rcbs loadmaster and ct numbers

[mwtdvm]

I have been using my SECOND RCBS loadmaster for several months now. The first failed after very little use so I am watching #2 like a hawk. When dispensing, as it gets near the end, it slows down and then will sometimes show a number OVER the weight set and then will go to display the weight set. Then there will be a CT= .XXX that flashes and is gone.
The number can be low 018 or higher 716.

Anyone else noticed this? I find it hard to believe that this thing is right on the exact weight to the tenth of a grain every time.

If no one else has an answer, I will fire up the little digital scale and see if the RCBS unit is lying to me. I should have done this earlier but thought I could avoid re-inventing the wheel..

I am not a benchrest shooter but I do want the cartridges to be put together like I want.

 

[Rule3]

Well Doc, you are a smart guy. Ditch the electronic gadgets and use a good old beam scale. Work for ever and have done so for hundreds of years.

Wait until an EMP goes off. Electronic scales, let along those that also dispense are expensive "gadgets"

I like toys as much as anyone but not those.

 

[jepp2]

I might run mine slightly different than you run yours.

I run mine on autodisperse, but what the display shows should be the same.

The CT is the count of charges disbursed at the current grain setting. It only displays momentarily after the charge is complete. The ending charge might be over or under the set charge. It will increment up each charge disbursed. Just lets you know how many charges the scale weighed out. When you stop, it resets it.

So if I have an overweight or underweight charge that I recycle, my CT will not match the number of cases I filled with powder.

If you take the pan off before the disburse cycle is complete, it doesn't get counted, and your CT will be off.

 

[AveragEd]

I assume you are referring to an RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 that is a scale attached to a powder dispenser. I've had one for years and trust it completely. As a plus, it doesn't require a 30-minute warm-up period before use like the Lyman model.

At the end of a powder drop, it will beep and show the weight of the powder in the pan, then display the round count (that "CT" number) and finally display and stay on the weight in the pan. As much as about 25% of the time, mine will stop and display the programmed charge weight but will show 0.1 grain more when the display returns from the round count. The frequency of 0.1-grain overcharges largely depends upon the size of the powder particles.

Bigger particles run the weight up faster and the machine may not slow down soon enough to avoid an extra particle or two dropping into the pan if your charge weight is small - say 20 grains or so. Those larger particles weigh more than smaller ones, thus the higher frequency of 0.1-grain overcharges. Also very small charges can make the same thing happen as the machine reaches the weight very quickly.

I only use mine for rifle cartridges and it's no big deal for me - I just remove a pinch of powder with my fingers and then drop it into the pan one particle at a time until the scale reads the programmed weight. Or you can dump the pan back into the reservoir and hit "DISP" again.

If you are using you machine for handgun ammo, those super-small charges are going to problematic with any machine like that. You would be better off using an RCBS Competition Powder Measure for those rounds and the powder charging process would go a lot faster, too. I use one of those for my handgun loading and it rarely varies from the set weight by a tenth of a grain - perhaps one charge out of 20 and then with larger particle powders.

If you are getting goofy round counts like 018 and then 716, there obviously is something wrong with your machine and a call to RCBS is in order. Their customer service is top-notch.

Ed

 

[Moonman]

My unit works just fine.

I use it in AUTO DISPENSE MODE.

Rule3,

When the EMP goes off, I can just use the LEE DIPPERS.

I'll have to use the generator to power the Stainless Steel Media Tumbling.

I like to keep new brass on order from Starline also.

Retirement is just wonderful.

 

[arizona98tj]

Just a suggestion for the OP....spend some more time with your owner's manual. Based on your comments, you are missing some of the basics of how your unit works. Something as important as charge weight deserves a full understanding.

And of course, one can reprogram the motor speed...how close it gets to the weight before it slows down, etc. All of this info is available on the interweb. I've changed a number of the parameters on mine and have enjoyed the results. The 2nd page of my Chargemaster Combo product review touches on this a bit.

Of course, YMMV.

 

[mwtdvm]

thanks for the feedback!

Believe it or not, I have read the manual and I have been flipping between auto-dispense and Senior Manuel.. That explains why the #'s on CT were going up .

I think I will still weigh on a secondary scale for a while and see if things are as good as the Chargemaster says they are.

And if there is an EMP , then the old Lee balance will come back into use. Also the sealed battlepacks will be opened PRN.
My Chargemaster will be one of the least of my worries,

 

[jepp2]

I think I will still weigh on a secondary scale for a while and see if things are as good as the Chargemaster says they are.

I have supreme confidence in my Chargemaster, but any time I change the charge weight I double check the first one thrown on a beam scale. I never have found one to be different than what the Chargemaster displayed, but I feel more comfortable.

 

[Rule3]

When the EMP goes off your generators will not work either,

It's like at work. "How do you know that calculation is correct? Well because the computer says it is"

So many times it was wrong!

 

[arizona98tj]

I have supreme confidence in my Chargemaster, but any time I change the charge weight I double check the first one thrown on a beam scale. I never have found one to be different than what the Chargemaster displayed, but I feel more comfortable.

I use a set of RCBS calibration weights. That way, I can be assured that any scale I use is correct. I've found that not all beam scales are as dead nuts accurate as so many people believe/pretend they are.

 

[Rule3]

I use a set of RCBS calibration weights. That way, I can be assured that any scale I use is correct. I've found that not all beam scales are as dead nuts accurate as so many people believe/pretend they are.

I'll still take a decent beam balance over an electronic and time any day. There is no "pretending" I have check weights and they are accurate, period.

All electronic will fail eventually. Lights, fans, AC all mess them up. A mechanical balance is warrantied for life. Electronic maybe a year. Plus the are extremely expensive.

I can load 10 rounds in the time it takes for a Chargemaster (or similar ) to spit out the powder.

 

[AveragEd]

I've never owned a scale of ANY kind that was not affected by air currents and as the photo below indicates, I own at least one of every type.

If anything, the RCBS ChargeMaster (and likely others of its kind) can be made air current-resistant by swinging the cover over the pan closed before pressing the "DISP" button. The covers of balance beam scales that even have one are clumsy to use without disturbing the beam.

Ed

 

[forestswin]

Great thread. I'm reading all the right terms being used: check weights, checking with a second scale, noticing discrepancies, rereading the manual, supreme confidence (had to come from supreme testing and verification). Seems everyone is giving this topic its proper importance. It'll be good for those that just trust their scale solely from the brand name.

The big thing with me, is with a beam scale you can calibrate at zero and then using the check weights again test above and below your desired charge weight, if its slightly off you can go back to zero and fine tune until you're 100% sure you hit zero and your charge weight range. After that I agree with Avg Ed on the use of the higher end powder measure for handgun loads. With my Redding 10x Competition measure, I've charged 50 cases and then checked everyone of them against a calibrated OHaus 10-10. Dead on. (Within 0.05 grains). Verify, then trust. I've done this with with every powder I use.

Now I'm not too concerned with EMP'S but when the Sun flips its magnetic poles in the next few months, I'd be concerned if I was using a digital scale. And now I'm trying to figure out away to operate the beam scale upside down cause it does have one of those magnetic dampeners.

 

[SMSgt]

The three absolutes: Death, taxes, and electronics are going to fail.

But folks just have to have their gadgets. Gravity always works. If it doesn't, reloading isn't going to be a concern.

 

[Rule3]

Most if not all of the manual beam balances are made by Ohaus regardless of the name on them.

I know it will come as a shock to the Smurf community but the Dillon Eliminator Scale is not made by Dillon and yes, I, a die hard LEE guy own one.

Dillon's 'Eliminator' Scale: Powder Scales