How to Use the Load Cell Output Calculator
Load cell sensitivity is published in mV/V, meaning millivolts produced at rated capacity for every volt of excitation. A common 2 mV/V cell driven at 10 V therefore delivers 20 mV at full capacity. Because the rating is a ratio and not an absolute value, any drift in excitation voltage moves the signal with it.
The working formula is output (mV) = rated mV/V × excitation × (applied load ÷ total capacity). On a hopper or tank scale with several cells in parallel, total capacity is the capacity of one cell times the number of cells, and if the load shares evenly the output ratio is the same no matter how many cells carry it.
When the signal per display division gets too small, the indicator cannot separate real weight changes from electrical noise and the reading wanders. Legal-for-trade scales commonly require at least 0.3 μV per division, and keeping 1 μV or more is a comfortable practical target. Oversizing capacity is what usually destroys this margin, so include dead load from the tank but avoid excessive headroom. Confirm actual sensitivity and safe overload from the manufacturer data sheet and calibration certificate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Output is proportional to excitation, so 10 V produces twice the signal. Stay within the cell and indicator ratings because higher excitation also means more self-heating, and use a ratiometric indicator so supply drift cancels out.
No. In a parallel summed connection the cells share the load and their outputs average, so the same percentage of total capacity produces the same voltage. What does change is that total capacity grows, which shrinks the signal per division.
The tank or platform dead load is already resting on the cells, and each cell has a small zero offset of its own. The indicator zeroes this out, but if dead load eats much of the capacity the usable weighing range shrinks with it.