culmrite

ruger123 · Post by **ruger123** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:02 pm

Anybody know how much it cost to send in a culmrite scale to have a new battery replaced. I tried calling the number that was in my instruction booklet, but all i got was a recording to email aft@qest.com, no response yet.

JeffJ · Post by **JeffJ** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:54 pm

Yea just had mine done recently, it was $49.99 and expect a few weeks before getting it returned. A buddy had his being repaired for like 8 weeks.

Rick Stanfield
(623) 486-6663

pitchin1 · Post by **pitchin1** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:28 pm

Sent mine in over the winter for repair and it took 8 weeks, got it back and it seemed to work fine but when temperatures got hot it didn't work I sent it back in 9 weeks ago and have yet to get it back..

My advice is to replace the battery yourself and throw the unit away when it stops working completely. This company has no idea what customer service is about.

lacy10 · Post by **lacy10** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:37 pm

Whoa - Whoa replace it yourself with a regular battery 9v ,I think , my buddy did mine in about 2 minutes and 6 mos later it is still good I didn't do it so I don't know the particulars ,but I know it is real easy and a lot cheaper than $49.00

ruger123 · Post by **ruger123** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:14 pm

Hey everybody thanks for the information, i can't believe that it cost that much. I think i will try to replace the battery myself. I spent 199.99 on the dam thing and now another 49.99 for a battery.

Guy Williams · Post by **Guy Williams** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:41 pm

Mine is on the bottom of Lake Mead (well maybe 80 feet above the water now). Mine never worked right so I finally had a heart to heart talk with it and well, we didn't see eye to eye. I'm sure some worked better than others but mine sucked!! Good luck. I bought me a $20 Berkley scale that's been money from the start, 7 years ago.
Guy Williams

Andrew Jackson · Post by **Andrew Jackson** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:53 pm

I am still using the original one (five or six years ago) that has the easy to replace 9 volt battery and it still works as good as the day I bought it. It always weighs about a 1/4 less than the weight of the bass.

ruger123 · Post by **ruger123** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:59 pm

I just opened it up and it did have a 9 volt battery, but the battery was inclosed in some type of rubber coating. I am kind of scared to mess it up. the top of the battery also is inclosed in some type of rubber. I have only had it for 2 years. when i first got it it would start weighing by itself, but sent in for repair and had the problem fixed. but yeah this sucks if i am going to have to pay 49.99 every 2 years.

ash · Post by **ash** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:46 pm

http://www.americanesuperstore.com/dby67764.html

I would not pay any 50.00 to replace a 9 volt battery...are you kidding me 4 battery changes and you bought a new one

I replaced the battery on my berkley it cost 5.00 bucks and my Balance Beam....pricless

LHayes · Post by **LHayes** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:07 am

Just did mine about a month ago. Figured for the cost of sending it back it was worth the effort to do it myself. It ended up being a super easy fix.

The battery was coated with a red type of silicone sealant, and the rest of the internals were buried in a clear (and harder) sealer. I used a razor to get the battery out and scrape the red sealer off the leads. The leads were not pressed on, but soldered. Use a solder gun to heat the leads enough to get them off and then use some fresh solder to put your new battery on. I used a silicone type sealer to cover the leads (after cooled) and battery when I put it back in. The unit works like new.

Andrew Jackson · Post by **Andrew Jackson** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:56 am

So they hired some rocket scientist to F the unit up and make it more difficult to change battery. UnFriggin' real. Just like our F'n current administration. Things are to good, let's F it up. I could use more profanity but I got keep it down a notch.

TomAtkeson · Post by **TomAtkeson** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:25 am

Seems like with all that effort just go buy a regular 9v battery connector at Radio Shak and waterproof tape to seal it.

lobinaloca · Post by **lobinaloca** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:49 am

This scale was a huge dissapointment, got it a little wet in the rain and only reads zero now, it never read accurately from the begining, waste of money. I should've spent my money on an X-tool

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:13 am

Andrew Jackson wrote:I am still using the original one (five or six years ago) that has the easy to replace 9 volt battery and it still works as good as the day I bought it. It always weighs about a 1/4 less than the weight of the bass.

I completely agree with this. Every single derby i use this thing I am weighing considerably lighter than the actual scales. usually for us the total weight of the sack is around 1/2-1lb off. So when we some how weighed LIGHT at cachuma a couple years ago it made ZERO sense to us.

harry chang · Post by **harry chang** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:25 am

I have the original Stren Model with self replaceable battery for over ten years now, it is still working great. Every Scale weighs different but you are only looking for the relative wt of your biggest fish. To me, it had always weighed well within the variabilities of the different scales.

BTW, it stopped working a few times after I get it wet , such as dropped it in the livewell. All I did was remove the battery and let it droy off, good as new each time.
Harry

ruger123 · Post by **ruger123** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:10 pm

I had a friend of mine fix my culmrite for me today. He cut the battery out with a razor blade. Then he cut the soldered wire leads off of the battery but left enough so he could solder a regular 9volt battery connector. Unit now works as good as new, also now when the battery gets low all i have to do is open it up and put a new 9volt in, saved me 50.00

Andrew Jackson · Post by **Andrew Jackson** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:31 pm

Very cool Ruger dude. Glad it worked out for you.

JeffJ · Post by **JeffJ** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:46 am

Cool I will have to remeber this next time I need it to be replaced. They told me it was going to be recalibrated, new battery, and new weight system (?) plus cost of shipping back. So I figured it was worth it. But my whole problem was my weights were way off! I am talking like 2-3lbs off total weights of my limit. But had this scale since it first came out and has been accurate as can be. But then again I know buddies who swore they were junk. Guess I was lucky and got a decent unit.

Guess I will save the how to replace battery part of this post for future reference.

Flippinjigs · Post by **Flippinjigs** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:54 pm

Had my Culmrite battery replaced my the manufacture two years ago. I would hope that they just didn't replace the battery but do an entire check and recalibration of the scale for the price they charged me?

I have had this Culmrite scale since 2004 (won it at a New Bass event) and now use it as a scale only.

I find a balance beam and 5 numbered floats to mark the fish more efficient than fumbling with the Culmrite buttons. Usually I didn't trust what it said to cull (when I did use the culling function). The buttons where hard to press, and I found myself double checking the results, wasting fishing time.

Hopefully it works better for you, than it does for me.

Good Fishin