Electonics quality issue, and potential cause(s).

[Guest tonequester]

Greetings to ALL.

    This is my first post here, and unfortunately it might be a little long. I recently purchased a small digital scale that I use to weigh out bulk dietary supplements, with an accuracy down to a few milligrams. The scale was sold by the company that I buy the bulk supplements from, for about $50.00. From day one I knew it wasn't quite right , should have sent it back, but I didn't  because I could get it to function by "rebooting" it. However, it has gotten steadily worse in the last few days, and I am no longer able to get it to re-set and work properly. This is what basically happens :
    I turn on the scale and it takes about 3 seconds for the L.C.D. display to stabilize. If it says .0000 I can weigh the measuring spoon, and zero the display out. If not I must calibrate the scale with supplied weights. With the display zeroed out I can weigh out the 500-750 milligrams that I usually need, in the measuring spoon. This is how it should work.
    What it DOES do, is the display begins to flicker before I can get my measurement done, and calibration is lost when the display goes black, or at least it says to calibrate, which you cannot accomplish before it gives up the ghost. For a time, I left one of the four AAA batteries out until needed, and that solved the problem for a time. That does not help now. I have to be super fast to get the scale turned on, calibrated if needed, weigh the supplied measurement spoon, zero it out, and then weigh the herbal extract or anti oxidant I wish to take, before the scale quits on me. The last few times, I just couldn't do all of that quick enough, before the display just goes black.
    This is of course a "cheap" Chinese scale, and it is not the only Chinese electronic device that I have had such :) trouble with in the past year, For one thing, they seem to have a basic problem with circuit design, whereby even when  you turn off a device (D.C.) it continues to drain Voltage, until the batteries are dead.
    Anyway, I would like to get opinions about what could cause the problem with the scales going south before I have time to make measurements. Re-boot, and leaving battery no longer make a difference. I have thought about the possibility that it has an intermittent short, but it craps out in exactly the same way each time, and I leave it an a stable surface, so that there is no shaking it about. Can a bad chip act like this ?

Please, help satisfy my curiosity and confusion about this. I know that in the end, my only recourse is to buy another, and hope for the best. I just hate it when something goes "mysteriously bad" and I am left to wonder.

All comments and opinions welcome, Best of Regards, and thanks in advance.  tonequester.

[Guest tonequester]

Greetings tonequester.

    Being yourself, I probably can't help you with this problem. However, I do wonder about the possibility that the scale that you mentioned, has a chip issue. I'm not sure, but since it is not being moved about, but is kept stable, a typical make and break short in probably not the issue. However, I believe that a semi-conductor can have quality issues, that could cause a "break down" of the device as to junctions(PNP,NPN) and the threshold specs thereof. Other than that, it IS made in China !