Load cells might be damaged due to many reasons: Overloading, lightning strikes, moisture or chemical ingress, vibrations, corrosion, pulling the cable etc. As a result, the scale may provide unstable readings, zero drifting, error reading, non-linearity etc.

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The LCT-Ultimate is the only measuring tool required to perform the tests either on site or in the lab. Before you start, make sure to have the Load cell spec and the cable color code (usually you get it with the load cell, or it can be downloaded from the manufacture web site).

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How to test a weighing platform with a few load cells:

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1. First stage: Leave all load cells connected to the summing box. Disconnect the cable from the weighing indicator, connect it to the LCT-Ultimate and perform a test.
    

2. Expected results for a good scale are as per the following example: If you have 4 load cells of 1000Ω, 100kg each and 40kg are applied on the scale than you would expect to see around 250Ω for the input and output (total of the Input resistance divide by 4 and the same for the Output resistance). In case of six wires cable, you should expect to get very low resistance between the sense lines and the input as those are shorted inside the L/C.  Signal output must be around 10% (full scale capacity is 400kg) and the Shield to bridge resistance must remain very high i.e. >1000MΩ
    

3. If some of the expected results are not in the required range, or you get erratic / unstable readings when testing in Continuous (Gain) mode: Check the cable integrity between the summing box and the tester. If it looks fine, disconnect each Load Cell cable and check each Load Cell separately. Note: there is no need to remove the load cell from the scale.
    

4. If all results seem to be in range, you may check for scale linearity, by choosing Continuous mode (Gain) on the LCT-Ultimate and applying various weights on the scale.