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I rectly purchased a penny fortune scale and it is having some issues. Sometimes It displays the correct weight but it doesn't tell me my fortune or vise versa. Only sometimes does both the fortune and the weight work. Is this a common problem? Could it possibly need to be oiled? I opened the front of the machine and nothing looked like it was out of place, but I wasn't able to open the back compartment (not sure if I have the key) which would probably give me a closer look at the fortune compartment.
Thanks for your help!

Just founds this thread as I recently acquired a Watling penny scale myself and was having the same problem. Seems there aren't too many penny scale enthusiasts here... like this seems to be the only thread.

Anyway, If you haven't figured it out yet, you need to used pennies minted prior to 1982 when the composition was changed resulting in a lighter penny. (2.5 grams vs. 3.11 grams). Once I started using the older pennies mine works correctly most of the time. Kudos to Bill at pennyscale.com for that tip. He's very helpful!