Digital scale drift...what digi scale are you using?

Can someone explain drift? Does the scale move off of zero?...
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That's exactly what happens. The zero reading goes screwy and "zero" suddenly looks like some other small but significant value of plus or minus what it used to be.
 
I use Gempro 250 and have ferrite core snaps on the wire also every so often because I'm running a plastic powder tray is to use a old dryer on the tray and scale to ensure the scale and tray doesn't have any static build up. More noticeable in the winter static cause drift.
 
Like the OP, I have an MTM cheapo that drifts after a few minutes. I find it too unreliable and only use it when I change the setting on a powder thrower. I use it untill I'm close to the desired charge and fine tune it with my old and reliable Pacific beam scale.
 
I used a Dillon D Terminator for a few years and then got out of reloading. It worked great. Never any issues. I shot some pretty small groups using this scale. My buddy who has loaded for 50 plus years bought one and has been using it constantly with no issues. They were just over $200 last time I looked at one. I have started shooting a lot more lately so will likely be buying one again in the near future.
https://www.dillonprecision.com/d-terminator-electronic-scale_8_7_25213.html

Scott....
 
I picked up an RCBS 1500 off eBay for $125 a few months ago, I love the thing. Stays plugged in all the time, and I turn it one when I start priming brass and by the time I'm done and ready to start with powder it's warmed up and gets calibrated and it's good to go
 
bat119 said:
I've been reloading for almost 40 years I tried a RCBS 750 a few frustrating try's later I went back to my beam scale. You can set a beam scale on your desired weight and its done, no calibrating no warm up and you don't need to notice when the thing doesn't go back to zero or remember what weight your loading when doing successive loads for a field test.

RCBS 750 for sale only used once and cursed at several times, you really can't teach an old dog new tricks.
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Odd ........... I have the same scale bought off the EE & it's been an absolute pleasure with zero issues. Worked perfectly first time, every time! Wish I had bought the 1500 with the powder dispenser ....... next time!
My experience with cheaper battery operated scales was not positive!
 
RCBS 1500 which is part of my 3 year-old Chargemaster. I used to switch it off when not using it but its been on now for about 10 months with no issues or drift. In fact I haven't had to calibrate it in months and it still reads all of the check weights accurately.
 
A&D FX-120i is the best money I have spent for precision reloading. I had a Gempro 250 and had to send it back a few times. Waste of time and money
 
244Ack said:
A&D FX-120i is the best money I have spent for precision reloading. I had a Gempro 250 and had to send it back a few times. Waste of time and money
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If you are a competition benchrest shooter and shooting over 400 yards the FX-120i is NOT what you want to buy since you will be ± 1 or 2 kernels of powder. You either want a Prometheus powder measure or the Sartorius Entris64-1S.

A single kernel of Varget weighs ± 0.02 grains and the FX-120i increments in 0.02 grain divisions (0.02 gn > 0.04 gn > 0.06 gn, etc) and the linearity (or accuracy) is ± two(2) divisions or ± 0.04 grains. When shooting .308 ammo, on average, a single kernel of Varget roughly changes the velocity by 1.3 fps. So just a few kernels of variation can easily double the extreme spread in velocity. Out to 500+- yards it does not seem to make much difference, but beyond that and things can get ugly fast. Buying the right balance is just another tool to put more bullets closer to the desired point of impact.

It's all a matter of perspective and at what level one wishes to perform. Buy the FX-120i and it is a good weighing device but it is doubtful you are not going to win shooting competitions. Any way one looks at it, serious long-range shooting is not cheap. In their world, it often comes down to one point or even one "X" between winning or not.
 
Back to the OP's original question. For most reloading, the RCBS 750 will work fine. The trick seems to be to leave it on all the time. Mine doesn't drift and calibration is always right on. If I was shooting at the national level I might upgrade to the $1000+ unit, but I'm getting ES and SD in the single digits (measured with a Labradar) with my 750 and that's all the precision I need right now.
 
Viper26 said:
Back to the OP's original question. For most reloading, the RCBS 750 will work fine. The trick seems to be to leave it on all the time. Mine doesn't drift and calibration is always right on. If I was shooting at the national level I might upgrade to the $1000+ unit, but I'm getting ES and SD in the single digits (measured with a Labradar) with my 750 and that's all the precision I need right now.
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Yeah, if your SD is in single digits, that's awesome!
 
Just a heads-up on the GemPro 250

From Quarky Science

"There is currently a manufacturing problem with the GemPro-250s. We have received a lot of complaints about the batch we sold. We are not selling GemPro-250s until that problem is solved. You may be able to find them elsewhere, but you can't tell at a glance if those GemPros are older and pre-defect or if those dealers are just selling the problem ones anyway. The issue is that they will work just fine the first few times you use it, and then it will stop working. We can offer you some alternate scales if you are interested.
Thanks"

"It's really a shame the GemPro 250 is having the problems it's had recently, given its popularity, and previous record. We had them pulled for a while earlier, to fix the accessory box lid catch, which had nothing to do with the operation of the scale, but was annoying. They came back with an improved accessory box, but for some reason the scale became the problem. I even tried to get hold of some of the older stock with the bad accessory box latch, since a lot of people were willing to deal with that to get their scale, but those stocks ran out very quickly."
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My RCBS chargemaster got me MagnetoSpeed SD/ES of 4/12, good enough for my skills. The CM is expensive enough.

Viper26 said:
Back to the OP's original question. For most reloading, the RCBS 750 will work fine. The trick seems to be to leave it on all the time. Mine doesn't drift and calibration is always right on. If I was shooting at the national level I might upgrade to the $1000+ unit, but I'm getting ES and SD in the single digits (measured with a Labradar) with my 750 and that's all the precision I need right now.
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I have one of the mtm low buck scales. I had it start to drift on me and what I found was between the load cell and scale frame was a couple of grains of Varget. I must have had a couple fall under the scale pan, due to the pan is smaller and allows anything falling off the pan get into the load cell. After cleaning it out and rechecking all my loads it that batch. Now being extra careful on pouring powder from my measures and trickle. I have got in the habit of checking zero, knowing what the negative weight of my pan is, and put the test weight on once and a while. When I am all done a batch I will random check a few on my beam scale. Kinda a pain sometimes but haven't had a problem since.
 
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