How they work
One axis. Nothing else.
An inline threaded load cell is the simplest load path a sensor can have. A male thread at each end, the force running straight down the axis between them, and a strain-gauged element in the middle reading it. Nothing is cantilevered and nothing is offset, which is why the body can be barely an inch across and still carry ten thousand pounds.
Two threaded ends, one load path
The body is machined from 17-4PH stainless steel with a male thread at each end. One end is the fixed end and the other is the active end; the load travels in a straight line from one to the other, through a section of the body thin enough to strain measurably under it.
Foil strain gauges bonded to that section change resistance as it stretches or compresses, and four of them wired as a Wheatstone bridge turn that into a millivolt signal proportional to load. Pull on the load cell and the signal goes one way; push on it and the same part sends the signal the other way, which is why one model covers tension and compression with no change of hardware.
Rated output is 2 mV/V across the whole series. The construction is sealed to IP64, which handles dust and splashing in a machine enclosure, but it is not a washdown or submersible rating.
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What 2 mV/V actually gives you
Rated output is a ratio, not a voltage: the load cell returns 2 mV for every volt of excitation at full capacity. At the rated 10 V excitation, a TCM at full load returns 20 mV. Maximum excitation is 15 V, which would give 30 mV.
Bridge resistance is 410 Ω input and 350 Ω output, so any instrument that reads a standard 350 ohm bridge will read these. Insulation resistance is ≥5 GΩ at 50 VDC.
The integrated cable is 10 ft (3 m) of 4-conductor 28 AWG with a shield. Four conductors means there are no sense lines, so keep the run short or account for lead resistance in calibration, and calibrate the system with the cable that will be installed.
Both directions, one part number
Every capacity in the series is specified as a ± figure. A TCM350-5KLBF is ±5 klbf: five thousand pounds of pull and five thousand pounds of push, from the same load cell, with the same calibration.
That matters more here than on most geometries, because an inline load cell usually sits in an actuator or a test frame where the load genuinely reverses. A cylinder that pulls on the extend stroke and pushes on the retract stroke needs one load cell, not two.
The zero sits in the middle. Zero balance is ±1% RO, so expect a small offset at no load and null it in the instrument.
Where this series sits on accuracy
Nonlinearity and hysteresis are ±0.25% of full scale, and non‑repeatability is ±0.05%. That last figure is the one to read closely: the load cell repeats itself tightly, which is what closed-loop machine control actually depends on.
It is worth being plain about the comparison. Our S-beams are ±0.02% to ±0.05% nonlinearity, five to ten times tighter, and some are NTEP certified. Nothing in the TCM series is certified, and none of it is intended for buying and selling by weight.
What you are buying instead is a load cell that fits inside a machine, threads directly into the load path, and reads force in both directions with excellent repeatability. If the number has to be a legal weight, use an S-beam.
