RCBS powder scale **FAIL**

[Swamplord]

Was gonna load up 20 rnds of 338 Edge ammo with Hornady 250 Gr and IMR4831 for barrel break in / scope sight in, then do the old 1/2 gr incremental for 275gr Swift A-Frame with RL-25

Plugged in my RCBS powder scale in order to check some throws with my Harrel Precision powder measure and my RCBS scale reads ***FAIL***

I tried unplugging it and letting it sit then plugging it back in and just letting it sit plugged in...
no change after 4 hours of being on still reads FAIL

anybody got an Idea as to whats going on, I've lost an entire day of trying to get some loads for barrel break in and working up a spring brown bear load, running out of time

 

[Trickymissfit]

Was gonna load up 20 rnds of 338 Edge ammo with Hornady 250 Gr and IMR4831 for barrel break in / scope sight in, then do the old 1/2 gr incremental for 275gr Swift A-Frame with RL-25

Plugged in my RCBS powder scale in order to check some throws with my Harrel Precision powder measure and my RCBS scale reads ***FAIL***

I tried unplugging it and letting it sit then plugging it back in and just letting it sit plugged in...
no change after 4 hours of being on still reads FAIL

anybody got an Idea as to whats going on, I've lost an entire day of trying to get some loads for barrel break in and working up a spring brown bear load, running out of time

try this: unplug it after shutting it off. Wait a minute or two, and then plug it back in. Now press the on button and hold it for a minute or so. It probably has it's programing scrambled and needs to reboot. If that dosn't work, I'd call RCBS on the 800 number. They are pretty good folks. The worst it could be is a load cell failure, but I doubt it.
gary

 

[gunpower]

Was gonna load up 20 rnds of 338 Edge ammo with Hornady 250 Gr and IMR4831 for barrel break in / scope sight in, then do the old 1/2 gr incremental for 275gr Swift A-Frame with RL-25

Plugged in my RCBS powder scale in order to check some throws with my Harrel Precision powder measure and my RCBS scale reads ***FAIL***

I tried unplugging it and letting it sit then plugging it back in and just letting it sit plugged in...
no change after 4 hours of being on still reads FAIL

anybody got an Idea as to whats going on, I've lost an entire day of trying to get some loads for barrel break in and working up a spring brown bear load, running out of time

According to the instruction manual your load cell has failed and you need to
contact RCBS for repair information.

I have the same scale, and I keep all the manuals for my reloading equipment.
Let us know how things turn out!

 

[Swamplord]

Thanks for the input guys,

I've had it for a long time and I suppose its time to get a new one....

Now if I could only remember how to use those durned old fashioned balanced beam scales, I'd get to loading some ammo....

 

[boomtube]

:..anybody got an Idea as to whats going on,"

I think it's broke. Electronics do that.

 

[jackem]

I like the idea that the fail-safe self-test detected that tolerances were not met and shut down rather than you detecting overpressure at the range.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Thanks for the input guys,

I've had it for a long time and I suppose its time to get a new one....

Now if I could only remember how to use those durned old fashioned balanced beam scales, I'd get to loading some ammo....

I wish we were close by, as I'd loan you a brand new one to use till you got that one fixed or replaced. That scale was built by Pact, but I still think you have to go thru RCBS to get it fixed. Have had three fo them with exactly one gremlin over fifteen years or more. Mine was a major programing error due to the operator. Pact warrants theirs for life, and I bet RCBS does as well
gary

 

[jpeaston]

On a side note, I have always been curious how accurate those Harrells powder measurers are?

