New Dillon 550b - lube

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atygrit

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St. Charles (St. Louis), MO
I finally broke down and bought a Dillon 550b. I originally purchased the Lee Classic Cast Turret and will not be getting rid of it, I just got very frustrated with the priming system and 4 pulls per round.

It appears the ram has some lube from the factory, but I'm not sure how much. The ram make a high pitch rasping sound when I move the ram. It is smooth, but I get the impression it is dragging. Just wondering if this is normal on a new 550b and if i needed to lube it with 30 weight oil.

Also, I'm having a problem with the indent ball under the shell plate. I can't get the star to spin smoothly and the indent ball will only sometimes click into place. I was thinking I needed to lubricate the shell plate bolt and the indent ball with some light grease. Before I made a mess with grease I wanted to see what the experts thought.
 
I lube the ram on my 550 with synthetic oil, either Royal Purple or Mobile 1. Keep the shell plate area oil free or it will gum up with spilled powder. Yes, you will spill powder. I have had good luck with dry silicone lube after polishing the shaft of the center bolt. I also run a Uniquetek roller thrust bearing.
 
I use 10w40 semisynt. Total 7000 motor oil work ok in all presses ram.
Lithium grease for pivots.
Greetings from España.
 
....no surprised at this.

I just bought a Dillon 600 swager and it has a defect.

UHG.
 
Are there any scratches or other wear marks on the rams' cylinder? Can you tell if the moving parts have been greased at the factory?

I would grease or oil it up and use the press to see if it smooths out with time.
 
Read the manual it calls for 30 weight oil on the ram
 
There is a threaded grease loading "zurk" fitting on the left side of the ram linkage on my 550B press. I suppose, it is possible they did not grease the fitting at the factory.

I would remove the threaded zurk fitting with a wrench and see if there is any grease in there. If not, take a grease gun and charge the linkage at the zurk fitting.

If you do not have a grease gun, take the whole press to a gas station that does car repairs. They should be able to charge your press with grease in about 30 seconds.
 
I did add 30 weight oil to the ram but it still made a rasping dragging sound. I just isn't smooth as butter like some that I have seen in some stores. I was trying to determine if this is normal on a new 550b press due to the surfaces needing to wear in.
 
Thanks for all of the replies.

I shot a video of it on my phone and uploaded it to YouTube to try and capture the sound and it worked. It is nosier than the sound in the video, but you will get the idea.

http://youtu.be/-7fvZPWUwlA

If you watch the HD version, you can kind of see streaks in the oil. I'm guessing that is where the main shaft is rubbing.
 
Sounds to me like the finish inside the base is less than perfect - like little ridges the ram rubs on. It may smooth out over time. The nice thing about the Dillon warranty is you can see if it smooths out over a week or so.

I would probably run it dry for a couple hundred rounds to see if it smooths out and then try lubing it up again.

FWIW, I switched to synthetic gear lube for my press (and a few other things as well). Nothing against motor oil, which I use for lubricating a number of things besides IC engines, but after some experience and consideration, I realized that differential gear lubrication more closely resembles the requirements of things like a press. Gear lube needs to stick to the gears, whereas motor oil is pumped and needs to flow. Also, the 70W of a gear oil equates to something closer to a much lighter weight motor oil - it's not as thick as the numbers suggest.
 
I just called Dillon last week about an wrong order shipment. My order also contained a defective Model 600 swager.

I think you will be VERY disappointed with Dillon service because you will be on hold for hours. They do not answer voice mail - too busy.
 
Dillon Service

I have never been disappointed in Dillon service.
Send an email to service dept and you will get a reply, not same day as they are totaly swamped with orders. this is a good thing, the guys who THINK they will reload in the future will be selling those presses not to long down the road.

Also look at the forum on the Dillon web site, it has helped me a bunch and you can ask your question there.
dk
 
I called today at work and waited on hold about 40 minutes. The person answering the phone was very nice and helpful. Said my hearing was way better than his and that it is more than likely just the ram rubbing on the aluminum base and not to be concerned about it. It will probably go away.

Also, he said I could put a little grease under the the head of the shell plate bolt where it contacts the index sprocket and that might eliminate some binding that I'm experiencing.

All in all, I thought the call went very well and if it doesn't work out like he said I'll just call again.

It helped that I could call on a day that I wasn't stressed to the max at work and had a little slow time.
 
I just called Dillon last week about an wrong order shipment. My order also contained a defective Model 600 swager.

I think you will be VERY disappointed with Dillon service because you will be on hold for hours. They do not answer voice mail - too busy.
Click to expand...

Why am I not surprised to see you complain about Dillons service? You are the same guy that bashed one of the most reputable bullet manufacturers there is, and then refused to even post a picture of the so called defective bullets. I bet you never even called them either before bashing on the net.
 
I lube my 550 with White Lithium Grease.
And I too, have NEVER been dissatisfied with Dillon's Customer Service.
 
for 15 years i have been using 3 in one oil on my dillion 550 -b ,no problems ,some peaple may think it is to lite of an oil ,but it works ,and after my f-i-l died we found a life time supply ,,use what you got
 
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