powder stuck in RCBS Chargemaster

[thomis]

I messed up. I was making some .44 shotshells a few days before Christmas and left Bullseye powder in my RCBS Chargemaster. We had some real odd weather the few days before, during and after Christmas where it was 75 degrees and we got 5 inches of rain. The humidity level in my shed, which is on a concrete slab, was so high I had the window unit pumping in cold AC just to knock down the condensation on things. That powder stuck to the green plastic hopper in the chargemaster and I mean really stuck. I can hardly scrape it off with metal. I'm pretty sure this type of thing would not be covered under warranty. I can't be the first person to do this but I searched the forums and can't find a way to free it up. I'm sure it still works, but I only feel comfortable using Bullseye in it now for fear of any stuck pieces coming off if I were using a different powder. Any helpful advice is appreciated.

 

[rcmodel]

Get a stiff brush or popsicle stick and have at it.

Don't worry about it contaminating a different powder.

There isn't enough there to make much difference, even if it all came loose at once.

rc

 

[snuffy]

Bullseye, like many other powders, has nitroglycerin in it. Nitro is a very good solvent. The powder actually has dissolved the base plastic to glue itself to the hopper. I had the same thing happen to my Pact dispenser.

As RC said, scrape it off, or leave it there as a reminder to never leave ANY powder in the hopper. If it's that hard to get off, what makes you think it'll come off to contaminate other powder charges?

 

[Rule3]

As rc mentioned above or a plastic spreader type stick or sharpen the end of a old toothbrush,

Is the powder "etched" into the plastic?

 

[SwaneeSR]

Bummer. I have one. I wouldn't think that possible.

 

[thomis]

If it's that hard to get off, what makes you think it'll come off to contaminate other powder charges?

good point. well, thank you all. i will not fret it and carry on.

and yeah, its like its super glued. i think etched is a fair description.

 

[Rule3]

Use some very fine 400 grit wet dry sandpaper and sand it off. If the plastic is scratched go finer like 600 or higher. Kind alike restoring car headlight lenses.

 

[lauderdale]

That's a good idea RULE3. I used another glycerin based powder and it also did some harm.

 

[tcoz]

I had the same thing happen with Bullseye left for a couple of days in ideal indoor conditions. The RCBS tech told me that Bullseye is one of the worst for it. They replaced the clear hopper for me. Eventually the rest of it just wore off. There isn't enough there to worry about it as it'll only be coming off a few granules at a time.

 

[MEHavey]

My own ChargeMaster has a bit of "stippling" down in it ...so don't feel all alone. :banghead:

Get a real stiff brush from HomeDepot (or cut a solder brush real close/stiff) and brute-force everything
you can off the surfaces. Anything that won't come off at that point -- don't worry about it.

 

[25-5]

Thank you guys, so much. I thought I was the only screw up not to heed the directions. I had left some Titegroup too long. Cleaned pretty good with denatured alcohol. The gray sheen is slowly going away with each use.

 

[jmorris]

Invert it and get a candle....Ok that's not helpful. How "dug in" is it? Can you flake it off?

 

[tcoz]

The other problem with BE and the reason I tended to leave it in for a couple of days is that it was so damn hard to clean out of the Chargemaster. Unlike other powders, it wouldn't just flow out when I opened the drain. I had to stick the pointed end of the brush in from the port and keep working it back and forth to get it drained. I eventually gave away the rest of my BE powder and switched to something else.