 

[Trickymissfit]

On a side note, I have always been curious how accurate those Harrells powder measurers are?

about one tenth of a grain with ball powders rather consistently. With care you can work in a one and one half tenth of a grain window. But the real advantage is that you can save all the data from the last time you used it, and re dial in all the clicks. It'll be right where you left off. What I don't like about mine is the bottle size. It uses a small one that is about half the diameter of most powder containers. My modded Lyman will take a Hogdons bottle without a problem. Used a Redding 3BR and their BR30 for awhile, and they won't run with the other two. I also had a modded RCBS loaned to me for awhile, and it was pretty good, but honestly like the cheap Lyman better.
gary

 

[Swamplord]

Figured it was time for a Dillon but I could not find a Dillon scale in my area, the only one available immediately was a Hornady GS-1500....
Got it to read accurately enough by weighing known bullet weights ( previously weighed and marked 40 gr 22 cal Ballistic tips and Sierra 55 gr. fmj-bt bullets) got my Harrells set up and went to town, loaded up 50 rnds and have since blasted 'em all down range....

What I don't like about the Hornady is the 100 gr max BS, gonna order a Dillon and return the
Hornady GS-1500 (mis-leading name, should be "BS-100" ) also it seemed to need tare checks every 3-4 weighs for confirmed accuracy and it automatically shuts off after a minute causing aggravation because of the need to re-calibrate with the supplied 100 gr check weight, you get what you pay for ($35.00)

I've been using the Harrels powder measure for about ten years, I had a heavy barreled 300 Tomahawk built by a local smith that conned me into buying it and including a host of other "accuracy" paraphernalia.......

But it turned out to be an awesome powder measure and I do all my loading with it, it is very accurate once you maintain a repeatable method of cycling the handle, I give it a few taps at the end of the upstroke, pause.. then bring the handle down and give a few taps at the end of the downstroke.... the cool part is you dump the powder into an empty case at the end of each downstroke, eliminating the need for a powder pan and funnel and the time to operate them, increasing your round output considerably ....

 

[Trickymissfit]

Figured it was time for a Dillon but I could not find a Dillon scale in my area, the only one available immediately was a Hornady GS-1500....
Got it to read accurately enough by weighing known bullet weights ( previously weighed and marked 40 gr 22 cal Ballistic tips and Sierra 55 gr. fmj-bt bullets) got my Harrells set up and went to town, loaded up 50 rnds and have since blasted 'em all down range....

What I don't like about the Hornady is the 100 gr max BS, gonna order a Dillon and return the
Hornady GS-1500 (mis-leading name, should be "BS-100" ) also it seemed to need tare checks every 3-4 weighs for confirmed accuracy and it automatically shuts off after a minute causing aggravation because of the need to re-calibrate with the supplied 100 gr check weight, you get what you pay for ($35.00)

I've been using the Harrels powder measure for about ten years, I had a heavy barreled 300 Tomahawk built by a local smith that conned me into buying it and including a host of other "accuracy" paraphernalia.......

But it turned out to be an awesome powder measure and I do all my loading with it, it is very accurate once you maintain a repeatable method of cycling the handle, I give it a few taps at the end of the upstroke, pause.. then bring the handle down and give a few taps at the end of the downstroke.... the cool part is you dump the powder into an empty case at the end of each downstroke, eliminating the need for a powder pan and funnel and the time to operate them, increasing your round output considerably ....

if your having problems with the zero weight changing, look around you for a draft of cold air or hot air. Also make sure the scale is setting level (all need this). Some guys complaign about flourecent lights bothing them, but have yet to ever see that issue. I did find that I had an isse with vibration a few years ago, and the fix was really easy. I bought a piece of marble tile at Lowes and glued three pieces of foam rubber to the bottom side (I used the rubber inserts that came in blank CD boxes [look like a doughnut]).

The Harrell is a very well made powder measurer, but is not for most folks honestly. It dosn't do stick powder any better than the others. Volume wise I think mine will go to 60 grains max, but most of my weights are less than that. Seems like they either have a 120 grain one or a 90 grain one out now, but you'll still have to trickle powder with sticks. (mine will do 3031 or 2015BR at about +/- 1.5 grains, but a lot worse with the others). Honestly my old Lyman #55 is **** near as accurate, but I wanted the Culver insert. Also everything is measured in clicks, but it does repeat settings extremely well. But I also seldom drop more than 50 grains of powder in mine. I would like to get my hands on a Belding & Mull someday, as it's the best out there for large stick powders.
gary

 

[joe0121]

I really like the Lee Perfect Powder measure. And frankly I think that people who don't like it already spent big buck on something more expensive and need to justify their purchase. It feels cheap and I suppose it is but fact of the matter is, it throws consistent charges.

