the weight readings went all nutty. I weighed myself 4 times in a row and got wildly different weights every time; at one point the scale wouldn't settle down on a weight period, just kept fluxuating like it was glitching or something. Anyhow, I got back on my old scale (also digital), and it puts me 2 lbs heavier! Argh! I was super excited this past week, b/c I got below 150 for the first time in MONTHS, but now I'm not sure I can trust that. I've read that the doctor's office/beam type scales are the most accurate, but they're expensive and HUGE, not sure I want to go there. I'm also not sure I want to plunk down $100 for the Aria (sorry fitbit), if I'm concerned with the digital scale accuracy in general.

Would y'all recommend resetting everything? Buying a new one? I just find it odd that this just suddenly started happening within the past couple of days...

Thanks 🙂

Kelly

[kcadams1980]

BTW - the reason I weighed myself 4-5x in a row on Sat, Sun, and this AM (I always weigh first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, no food) is because it showed me losing a pretty significant amount of weight in a couple of days - like from 148.8 on Sun to 143-ish this morning. I find that hard to believe (though I'd like to, lol). When I weighed repeatedly, the numbers started going all over the place (like, down to 130 - I KNOW I'm not there, haha).

This is extra annoying b/c I weigh myself daily in order to see the weekly trends. Kinda hard to do that if your scale is all over the place.

[Dominique]

I don’t know how that particular scale works, but I have the Fitbit Aria and it needs to recalibrate itself if you change its location. It should also be put on a hard surface that doesn’t "give" at all. For more info, see this help article.

[kcadams1980]

Yeah, I think the recalibration thing could be to blame here... I put it back out onto the tile planked floor (that's about as hard and flat of a surface as you can get) this AM. I'll try weighing myself a few times after work just to see if it sets itself back to normal.

Thanks 🙂

[HelenaFitbit]

Hey hey @kcadams1980! Following @Dominique's excelent response, (and the usual Aria troubleshooting) I'd recommend to remove the batteries, put them back on and weigh in a 4-6 times in a row; this will recalibrate your scale. 

Hope it helps!