Rapala RHCDS50 Scale Not Recording Light Fish

[Pkfish49]

I assume this is in the right forum.  If not, mods please move it to the appropriate one.

 

I emailed Rapala customer support this question, but an AI bot replied with a prepared answer about pride in their products and their warranty policy.

 

I'm comfortable with the accuracy of my Rapala RHCDS50 scale as I've used it on objects with known weights.  The problem is that when I catch small bass under a pound, the scale often registers 0.0.0.  

 

This is the second unit I had the same issue with.  I had lost one and purchased another.

 

Is this a known issue with this scale or digital fish scales?  Can this be user error?  Should I be gripping in a different spot?  Gravity is gravity, so I I understand this question may sound strange, but I find this very puzzling and am looking for an explanation.

 

Thanks

 

[roadwarrior]

Geez...

Why do you care about the weight of little fish?

A bass under 1 lb is worth about what your scale

indicates.

[MN Fisher]

You're talking 2% of the scale's max - down that low you're gonna get errors. If a bass ain't 12", I don't try to weigh it...not worth it.

 

If you want to weigh fish that light - get a smaller range scale like the Rapala Mini (25# max)

[Deephaven]

Accuracy on a cheap scale is 2-5% so 0 isn't wrong.

[jbsoonerfan]

I don't care what anyone says, I applaud you for having a set of scales.

 

I can't stand those "Here's my PB, what does it weigh" threads.

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, Pkfish49 said:

I assume this is in the right forum.  If not, mods please move it to the appropriate one.

 

I emailed Rapala customer support this question, but an AI bot replied with a prepared answer about pride in their products and their warranty policy.

 

I'm comfortable with the accuracy of my Rapala RHCDS50 scale as I've used it on objects with known weights.  The problem is that when I catch small bass under a pound, the scale often registers 0.0.0.  

 

This is the second unit I had the same issue with.  I had lost one and purchased another.

 

Is this a known issue with this scale or digital fish scales?  Can this be user error?  Should I be gripping in a different spot?  Gravity is gravity, so I I understand this question may sound strange, but I find this very puzzling and am looking for an explanation.

 

Thanks

 

 

You could weigh a tackle bag without the little bass and them throw him and weigh it again.

Then it's just a matter of subtraction. 

Or perhaps you could save 6 or 7 of them little guys and weight them all at once in bucket.

Then go for the average.

?

A-Jay 

[5/0]

Some light fish could make the difference in a tourney, as long as they’re 12”. Fished a club tourney with a guy who caught a spot that came in at a whopping .65#! That fish moved him up a place in the standings. We record our fish on paper and release. He caught a lot of grief at the weigh-in because nobody believed a fish with that weight would go 12”. But I saw him measure it on a board. Oh, and the guy he passed was me.

[Pkfish49]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

You could weigh a tackle bag without the little bass and them throw him and weigh it again.

Then it's just a matter of subtraction. 

Or perhaps you could save 6 or 7 of them little guys and weight them all at once in bucket.

Then go for the average.

?

A-Jay 

No bucket for my catch and release Bass, but bringing something with a known weight and adding the little ones to it makes sense.  

 

 

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Geez...

Why do you care about the weight of little fish?

A bass under 1 lb is worth about what your scale

indicates.

I like setting goals and breaking personal records.  The next time I go fishing and figure out how to weigh everything, (I'm going to take A-Js suggestion and put 3-5 pounds of tackle in a bag to use as a baseline, and then add small Bass to it and do the subtraction) I'm going to add up all the weight of my Bass that I catch that day.  That will be my first record and I'll strive to beat it.  I wanted to start doing this a few days ago, but couldn't because of the scale's inability to weigh the little ones.

 

[Munkin]

Catch bigger fish to solve the problem.

 

Allen

[Deleted account]

That is the universe's way of making up for all the times guys push down on their analog boga scales before reading the weight, conservation of mass...  

[MAN]

I have had 2 of these scales and have not had that issue.  This past weekend it weighed all my crappie under 1lb just fine.  Sometimes I have to remove the fish and place back on the scale after clearing it back to zero to get it to read correctly.  Overall I love this scale.  

[Pkfish49]

I just caught a decent size Largemouth Bass and it still recorded 0.0.0.  I then weighed myself on a real scale with and without holding the fish, and the difference was 2.58 pounds.  

 

I'm off to Dicks Sporting Goods to return it.  I hope they don't give me a hard time.  If they have a non-Rapala brand digital scale, I'll try it.  In any event, can people please recommend some good alternatives?

 

Rapala makes good lures, but the two rhcds50 scales that I've had were useless pieces of crap!

 

I hope I'm not violating any forum Terms of Service by bashing the company, but I'm really pisssed.  What if the defective scale caused me to miss recording a PB?  

[MN Fisher]

Well - the name on mine might be different, but this is the one I have

It's a generic, made by....I have no idea - but it's re-labeled for a number of different vendors.

Vendors on Amazon who sell it: Rapala, ReelSonar (mine), Booms, Ahosoutly, Luoyer...doesn't matter the name on it, it's the same unit.

 

I did a mod that replaces the hook with a carbiner that I clip my grips into - the scale is tared to the grips so I get accurate weight.

[Pkfish49]

Dicks was nice enough to take it back without the box or a receipt.  They did have a record of the sale form my rewards account.  I purchased something that works, both with light and heavy weights.

 

The iBobber digital Bluetooth scale.  More features than the Rapala, as this one saves all weights to my iPhone, making it easier to keep track of stuff.  I haven't looked at all the features yet, but it looks to have some kind of tournament mode as well.

 

Edit - Using the Amazon link for a description - I purchased the scale at Dicks.

https://www.amazon.com/ReelSonar-Ibobber-Bluetooth-Measure-Gripper/dp/B07CNHZ8MY