Do I need to include the weight of our vessel for C2® calibration reference point?

We are doing a Loss in weight system with a Hardy Controller and 4 Hardy load cells. My question is, when we first turn on the system and have our equipment on the load cells but empty of material and ready to be filled, would I enter a reference weight of 0.00 at this time for the C2® calibration or do I need to know the weight of our equipment?

You do not need to know the weight of the equipment to perform a C2® calibration. The weight of your equipment is considered dead load and is not important to the application. 

With an empty vessel and ready to weight, the calibration reference weight is 0.

You do need to take dead load into consideration when you are selecting the load cell capacity. To select the right load cell capacity you need to determine the total dead load and live load.

The product you weigh in or on the scale is called the live load and that is the weight you want to see. If your equipment is always on the scale it would be considered dead load.

At the C2® calibration and hard calibration reference zero points you are making the empty scale system equal to a gross zero.