Degraw 40 kg Tension Load Cell and HX711 Combo Pack Kit - Load Cell Amplifier ADC Weight Sensor for Arduino Scale - Everything Needed for Accurate Force Measurement

I wanted to build a digital hanging weight scale (similar to a fish scale or a food scale, but digital) to measure the dynamic tension on my arms while using a rowing machine. I wanted to do this because I'm recovering from rotator cuff surgery, and wanted to make sure I wasn't overstressing the injured shoulder. After a lot of online research, I found this item to be perfect because it is small, lightweight, and already has the dual-hook arrangement I need to connect to the rowing machine strap. I had some trouble making this work initially, and contacted Degraw for help. The technical support from Degraw was prompt and helpful. Mack even offered to send me another unit gratis to see if it was a hardware problem - nice! However, it turned out to be mostly issues at my end, and as the plot above shows, it looks pretty linear up to 6Kg (as far as I tested it). The only issue I experienced is you need to use a 5V supply for the HX711 ADC. At first I used a 3.3V Teensy microcontroller, and this produced marked nonlinearity at the higher tensions ranges. When I switched to a 5V Sparkfun Pro Micro, these problems disappeared. Frank

I like the idea of this product but I’m having one hell of a time getting it to output anything that looks like reasonable values. I’ve checked connections, the pinout, and multiple arduino libraries and codes to get this to work and I’ve got nothing. That applies for both calibration and readings. Even when I do finally get numbers on the serial monitor it’s riddled with “HX711 not found” and no amount of increasing or decreasing tension on the load cell appears to have any effect on the serial monitor output values. I saw one reviewer contacted Degraw and had success, but I can’t see how that reviewer got degrades contact info. I’ve had an easier time making contact with sellers on AliExpress with the “message seller” button than I have trying to find out how to reach out to this seller. I’m not sure where the problem is: my soldering quality, pinout connections, the load cell, the HX711, or an arduino library or code. There is a lot that goes into getting this to work. If others have figured this out I’m sure it can be done. But from what I’m seeing I’m not convinced. I’m not going to recommend this product at this time.

Like many reviewers said, wire is crazy thin. I looped it and wire tied it. I am using it to weigh chicken feed in the coop. It is not really good to have on constant and the weight fluctuates with weather. It fits my purpose as I know when I need to go top off the food. I am using it with an edp8266, MQTT, and home assistant.

Initially, I was having trouble getting the reading from the load cell (all my fault), for which I contacted Degraw. He was prompt and really helped me in fixing my issue. He even sent me another load cell with HX711 board even though it was all my fault. Highly recommend buying from Degraw!

The sensor works fine, and reads pretty accurately even well above 40kg. But! The wires are cheap and *extremely* fragile. And if they rip off you can't really put new ones in that I can tell. Handle very carefully, don't expect it to last.

This is my solution for the thin wire problem in the reviews. Homemade ribbon using headers and crimper. I'll test it out tomorrow Ruth my nano and update it.

Having used another bending moment strain cell with the HX711 board, this was a breeze to drop in to my old code and get going. it works and seemed accurate to the oz. with respect to a digital fishing scale up to 60 lbs.

The gauge of the wires is much smaller than I expected. Had to buy new wiring just to get it properly wired. I have it working now, but the calibration instructions are rather poor. Had a lot of trouble setting it up by trial and error method. Generally happy with the purchase, but as is usually the case with these low cost sensors, they are more for learning or occasional use than for rugged use. It arrived really fast in the mail.