ChargeMaster scale inconsistent

[DanMan]

A lot of good insights and suggestions being posted here. It sounds like a lot of you guys have been experiencing these issues since day one.
Mine has only developed recently. I have used my ChargeMaster for over 10 years and only occasionally did I see over / under. Usually when it did happen was due to extra kernels rolling out the tube
after the trickle stopped. This has been different, seems like the scale has a hard time deciding if it has 68.0, 68.2, or 67.9 sometimes going back and forth before settling. Makes me wonder if perhaps a loose kernel or 2 has gotten down inside the unit. I may have to investigate that .

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Mine has become more inconsistent. In every case ,i need to remove the powder pan,. gently level out the powder and reweigh every load. From Time to time I have separated the scale from the thrower, removed the black table that pan sist on, turned the sale upside down, and shake the scale and gently and tap it on the bench. Powder will come out of the hole that the little table sits in. I never heard of the 'Straw Mod" . I will look it up on U tube as suggested. Right now usually 2/10th to 3/10 over. Pinch a bit of powder and drop it back inot the thrower.

 

[Rum River]

What RCBS should have done is further deveop the product with a second purpose-built trickler tube, operating in parallel.
A smaller tube and externally adjustable for the particular powder. Stop the big tube under charge, at trickle phase.

I have the old Powdermaster system that has one fast and one slow powder tube. As I was following this thread I was confused why there would be inconsistencies. I wasn't aware RCBS had gone to a single powder tube.

Does the Chargemaster have a calibration procedure where the unit 'learns' the density of the powder and then controls the motor based on that info?

 

[P7M13]

Just buy one of these and be done with that ****

Er, no. Many have described it as the cat's meow, but there are enough gilded rabbit holes in this hobby that I don't need something automated that I already accomplish manually.

I feel your pain. I have similar post on this page and a couple other forums. My chargemaster has been the biggest *** I have ever owned. I have tried the straw trick, I have bought the MK machine insert. I let it warm up, I calibrate it before every use, it's not near fluorescent lighting, there are no vents anywhere near it. Any jack you can think of, any trick, I have done it. If I want a charge weight of any kind of powder I have to set it to .3 and sometimes .4 under and it will still over charge. I will literally throw 100+ charges to get 20 correct. It's ridiculous.

You, sir, are a glutton for punishment.

 

[BiggBeans]

Er, no. Many have described it as the cat's meow, but there are enough gilded rabbit holes in this hobby that I don't need something automated that I already accomplish manually.

You, sir, are a glutton for punishment.

Yeah, thats what i thought too. Untill i bought one. Now i dont know how i went so long without one.

 

[Mikecr]

Does the Chargemaster have a calibration procedure where the unit 'learns' the density of the powder and then controls the motor based on that info?

No it doesn't.
I'm sort of doing that manually by adjusting the final motor speed so that slowest trickle phase drops a kernel every ~3/4sec (a tad under a second per kernel). I'm playing inside the time it takes the program to decide if a charge is close enough without going over.
It is after all, a dumb system.

Never going to be perfect, I'm doing this by eye, but it gets me closer to desired than the scale can show.
Still, the heavier the individual kernels, the greater the error potential. And you'd run into that with any dispensing, unless you consistently pre-cut kernels to a finer weight range. But doing that would affect it's burn rate.
So far the powders I use have been easy. I'm not burning anything slower than I4350.
If I got into slower powders, chances are my case capacity is large enough that +/- one kernel wouldn't matter.

With the smart system$$$ like that pictured before, I'm thinking they probably offer a powder cal.
Just imagining here; in a powder cal mode you could drop 5 kernels on the tray and the program could divide the measure by 5 to learn the kernel weight, set undercharge, and later adjust trickle tolerance and speed for optimum rate.
Wish I could afford something so nice, while it takes a second mortgage on my truck to buy a scope..

 

[Buzzsaw]

Yeah, thats what i thought too. Untill i bought one. Now i dont know how i went so long without one.

