A new spring - where can I find one?

[Speicher]

I dropped my kitchen scales on Friday. Today I managed to get them apart to retrieve the indicator that tells you the weight. The indicator had fallen off but not broken. Somehow, I have also dislodged the spring.

The spring has a curly wurly bit at one end, but the curly wurly bit is missing off the other end. Nothing rattles in the scales when you shake it up and down, but it looks like a bit might be missing.

These scales are only about 15 years old, nothing built to last these days, but I would like to try and repair them rather than chuck them out. I have a huge aversion to chucking anything out.

So I thought I would try tinternet for a new spring. However, it is not easy to tell from these websites, if they would be expecting me to order springs in their thousands, or just one.

I am sure someone on here can tell me the following:

where might I find one
and what is the curly wurly bit on the end called?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Springs are ten-a-penny, but those curly wurly bits, well.....they are bespoke jobbies produced only by highly skilled artisans deep in the sub-tropical rain forests of Milton Keynes. I think Shimano may supply them through authorised dealers, but I suspect you may have to be a pro before they will supply you.

 

[Aperitif]

I reckon the bit on the end is called a loop or hook. At a stretch I might be able to think of something else...

Boiiinnnnnnnnnnnnng!

Playing the weighting game, who made the scales please? Are they in Lbs shillings and pence or kilos anagrams..?

 

[Dayvo]

A lot of springs will be occurring in the Southern Hemisphere shortly!

Best to contact the manufactures of said scales and ask them.

Sorry, I was pretty useless, really!

 

[Speicher]

A pro what? Scale repairing person?

BTW I also have a pen that needs putting back together. It is one of those where you put in new pencil leads, (yes, steady on at the back there), but a lead got stuck in the pencil, and it won't go back together.

Also a saucepan lid handle came loose. So I thought I would tighten the screw, only to find I was unscrewing it, and then it won't screw back together again.

 

[Speicher]

A lot of springs will be occurring in the Southern Hemisphere shortly!

Best to contact the manufactures of said scales and ask them.

Sorry, I was pretty useless, really!

On the underneath it says

Ulovlig i bruk veo kjop og salg
what does that mean?

BTW you might be useless, cannot comment on the pretty.

 

[Dayvo]

On the underneath it says
Ulovlig i bruk veo kjop og salg
what does that mean?

It sounds like Norwegian and means (not literally) 'Not to be used for commercial purposes' (translators licence!) seeing as it's is (presumably) for domestic use.

Pretty? Pretty rough!

 

[Mr Pig]

If you use a pair of narrow-tip pliers you might be able to bend out the end coil on the spring to form a new loop/hook. I've done this a few times.

What does the spring do though? The scales may not work correctly if the spring isn't right.

Should the above fail, just bin it. You could buy a new spring but to be honest the cost and effort of tracking one down might well be a fair percentage of the cost of new scales.

 

[domtyler]

Actually my Uncle is an expert in scales, he is a retired engineer and does it for a hobby, goes 'round to shows (agricultural &tc.) and puts on big displays. If you are serious about getting it repaired I am sure he would do it for you for the cost of any parts and p&p. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[Speicher]

The spring is attached to an adjustable spindle. This is so that you can re-calibrate the indicator according to the weight of the container resting on the scales.

I will not bin it yet. I will add it to my small collection of items taken apart studied for their construction, and ask the ironmonger (who is also a lock smith) how to reattach the spring. Then one day, a spring will materialise from somewhere (the same somewhere that it would normallly materialise from two days after throwing said item away).

I agree with Mr Pig that consideration must be given to a time/cost/benefit analysis. Thank you for your offer, Dom, but the postage costs might be more than a new one. Unless I go for the Bugatti model that I saw on the tinterweb last night, only 98 pounds.

 

[Dayvo]

Unless I go for the Bugatti model that I saw on the tinterweb last night, only 98 pounds.

Shouldn't that be 44.55 kg?

 

[bikepete]

You could always make one :-)

Link

 

[Speicher]

Shouldn't that be 44.55 kg?

If flour, eggs, sugar and butter are in equal proportions to make a cake, it matters not if it is 45 kg or 98 pounds, the cake tin will still be too big for my oven.

 

[Speicher]

Oh sugar lumps.

The Bugatti scales are discontinued.
http://www.madeindesign.co.uk/prod-Uma-electronic-kitchen-scales-timer-Bugatti-ref567180cr.html

 

[Mr Pig]

The Bugatti scales are discontinued.

Darn. Just have to be a new spring them eh? ;0)