Should you throw out your mechanical bathroom scale?
If you have an old mechanical bathroom scale at home, I recommend that you chuck it out of your window and say good riddance. Chances are that the scale isn’t giving you an accurate reading anymore anyway. The general trend has been for consumers to turn to digital bathroom scales and the sales of mechanical models are really diminishing. That is because of the increased precision and accuracy that digital bathroom scales deliver. Still, there are some positive traits about mechanical bathroom scales too.
On the plus side, mechanical bathroom scales are very cheap and can be bought for under $10. They are great for giving a weight reading to within a pound or two. After all, not all of us need to know exactly how many ounces we have gained or lost. You can also find mechanical scales in all sorts of styles, sizes, colors and designs. Another major plus about mechanical scales over digital scales is that they have a much higher weight limit. This is good if you ever need to use your scale to weigh luggage, for example. If you have a new scale, there is a good chance that you actually are getting a very precise reading- though not with those $10 models. Here is where mechanical scales start to show there downsides though.
Over the long run, a bathroom mechanical scale will lose accuracy. That is because they rely on a spring system in order to give a reading. The springs will eventually lose their tension and the reading will be inaccurate. That is why warranties on mechanical scales are pretty useless. These warranties are based on the scale functioning and not based on the scale functioning accurately. That is why you should really throw out that old mechanical scale in your bathroom.