Electronic stylus force gauge question

I can't explain the reason for your problem, however I know and have experienced the same issue, as I'm sure countless others have here.
It seems like you're describing the guage marketed by many but manufactured by one, which I won't name.
My specimen would never 'settle' down. It would constantly fluctuate. It's a piece of trash.
Get a $80.00 Mapleshade, pretty damn accurate, uses AAA batteries, works great. Then, listen with your ears.

My guess is the strength of the cartridge magnet is somehow affecting the scale accuracy. It reads ZERO until you place the cartridge over the scale then as it lowers the values start to flucuate.

That's my best guess!

Peterayer,
The gauge is set to 0.00, but begins to show a negative reading as the tonearm is half-way down toward it, no matter how gently and carefully I lower it. At which point would you reset it? The platter is definitely level.

Stringreen,
The Delos is designed to perform best at 1.75 g. You can read about it on the Lyra site, but it essentially aligns the signal coils precisely parallel to the magnets during play. That's also what I've found. As far as the Shure, I have two of those and their readings were inconsistent so it was obvious that at least one of them was inaccurate. That was the reason I decided to get an electronic scale.

Slaw,
The gauge does not really fluctuate, and does settle down fine. It really appears to work well and provides consistent measurements. I don't think the negative reading is a defect; I think it's probably the result of the scale being very sensitive. It also looks well made.

I of course listen with my ears, but as I explained above, I should know what VTF I'm actually tracking at. I noticed that weather, prolonged non-use, and sometimes simply inexplicably, the setup gets re-adjusted. An accurate stylus gauge is just a basic necessity in our hobby.

Eddie,
The minus reading displays when the tonearm begins to move, not when the stylus is on the dot, or very close to it. So I think it's highly unlikely that it has anything to do with magnetization, but I suppose stranger things have happened...

Actus..how do you know that your Delos tracks best at 1,75, EVERY cartridge I've set up is a bit different than the next one off of the assembly line. Also, if your arm is a bit high or a bit low to absolutely horizontal (who can tell when that occurs), it will affect the cartridge. Those setup guides are just that....use them to take you to a good place, and then use your ears to bring your cartridge to a great place. As far as the Shure scales being a bit off...Some are made of aluminum and are non attractive to the magnet in the cartridge, and some are made with something that does attract the magnet (not a good idea). You can get better accuracy by putting the Shure scale at the beginning of the platter, so that the front "feet" are off the platter (but use the non attractive version of the scale.

Actusreus, I'm using the Cartridge Man digital scale. It is expensive but very stable and accurate. I did not really want to pay that much for a good scale but got feed up with the Shure and the other cheap digital scale I had. Another good thing about the Cartridge Man scale is it has a rechargeable battery. You just plug it in overnight when its low on juice.