Winterizing The Scale House Tips

Winter is upon us, especially in the latitudes.  As temperatures drop, daylight shrinks and snow starts sticking to the ground, many ILS clients, especially in the Asphalt and Paving industries, are either cutting back hours or closing for the season.

Interface Logic Systems designs our products for long-lived reliability in harsh conditions, but leaving electronics and electro-mechanical equipment dormant and unprotected in freezing temperatures can result in problems over the long term.  If you are planning on scaling back significantly, or shutting down until the first robin sings, you can take some simple precautions to prevent surprises, delays or avoidable expenses when spring arrives:

1)      Your ScaleQ PC should not be stored in an unheated location for long periods.  We recommend that you bring it inside for the winter.  Remember to label all cables and connections for a quick and simple return to service!

2)      Printers should be removed from their scale side enclosures or the scale house and stored indoors, as well.  Removal and re-installation of these printers should be fast and easily accomplished:  Just disconnect the power and data cables from the back of the printer, batten down the empty enclosure and tuck the printers where you can find them.

3)      Consider scheduling an ILS Technician on site for a Start Of Season Maintenance visit.  He can assist with returning the hardware to service, test all systems for proper operation and correct any problems that may have occurred.  For ILS Extended Support clients, the latest in-version updates of the ScaleQ, ScaleQ Report and ScaleQ Manager programs can be installed at this time, as well.

These simple precautions will go a long way to ensuring a fast and easy return to operations when spring, and business opportunities return.  As always, if you have any questions, or if we can be of any assistance at any time, don’t hesitate to give us a call.