Chargemaster 1500...problems dispensing 2400?

DarkSyd

DarkSyd

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Being a long weekend, RCBS tech support is closed, but I'll check with them on Tuesday...

In the meantime...have any of you ever had issues dispensing certain types of powder? I've mainly been using mine for rifle cartridges...much varget, 4895, and 4350 through it.

Decided to load up some 25-20 today, and was looking for 7.5 grains of 2400...and I can get it, reliably, about twice. Then the auger just seems to bind up and I can't get it to do anything until I empty the hopper and refill it.

I'm wondering if it isn't a similar issue to this thread...
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/884196-Got-my-Chargemaster-1500-combo-today-guess-what-it-doesn-t-work?highlight=chargemaster

...but I can't see anything out of round, and I'm not about to tear it apart while it is under warranty...I have bad luck with anything held together with plastic tabs :)
 
Good and bad news...
Decided late last night to confirm that it was a powder issue, and it is. 4895 goes through it just fine, as it always did. That's a relief, as I was hoping something wasn't knackered with te keypad or the motor.

Bad is that I did get hold of RCBS this AM, and they said that yes, the finer powder types can bind up the gear that drives the auger.

Oh well...I use a volumetric measure on all of my pistol type stuff anyways...the 25-20 w/ 2400 is a bit of an oddball as far as my reloading patterns go anyways, so ti isn't a huge deal.
 
i have had that problem before but i did find that if i cut a piece of paper a little longer than an inch wide and about the same long and roll it up and just stick it inside the dispense tube so it extrudes out about 1/4 inch out i was able to have consistent loads every time. Espcailly with Varget where i was having some issues. Give it a try.. if it don't work.. no harm done.
Cheeers
Josh
 
It sounds like the problem the OP is describing is coming from the inside of the chargemaster, not at the end of the dispense tube. I imagine RCBS is going to tell you to stay away from spherical powders in general
 
silverfoxdj said:
Was going to ask about Varget but saw the post above .. straw fix
Click to expand...

I cut the top of a case off (can't recall which) and sized it so it would friction fit into the feed tube and then inserted a straw into that as I didnt have a straw big enough.

I've heard McD's straws work but having a smaller diameter straw I think helps keep the loads really close. I re weigh on a good digital and with the smaller straw my laods on the CM are generally within .06 of one another.
 
CyaN1de said:
I cut the top of a case off (can't recall which) and sized it so it would friction fit into the feed tube and then inserted a straw into that as I didnt have a straw big enough.

I've heard McD's straws work but having a smaller diameter straw I think helps keep the loads really close. I re weigh on a good digital and with the smaller straw my laods on the CM are generally within .06 of one another.
Click to expand...

I used a regular sized straw and just wrapped a layer of painter's tape around it to make a good friction fit. Works perfectly.
 
DarkSyd said:
Kind of off-topic...but have any of you done any of the tweaks to adjust the dispensing rate, via the dispensing parameters?

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/speed-up-your-rcbs-chargemaster/

I'm going to give the McD's straw tweak a try too...I can see where it would help.
Click to expand...

I have done dispensing tweeks and the straw trick(cut slits/v's in the end, seen that trick somewhere), happy with both....I would caution against ramping the speed up too much on the programing changes though.
 
DarkSyd said:
Kind of off-topic...but have any of you done any of the tweaks to adjust the dispensing rate, via the dispensing parameters?

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/speed-up-your-rcbs-chargemaster/

I'm going to give the McD's straw tweak a try too...I can see where it would help.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is a must.

Problem is finding a good medium setting to work with all powders. I set mine up perfectly for Varget but then had to change it slightly when I started loading 4831SC due to the different "flow rate" of the bigger powder.
 
DarkSyd said:
Kind of off-topic...but have any of you done any of the tweaks to adjust the dispensing rate, via the dispensing parameters?

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/speed-up-your-rcbs-chargemaster/

I'm going to give the McD's straw tweak a try too...I can see where it would help.
Click to expand...

Yep. I used this guy's settings.

EDIT: Just realized that page no longer contains recommended settings, only default settings. It's still super useful to have in case you need to reset them.
 
Last edited:
How does the powder get in the gears?

For reference my chargemaster throws A2400 very well and I use a lot of it in 357 mag.

I've never had any powder in the gears.
I looked inside and both bushings on the dispenser pipe are sealed ball bearings so it can't go past them.

CM1.jpg


CM2.jpg


CM3.jpg
 
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