When an Auto Dispenser Fails

R

RC20

New member
My Lyman has faulted, good news is its still under warranty. As soon as Customer service get back from Vacation..................

My brothers RCBS 1500 went zilly whack. Well out of warranty.

No return, no repair, SOL. They used to replace for a fee, but the new norm is nadda.

Reading Hornady is the same.

That is downright depressing.
 
Have you ever considered a Dillon. I have reloaded on a Dillon 550 B for about 25 yrs. Dillon Customer Service & their free parts replacement policy has kept me running all those yrs. God Bless Dillon.
 
550B is a Press of some kind is it not?

The problem is I am hooked on the Auto Dispensers (as noted in other posts)

I know others think its a distraction, but letting the Auto Dispenser run while I seat bullets, get boxes, label etc is a big time saver.

I think its good for all readers to be aware of the downsides as well as upsides though.

Reliability as well as support is the flip side of the coin, though that's been true for electronics in general. They do tend to fail soon or live a long life (at least the stuff I work with). That seems to be changing for RCBS to fails after close to 3 years of intensive use.

RCBS used to be very good, now the same as Hornady and will see about Lyman.
 
Ok, and now that you have me what are you going to do with me?

Old farts take lots of care and feeding you know (grin)
 
I don't know anyone who guarantees electronic anything for the kinds of duty they'll guarantee a purely mechanical contrivance for. Too many additional failure modes and vulnerabilities. You'd need industrial grade switches and other components to get there on durability. I spoke with Richard Lee about adding an electronic scale to their line back in the very early 90's, but when we crunched the numbers it turned out their maximum production cost couldn't support doing it here and using American-made components, so they didn't pursue it.
 
I get its throw away Chinese stuff. Harder is lack of an exchange if it does fail.

For sure a down side that you should at least be aware of and willing to pay. If not go with the mechanical powder dispensers.

I may throw in with my brother for a co-owned backup unit.
 
If you are doing anything with long range shooting, Bryan Litz found the Promethean actually garnered small, measurable improvements in velocity SD. I don't know if they're available at the moment, though.

It seems to me there have been a few folks that have made their own units that work with a mechanical scale by using an electric eye that detects the position of the damping vane that passes through the permanent magnet, and a motor on a powder trickler. It's a bother, but you could always fix it, then.
 
Unclenick said:
It seems to me there have been a few folks that have made their own units that work with a mechanical scale by using an electric eye that detects the position of the damping vane that passes through the permanent magnet, and a motor on a powder trickler. It's a bother, but you could always fix it, then.
Click to expand...

Dandy Products makes an auto trickler that works with balance beam scales, it can be seen here:

https://dandyproductsllc.com/products/dandy-auto-trickler
 
Lots of money but 1/5 the cost of a prometheus. Adam MacDonald's Autotrickler is a very competitive alternative to the prometheus. It is not better but probably 98% of the big boy for about $900. Do not be fooled by the specs of the scale. It is not the same as a gempro. The tech is force restoration instead of a strain gauge. In fact the internal design is somewhat similar to a beam scale. A weight displaces an internal beam and a magnet/coil assembly applies a force to return the beam to its original position. There is a Video that illustrates the difference. This is a scale that likes trickling. The Gempro treats slow trickling like drift. Anyone who has used a Gempro knows that when trickling You have to lift to reweight small amounts being trickled. I left he A&D FX120 on for 2 days and the zero did not drift. I left 100 grams on the scale for 1 day and it didn't drift. I'm not a fanboy but I do appreciate quality tools. It is no Prometheus, but a viable alternative.

Bill
 
I believe RCBS will warranty the mechanical only components of the Chargemaster 1500, but no warranty on anything electronic.
 
It is a high quality trickler in essence. Version 2 even has oilite bushings so it is lubrication free. It has an o-ring and stepper motor. The scale is the star of the show although I wish I had been clever enough to come up with the design. I have the required knowledge and plenty of time. I don't have the 3d printer he uses to polish the design. Can't wait for his next project.

Bill
 
There was someone that used a photo sensor (beam & eye) from a printer on a beam scale and it worked pretty good. I was going to try it but got side tracked and lost the website that had it.

Yup! Us older folk do take more care & feeding!
When we get locked onto something it's harder to get us up to speed than trying to get a teenager off the couch!

I've used a beam scale for so long the idea of a digital doesn't cross my mind.
I motorized my trickler, but I still scoop or drop most of the charge manually...
Stuck in my ways on that one.
 
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