Re: [EE] Measuring increasing mass over a 1/2 day period

Sergio -

Thanks, that seems fairly easy to do - I'll have to think about it.

The timeout is usually 2 minutes but can be increased to 5 minutes.

If I could get around the initial heating period where nothing is
collected, roughly 1.5 hours, possibly the increase in mass would keep
the scale alive ?  I will have to try it.

Chuck

On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 4:45 PM smplx <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Thu, 12 Mar 2026, Chuck Olson wrote:
>
> > The mass in question would start at 263 grams (container mass) and
> > increase over 11+ hours to 4000+ grams (container mass plus about 1
> > gallon of water).
> >
> > I am trying to measure the distilled water output from a boil of maple
> > sap.  I use a Still Spirits Air Still.  With the still it's like
> > making candy blindfolded.  I can't measure the temperature or the
> > specific gravity of the maple syrup or even see what is happening.
> >
> > But I can measure the input maple sap for mass and sugar
> > concentration.  From that I can calculate the amount of maple syrup I
> > should be able to get at a concentration of 67 percent sugar by mass.
> >
> > I do have a kitchen scale which can handle 6000 grams but the problem
> > is that it times out and every subsequent powerup the measurement is
> > zeroed (tare function).  I suppose there are AC powered digital scales
> > which might stay on for 11+ hours but would the measurements still be
> > accurate after that time ?
> >
> > The only thing I can think of is to wait until near the end of the
> > boil and then start measuring the mass but that's a hassle trying to
> > put the scale under the container while the still is continuously
> > dripping.
> >
> > Any ideas ?
> >
> > Chuck
>
> I guess the scale has a timeout that resets when the weight changes? If so
> you just need to upset the weight periodically so that the scale never
> times out. Perhaps a solenoid to tap the scale?
>
> Regards
> Sergio
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