Has anybody ever weighed their weight plates?

[dickknowsbest]

Sup!

I have heard stories before of some 20kg plates with a variance of as much as 2kg. Some 45's have been said to be off as much as 3-4lb. I know there are definitely some cheaper companies out there. Do you think this is true?

Anyway, on topic, but off topic a little but. I have some 20kg grip plates at home. They are from here...

http://www.no1fitness.co.nz/catalog/max ... id-89.html

However they are getting very rusty and some of them have lots of little chips in the metal and paint, and on the scales they weigh as much as 1.2kg in variance to other plates, weighed on the same scales. So the weight if definitely off. I was wondering if there would be any way to overcome this and make them more accurate. And what would be an accurate way to measure the weight?

I know a lot of people don't care if their 20's are off by 1 kg or not, but I do xD, and in respect it all adds up. I don't want to pay too much for calibrated plates, and don't really want to buy new plates either, do you think there would be any way to fix them up... DIY!?

I know... silly questions, but please let me know your thoughts on this. Cheers.

[drizzt]

And what would be an accurate way to measure the weight?

Hey man. Maybe an accurate enough method would be to jump on the scales, weigh yourself, then pick up the plate, and see how much was added to your weight?

[Optimass]

Yeah - is a good idea to weigh them especially if you have a mix of brands. The plates endorsed by the Pling feds are the best quality - Im sure the hardcore powerlifters on the site can make some good recommendations. IVANKO etc ...

[dickknowsbest]

I tried Picking up the weight and weighing the plates. It gives me an idea of how much weight each plate differentiates. Some as different as 1kg. However, I have 2 different scales (cheapies! xD) and each one gives me slightly different numbers. One shows I weigh 73kg and another says 75. So...

[goinhard]

for overweight ones get the grinder out, for underweight ones get small magnetic weights. I know at my old gym noone used a certain set of plates due to them feeling heavier, sure enough the 20kg regulars were around 18.8 (possible digital scale innacurracy) while the 'heavy' ones were 20.6 ish.

[deeepsouth_nz]

Yeah I weigh some plates BUT just so I know the accuracy of the gym scales (or vice versa I guess) ie the other day I had a 20 and a 15 .5kg over and a 20 and a 15 (different brand) .5kg under.....SO....I figure my weight must be accurate to approx +/- 0.5kg for competition weigh-in :grin:

[Old Bull]

We have 180 20kg plates the last order I did was for a 120 x 20s I wanted them all over 20 kgs before I brought them they average 20.5 20.6. This way when you have 200 on the Bar you have about an extra 4kgs. Come comp time this gives you a Psychological edge.

We have 20 x 20kg plates that are under, all between 19 and 19.4 these are on the Leg Press, Trap Bar and Sled/Prowler. I have calibrated competion Scales which makes things a bit more easier when weighing Plates and Bars.

I would do what gh said add magnetic weights and mark the plates.

[rose]

I've weighed the plates, DB's, barbells etc at the gym I go to. Quite a difference between different branded plates.

The magnetic weights idea is brilliant! My gym has DB's that jump from 20kg to 27kg, then 32kg. Problem solved \:D/

[geneticgod]

i don't know how much these magnetic weights cost but prehaps a more affordbale alternative that I have been using is those weight straps for around wrists and ankles? I use those for small increments on bars and cables etc and it works quite well

[cantygirl]

The worst culprits for plates losing weight, is the Don Olliver Bodypump ones, you can actually see the dust coming out of them when you place them on the floor, dodgy.

Same thing applies to the solid weight bars EZ bars differ too, use your gym scales next time your there and weigh yourself first, pick up a bar and see what it weighs, quite surprising.

[dickknowsbest]

The worst culprits for plates losing weight, is the Don Olliver Bodypump ones, you can actually see the dust coming out of them when you place them on the floor, dodgy.

I don't quite know what you mean, but a mate lent me some really old plastic york plates a few years back, they would shake and rattle when I picked them up, after about 2 weeks of using them, some little cap on the bottom of the weight fell off and about a hand-full of this grey dust and sand-like substances fell out the weight and onto the floor. lol

[cantygirl]

I don't quite know what you mean, but a mate lent me some really old plastic york plates a few years back, they would shake and rattle when I picked them up, after about 2 weeks of using them, some little cap on the bottom of the weight fell off and about a hand-full of this grey dust and sand-like substances fell out the weight and onto the floor. lol

Yep thats what I meant, the dust stuff comes out, the really bad ones have rattly stoney stuff in them which seeps out the cracks, bit of a laugh really.

[andy s]

Find a set of calibrated scales or if you cant, put a new bag of flour, sugar etc on your scales and weigh that and compare to the weight on the bag.

Products like that are made to tight standards on calibrated gear so their weight should be damn close to what it says on the bag. If your using old DO's or the like you can take some out but you will probably need to add some powder. Could use something dense like cement maybe. If your weights are cast you could have the extra welded to the sides. Remember that alot of this gear now comes out of China and if it does the steel/iron will be rubbish.

Andy.

[alfa romeu]

i have a friend who has some 45' eleiko plates on father's old gym. we (me and my friend) were using 4 of those plates, me and my friend. Now i ask myself if the plates were checked or not for his father. so they could weigghing 45lb , 44.1 lb (-2%) or even 45.9 lb (+2%)...that could be 0.9lb x 4 = 3.6lb up or off...i don´t know if the most of comercial gyms ever weighed even their 45' hight quality plates (like these ones)? can anyone tell me that?

[iwilson]

General purpose commercial plates can often be off by 10%. The main problem is if you get a light one on one end of the bar and a overweight one of the other it screws up the balance of the bar making it difficult to perform the exercise.

Up until last year we had a pile of mixed brand iron plates with a lot of variation, the regulars had worked out what worked with what and could often be seen hunting around the floor looking for the right combination. Not good. When we replaced them all I hand weighed every new plate 15kg and above and rejected any more than a couple of hundred grams out. Took forever but was worth it esp. given certified plates are a lot more expensive.