Sweet but, I'm to dumb to use that thing.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

..all part of "making it easier" in our society ! Seems like"taking your time" is way out the door with the 20-40 crowd these days...

 

[Buzzsaw]

..all part of "making it easier" in our society ! Seems like"taking your time" is way out the door with the 20-40 crowd these days...

GREAT POINT!! and I guess I'm guilty. The older I get, the less I want to spend time loading. Especially if I'm loading 100 rounds for a match. I should enjoy the hobby I have chosen more.

 

[Wildstreak]

Er, no. Many have described it as the cat's meow, but there are enough gilded rabbit holes in this hobby that I don't need something automated that I already accomplish manually.

You, sir, are a glutton for punishment.

You sir, are not wrong.

 

[P7M13]

..all part of "making it easier" in our society ! Seems like"taking your time" is way out the door with the 20-40 crowd these days...

I see this as true in many ways [edit] and it pains me in to see how we have become a "toss and replace" society[/edit]. Still, I'd much rather use my Lyman motorized trimmer than my Forester or RCBS hand crank units.
As for that A&D powder system, I'm happy with what I have. I'd love to have a FX-120i scale, but at $700, I'll pass because I have the patience for my scale to settle.

 

[Rum River]

No it doesn't.
I'm sort of doing that manually by adjusting the final motor speed so that slowest trickle phase drops a kernel every ~3/4sec (a tad under a second per kernel). I'm playing inside the time it takes the program to decide if a charge is close enough without going over.
It is after all, a dumb system.

Never going to be perfect, I'm doing this by eye, but it gets me closer to desired than the scale can show.
Still, the heavier the individual kernels, the greater the error potential. And you'd run into that with any dispensing, unless you consistently pre-cut kernels to a finer weight range. But doing that would affect it's burn rate.
So far the powders I use have been easy. I'm not burning anything slower than I4350.
If I got into slower powders, chances are my case capacity is large enough that +/- one kernel wouldn't matter.

With the smart system$$$ like that pictured before, I'm thinking they probably offer a powder cal.
Just imagining here; in a powder cal mode you could drop 5 kernels on the tray and the program could divide the measure by 5 to learn the kernel weight, set undercharge, and later adjust trickle tolerance and speed for optimum rate.
Wish I could afford something so nice, while it takes a second mortgage on my truck to buy a scope..

Based on that, I hope my old RCBS PowderMaster system lasts for a while. Standard setup is to calibrate the scale (PowderPro) and then calibrate the PowderMaster unit for whatever powder you're using. The motor will start/stop multiple times for a couple minutes until it figures out the powder's density. The two units communicate via an infrared link.

 

[UncleDano]

I can appreciate that thought but not really, "all of that", is not really that much. I'm referring to the hand trickle part I mentioned. The purpose for me is to be more accurate down to the kernel of powder when throwing stick type powder or any powder for that matter. I'll explain. I've taken Varget and numerous other stick powders and some powders will take 3,4,5 kernels to just move the scale from say 48 to 48.01. Just depends on the powder makeup/formula. For me I started really paying attention to this. I've watched my SDs go into single digits most of the time now by using a manual trickler. I trickle in powder ever so slightly and soon as it hits my desired charge weight I'm done. If 48 is my desired charge weight I set my RCBS for 47.7 and then trickle the final kernels. For me it's made a difference for sure on lowering my SD's. The little extra time for me is worth it.

Know that if I was loading 223 or 308 to shoot in my ARs I could give a hoot.

Yes, very good method. This has always been the recommended BEST method or BEST practice for throwing accurate powder charges, ever since I can remember. Electronic or beam don't matter use with trickler.

 

[Hydra6]

Just loaded 100 6 Dasher with my Chargemaster with MKM spout on tube. 31.5 grains of Varget. Had one 31.7 charge and about 4 31.6 charges out of the 100. Still need to load another 100 for a PRS 2 day.