Next Generation Wireless Load Shackles

For close to five decades, Eilon Engineering has specialized in the design and manufacturing of tension load cells, crane scales, and dynamometers, and has pioneered the use of advanced wireless load cell communication. Yet not all tension load cell designs are the same. What about wireless load shackles? What sets them apart from other types of weighing systems and load management solutions? 

Here, we’ll explore these questions and more as we compare the load shackle to the standard tension load cell.

The heart of innovation

The heart of Eilon Engineering weighing systems is the innovative design of our classic load cell body, which features 90 degree offset shackle holes in a strong, stable, yet lightweight design made of aerospace-grade steel. It’s this design that has set our weighing systems apart from the competition for so many years and helped earn us a global reputation for safety and innovation.

The 90° rotation between the shackle holes has a specific purpose—it greatly reduces the influence of external moments that often occur during lifting and rigging activities, making each lift safer and more accurate. 

In most cases, this design is ideal because of the increased stability. But its one drawback is that, while still having very low headroom loss, it has a bit more headroom loss than some other load cell designs.

For the large majority of industrial load applications, the innovative design of our classic load cell body will be the best choice. Yet, in those specific cases where headroom is at an absolute premium, you may need to use what's known as a shackle pin load cell or load shackle for short. 

Classic load cells vs. wireless load shackles

In a typical tension load cell, such as the classic Eilon load cell design, a strain gauge is attached to the center of the load cell body. Then, when force or tension is placed on the load cell from both ends, the strain gauge measures the slight change in length or deformation to the load cell body. The heavier the lifted load or the more tension applied, the more the load cell body will be temporarily lengthened. The strain gauge senses this slight change and then converts it into a readable unit of measurement, like pounds or kilograms. 

A pin-style load shackle also works with a strain gauge, but in a slightly different fashion due to the different shape of the weight-bearing element. 

At first appearance, a load shackle looks much like a regular single shackle. But in fact, the shackle’s pin serves as the load cell, complete with a strain gauge to measure the force or weight applied directly to the pin. The electronics are housed to the side for an incredibly compact design with an absolute minimum of headroom loss. 

However, while there are durable load shackles out there, they can’t quite compare to the classic Eilon load cell design when it comes to stability and accuracy. Part of this is due to the way the load sits on the pin itself. 

While weighing with an upper and lower shackle attached to a load cell body, as with the classic Eilon design, the load is guaranteed to be centered in each shackle, increasing accuracy. But with a pin-style load shackle, the load won’t necessarily sit directly in the center of the pin. And while the pin is designed with slopes to help center the load, this style load cell still isn’t as accurate as the classic design. 

In fact, while our classic load cells have an accuracy of 0.1% of the full scale, our shackle pin load cell’s accuracy is only 2%. These are still highly accurate load cells, but one should consider this difference before deciding on which style to use.

So if wireless load shackles are less accurate, why might someone choose them over the classic load cell design?

Reduced headroom loss and more

For those applications where every inch of headroom loss counts but you still need the added safety of remote load measurement, a wireless load shackle can’t be beat. This is a common scenario in tight, indoor spaces such as theaters or concert halls where ceiling height can be a challenge.

That’s why we launched our shackle pin load cells as part of our Ron StageMaster system.

The RSM 6000 Shackle Pin load cell includes a 5/8″ standard shackle enabling an extremely low headroom loss of only 2.4 inches (61mm), perfect for those cramped conditions. 

This style load cell also has the added benefit of being quick and easy to install, while still having all the same advanced technology of the Ron StageMaster system, including:

• Bluetooth compatibility with smartphones
• Precision load data
• 24/7 continuous load monitoring from up to 200 load cells
• Industry-leading battery life
• Real-time load map with all load cells displayed on one screen
• Combine both wired and wireless load cells in one system
• Wireless connectivity options
  • Up to 450'/150m range in normal operation conditions
  • Longer transmission ranges optional
• Many more

Proven wireless technology

While the RSM can include both wired and wireless load cells, there’s no doubt that our wireless shackle technology will be beneficial in most situations. 

Since 1993, we’ve been perfecting wireless load cell communication and integrated it into the Ron StageMaster in 2005. Now, we’ve incorporated the same technology into our heavy-duty wireless shackles, the RSM 6000 shackle pin load cell, bringing advanced load shackle monitoring to the market.

Learn more

Learn more about our wireless load shackles, or get in touch with a sales representative today. We’ll be happy to help you find the perfect weighing system for your application. 

US/Canada/Int'l: 1-888-778-8064
UK: 0800 8620354

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sales@eilon-engineering.com

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