 

[Trickymissfit]

I really like the Lee Perfect Powder measure. And frankly I think that people who don't like it already spent big buck on something more expensive and need to justify their purchase. It feels cheap and I suppose it is but fact of the matter is, it throws consistent charges.

All thru my shooting history I wanted a Lyman with the Homer Culver insert, but he passed away, and they became raer than hen's teeth. I was also looking at the one Fred Sinclair was selling and the Niel Jones measurer at the sametime. Sinclair got out of the business, and for some reason or another I just persued the Jones unit. About that time Harrell started selling a small measurer with the Culver style insert. I mulled around for about a year, and then one day picked up the phone and bought one. Already had a Lyman with all the Sinclair add ons that I liked very well (I guess I have about a $100 in it altogether). I had a buddy that used the Reddings and I used them quite a bit before I bought the Harrell, and he later had me put him a Lyman together just like mine. The RCBS was another I used for a few weeks on loan. Good measurer, but lacked the repeatability the Harrell had. All this time I was also looking for a mint B&M, and that became next to impossible.

There are somethings I didn't like about the Harrell for sure, but none were major. I wish I had one that would throw 90 grains of powder (they came out with that one later), and I wish it had the same thread as powder containers do (like the Lyman does). To this day I have not found the perfect measurer, and have pretty much gave up on that issue alone. My brother inlaw uses a Lee Perfect Measurer, and likes it. But now he wants a Harrell. I told him to just buy the Lyman, and we'd fix it in an afternoon. But he won't like either one of them as he throws mostly 4350 and stuff like that. He like me will buy one of the better electronic measurers like the RCBS or Pact (I came into a deal awhile back for a Pact without the scale, which I already owned two of). Yet on the otherhand neither of these are great for load development work at the range. I wish somebody would build one that would run off 12 volts DC.
gary

 

[joe0121]

All thru my shooting history I wanted a Lyman with the Homer Culver insert, but he passed away, and they became raer than hen's teeth. I was also looking at the one Fred Sinclair was selling and the Niel Jones measurer at the sametime. Sinclair got out of the business, and for some reason or another I just persued the Jones unit. About that time Harrell started selling a small measurer with the Culver style insert. I mulled around for about a year, and then one day picked up the phone and bought one. Already had a Lyman with all the Sinclair add ons that I liked very well (I guess I have about a $100 in it altogether). I had a buddy that used the Reddings and I used them quite a bit before I bought the Harrell, and he later had me put him a Lyman together just like mine. The RCBS was another I used for a few weeks on loan. Good measurer, but lacked the repeatability the Harrell had. All this time I was also looking for a mint B&M, and that became next to impossible.

There are somethings I didn't like about the Harrell for sure, but none were major. I wish I had one that would throw 90 grains of powder (they came out with that one later), and I wish it had the same thread as powder containers do (like the Lyman does). To this day I have not found the perfect measurer, and have pretty much gave up on that issue alone. My brother inlaw uses a Lee Perfect Measurer, and likes it. But now he wants a Harrell. I told him to just buy the Lyman, and we'd fix it in an afternoon. But he won't like either one of them as he throws mostly 4350 and stuff like that. He like me will buy one of the better electronic measurers like the RCBS or Pact (I came into a deal awhile back for a Pact without the scale, which I already owned two of). Yet on the otherhand neither of these are great for load development work at the range. I wish somebody would build one that would run off 12 volts DC.
gary

You could always buy a power inverter....

Also over at 6mmbr.com they did a review of the better known auto throwers and the RCBS won out in just about every category.