coloradokevin
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,285
Well, for those of you who have nothing more pressing to do than to follow my threads, you'll probably recall my posts from a few days ago regarding an issue that I was having with my new Chargemaster 1500 combo (SEE: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=474062)
Anyway, that initial problem mysteriously cleared up with that same H4895 powder later that day, and I dispensed 20+ perfect loads with that powder. But, the problem came back with a vengance when I tried dispensing some pistol loads last night. Basically, the dispenser would dispense the load, beep when finished, and show that the correct amount was dispensed. Then, if I lifted the pan off of the scale, and placed it back on the scale, I would get a reading that would show my charge being significantly high (this second weighing was verified each time with my Lee Safety Scale, which I've personally found to be reliable). Moreover, the dispenser seemed to pretty much spray powder everywhere with these Power Pistol loads!
I am wondering if my problem could be static related? Nothing else makes a lot of sense to me at this point!
To aid in clarifying this problem, I've added some pictures. Hopefully these images will help to clear up the confusion that seemed to surround my initial post on this topic:
(NOTE: All loads were intended to be 6.0 grains of Power Pistol powder)
1) Dispenser just after calibration (owner's manual procedures were followed to calibrate, and scale was left plugged in and turned on for half an hour or more prior to calibration and dispensing):
2) First load after dispensing and "beep", shows 0.1 grain high:
3) I then lifted the pan (with powder) off of the scale, and placed it back on the scale (with powder) approximately 3 seconds later. My reading now showed 7.0 grains of powder, or 1.0 grains above my intended target weight:
4) After re-weighing on the Chargemaster scale, I checked the load on my Lee Safety Scale (which I've used for two years now). I received the same 7.0 grain weight that I got when I weighed the charge for the second time on the Chargemaster. Please excuse the bad angle on this picture, the parallax makes it look like a different weight is showing, but it is definitely 7.0 grains:
5) After discarding this bad charge, I placed the empty pan back on the scale, and noticed that I was now showing 0.5 grains, with the scale's arrow pointed towards "under". This reading was showing before I closed the plastic cover:
6) After closing the cover, the weight changed slightly, and now showed 0.4 grains, with the arrow still pointing to "under":
7) I re-zeroed the scale at this point, then recalibrated and re-zeroed the scale again:
8) A second load was dispensed, again with a targeted weight of 6.0 grains of powder. This load dispensed quickly, again spraying powder all over the machine (as you can probably see in the pictures). The load stabilized at 6.0 grains, and provided the "beep" to confirm that it was done:
9) I again lifted the powder pan off of the scale, and replaced it on the scale after a delay of a few seconds. This time the charge showed 6.7 grains, for an overage of 0.7 grains from the intended (and previously stated weight):
10) I verified this load on the Lee Safety Scale and came up with a reading of 6.8 grains, for a 0.1 grain deviation from the Chargemaster's 2nd reading (acceptable difference from this second reading):
As you can probably tell in most of these pictures, there was a fair amount of powder spread throughout the inside of the Chargemaster's windshield. All of this powder came from the normal dispensing operation, and the far flung powder did seem to cling to the inside of the windshield. For the sake of accuracy, I made sure that no flakes of powder were on the scale plate before conducting each load test!
What could be causing these problems? Am I dealing with an issue of static build-up? Is my machine defective? Am I missing something here?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I could easily fall in love with this machine if it would work correctly, but deviations of 0.7-1.0 grains of powder is certainly not safe (particularly when the entire "safe" range for my .40 S&W load is only 6.0-6.7 grains, per the Lyman manual!!!)
Anyway, that initial problem mysteriously cleared up with that same H4895 powder later that day, and I dispensed 20+ perfect loads with that powder. But, the problem came back with a vengance when I tried dispensing some pistol loads last night. Basically, the dispenser would dispense the load, beep when finished, and show that the correct amount was dispensed. Then, if I lifted the pan off of the scale, and placed it back on the scale, I would get a reading that would show my charge being significantly high (this second weighing was verified each time with my Lee Safety Scale, which I've personally found to be reliable). Moreover, the dispenser seemed to pretty much spray powder everywhere with these Power Pistol loads!
I am wondering if my problem could be static related? Nothing else makes a lot of sense to me at this point!
To aid in clarifying this problem, I've added some pictures. Hopefully these images will help to clear up the confusion that seemed to surround my initial post on this topic:
(NOTE: All loads were intended to be 6.0 grains of Power Pistol powder)
1) Dispenser just after calibration (owner's manual procedures were followed to calibrate, and scale was left plugged in and turned on for half an hour or more prior to calibration and dispensing):
2) First load after dispensing and "beep", shows 0.1 grain high:
3) I then lifted the pan (with powder) off of the scale, and placed it back on the scale (with powder) approximately 3 seconds later. My reading now showed 7.0 grains of powder, or 1.0 grains above my intended target weight:
4) After re-weighing on the Chargemaster scale, I checked the load on my Lee Safety Scale (which I've used for two years now). I received the same 7.0 grain weight that I got when I weighed the charge for the second time on the Chargemaster. Please excuse the bad angle on this picture, the parallax makes it look like a different weight is showing, but it is definitely 7.0 grains:
5) After discarding this bad charge, I placed the empty pan back on the scale, and noticed that I was now showing 0.5 grains, with the scale's arrow pointed towards "under". This reading was showing before I closed the plastic cover:
6) After closing the cover, the weight changed slightly, and now showed 0.4 grains, with the arrow still pointing to "under":
7) I re-zeroed the scale at this point, then recalibrated and re-zeroed the scale again:
8) A second load was dispensed, again with a targeted weight of 6.0 grains of powder. This load dispensed quickly, again spraying powder all over the machine (as you can probably see in the pictures). The load stabilized at 6.0 grains, and provided the "beep" to confirm that it was done:
9) I again lifted the powder pan off of the scale, and replaced it on the scale after a delay of a few seconds. This time the charge showed 6.7 grains, for an overage of 0.7 grains from the intended (and previously stated weight):
10) I verified this load on the Lee Safety Scale and came up with a reading of 6.8 grains, for a 0.1 grain deviation from the Chargemaster's 2nd reading (acceptable difference from this second reading):
As you can probably tell in most of these pictures, there was a fair amount of powder spread throughout the inside of the Chargemaster's windshield. All of this powder came from the normal dispensing operation, and the far flung powder did seem to cling to the inside of the windshield. For the sake of accuracy, I made sure that no flakes of powder were on the scale plate before conducting each load test!
What could be causing these problems? Am I dealing with an issue of static build-up? Is my machine defective? Am I missing something here?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I could easily fall in love with this machine if it would work correctly, but deviations of 0.7-1.0 grains of powder is certainly not safe (particularly when the entire "safe" range for my .40 S&W load is only 6.0-6.7 grains, per the Lyman manual!!!)
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