A diagnostic method for a weighing scale having multiple force measuring devices, comprising: selecting a plurality of like weighing scale components to be monitored; selecting as a diagnostic parameter an operating parameter that is common to the selected like weighing scale components and should have approximately the same value for each component during normal operation; receiving at a computer device from each of the selected weighing scale components, an output signal representative of the selected diagnostic parameter ; characterized by determining the outlier weighing scale component by operating calculations at the computer device comprising the steps of: at the computer device , applying a standard statistical test to the received diagnostic parameter output signal values received from the selected weighing scale components; at the computer device , determining if the results of the statistical tests indicate that the diagnostic parameter output signal value of any weighing scale component is a statistical outlier compared to the diagnostic parameter output signal values of the other weighing scale components; and if the diagnostic parameter output signal value of a given weighing scale component is statistically determined by the computer device to be an outlier, using the computer device to indicate a problem , wherein the standard statistical test is Chauvenet's criterion, Grubbs' Test for Outliers, Peirce's Criterion or Dixon's Q Test. selecting a plurality of like weighing scale components to be monitored; selecting as a diagnostic parameter an operating parameter that is common to the selected like weighing scale components and should have approximately the same value for each component during normal operation; receiving at a computer device from each of the selected weighing scale components, an output signal representative of the selected diagnostic parameter ; characterized by determining the outlier weighing scale component by operating calculations at the computer device comprising the steps of: at the computer device , applying a standard statistical test to the received diagnostic parameter output signal values received from the selected weighing scale components; at the computer device , determining if the results of the statistical tests indicate that the diagnostic parameter output signal value of any weighing scale component is a statistical outlier compared to the diagnostic parameter output signal values of the other weighing scale components; and if the diagnostic parameter output signal value of a given weighing scale component is statistically determined by the computer device to be an outlier, using the computer device to indicate a problem , wherein at the computer device , applying a standard statistical test to the received diagnostic parameter output signal values received from the selected weighing scale components; at the computer device , determining if the results of the statistical tests indicate that the diagnostic parameter output signal value of any weighing scale component is a statistical outlier compared to the diagnostic parameter output signal values of the other weighing scale components; and if the diagnostic parameter output signal value of a given weighing scale component is statistically determined by the computer device to be an outlier, using the computer device to indicate a problem , wherein the standard statistical test is Chauvenet's criterion, Grubbs' Test for Outliers, Peirce's Criterion or Dixon's Q Test. <EOS>