Ohaus Scales

OHAUS Scales and Balances: Full Product Line

Liberty Scales is one of the largest OHAUS distributors in the United States, stocking the complete OHAUS product lineup across laboratory, industrial, commercial, and portable weighing applications.

OHAUS builds precision weighing instruments to exacting standards, with models ranging from milligram-readability analytical balances for pharmaceutical and research environments to heavy-capacity industrial bench scales for manufacturing and shipping operations. Their instruments are used daily in universities, hospitals, quality control labs, food production facilities, chemical plants, and jewelry operations across the country.

Our OHAUS inventory includes the Explorer series analytical balances with internal AutoCal calibration, the Adventurer series precision balances for general lab work, the Scout series portable balances for field and light-bench use, the Defender series legal-for-trade industrial scales, and the Ranger series counting scales for parts and inventory applications. We also stock OHAUS laboratory mixers and accessories.

Every OHAUS instrument we carry comes with full manufacturer support and is available for same-day shipping on most models. For application-specific recommendations or pricing on multiple units, contact our team at (661) 888-1919 or info@libertyscales.com.

Browse OHAUS scales and balances by model below, or explore our full range of laboratory balances and analytical scales.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the difference between an Ohaus analytical balance and a precision balance?

Readability and enclosure. Analytical balances resolve to four decimal places in grams, which is 0.1 mg, and are built inside a draft shield because air movement at that resolution is enough to move the reading. They are used for quantitative analysis, reagent preparation, and any work where the sample mass itself is the measurement. Precision balances resolve to one to three decimal places depending on the model and generally have a larger capacity and a larger pan, with no draft shield on most units. They suit formulation, quality control checks, education, and production weighing where milligram resolution is more than the process needs. If the tolerance you are working to is tighter than a few milligrams, the balance needs a draft shield.

Which Ohaus product lines does Liberty Scales carry?

Liberty Scales stocks the Ohaus catalog across laboratory weighing, laboratory equipment, laboratory instruments, industrial weighing, and weights and weight sets. Laboratory weighing covers analytical balances, precision balances, portable balances, moisture analyzers, and mechanical scales and balances. Laboratory equipment covers centrifuges, open air and incubating shakers, vortex mixers, dry block heaters, hot plates and stirrers, overhead and specialty stirrers, bead mill homogenizers, and Labjaws clamps and supports. Industrial weighing covers floor scales, floor scale platforms, bench scales, shipping scales, counting scales, compact bench scales, and bench scale bases. Indicators, printers, and water analysis meters and electrodes round out the range.

Is Ohaus a good brand for laboratory and industrial weighing?

Ohaus has been manufacturing weighing instruments since 1907 and is one of the longest running names in the category. The reason it holds up in practice is service life and parts availability rather than headline specifications. Instruments stay supported, calibration routines are consistent across product lines, and an operator trained on one Ohaus balance transfers to another without relearning the interface. For a lab or production floor running multiple instruments, that consistency is worth more over a ten year horizon than a small difference in readability at purchase.

Do I need a legal for trade Ohaus scale?

Only if the weight is the basis of a commercial transaction. Selling product by weight, billing a customer directly from the reading, or dispensing a prescription all require an NTEP certified, legal for trade instrument, and it must be placed into service and periodically verified by a licensed scale technician in most jurisdictions. Internal process weighing, quality control, inventory counts, shipping estimates, and research work do not. Certification adds cost and adds a recurring compliance obligation, so specify it where the regulation requires it and not by default. If you are unsure whether your application crosses that line, contact the Liberty Scales technical team before ordering.

What is a moisture analyzer and when do I need one instead of a balance?

A moisture analyzer is a balance with a halogen or infrared heating element above the pan. It weighs the sample, drives off the moisture with controlled heat, weighs again, and reports moisture content as a percentage of the original mass. A standard balance can only tell you what a sample weighs, not how much of that weight is water. If you are running loss on drying testing on food, grain, plastics, pharmaceuticals, or any material where moisture content determines whether the batch passes, a moisture analyzer replaces an oven drying cycle that would otherwise take hours with a result in minutes.

How often does an Ohaus balance need to be calibrated?

It depends on the instrument and how it is used. Analytical and precision balances used in regulated or quality-critical work are typically verified daily with a check weight and calibrated on a documented schedule, often monthly or quarterly, with an annual service by a technician. Industrial bench and floor scales in general production use are usually verified weekly and serviced annually. Models with internal automatic calibration adjust themselves against a built-in reference mass on a temperature or time trigger, which reduces the frequency of manual calibration but does not remove the need for periodic verification against a traceable external weight. Liberty Scales stocks calibration weights and reference mass standards for both routines.

What is the difference between an Ohaus scale and an Ohaus balance?

In practice the terms overlap, but the distinction is resolution and purpose. A balance is a laboratory instrument built to resolve small mass differences, typically reading to milligrams or better, with a small pan and a construction designed to reject vibration and air movement. A scale is built to weigh larger loads on a bigger platform, reading in grams, pounds, or kilograms, and to survive a production or warehouse environment. Ohaus builds both. If the question is how much of something is present, you want a balance. If the question is how much something weighs for shipping, inventory, or process control, you want a scale.

Can I still buy mechanical Ohaus balances?

Yes. Ohaus mechanical balances, including triple beam and dial models, remain in production and in the catalog. They need no power, they cannot lose calibration to a firmware fault or a dead battery, and they hold up in teaching labs, field use, and any environment where a digital instrument would be a liability. The tradeoff is that reading them takes an operator, they produce no output to a printer or a data system, and resolution is limited compared to a digital balance in the same capacity class. Liberty Scales carries the mechanical range in the Mechanical Scales and Balances collection.