Hornady L n L Auto Charge Dispenser
- Thread starter cigarbufff
- Start date
I will say that mine is awesome...for the first five or six loads. After that EVERY one is an "Over Charge", sometimes by as much as 1.5-2 grains. I am on the phone waiting for their customer service department right now as we speak. Stupid thing is I just recommended to a good friend that he go buy one as well because it works so good. Guess I will call him back and tell him to hold off.
Right now I am in position number 9 in the que. I will let you know the outcome of this...
Right now I am in position number 9 in the que. I will let you know the outcome of this...
Yes plz let me know...what powder are you using?
I am using all extruded powder, H4831SC, H4350, IMR 4064, Varget...etc. After 52 mins on hold, I got a very polite and helpful service rep. He is sending me an email with some new user settings to input in the machine. He said the unit is set from factory more for ball powder but if I run with extruded mainly there is some settings that need to be changed. I am waiting for the email and after I input them and test I will let you know for sure.
I do really like this unit, easy to use and fairly fast too, and this is only the second time I have had to use the Hornady customer service line and I will say they are top notch. Hopefully this email will fix my problem and I get back to reloading!
I do really like this unit, easy to use and fairly fast too, and this is only the second time I have had to use the Hornady customer service line and I will say they are top notch. Hopefully this email will fix my problem and I get back to reloading!
I have one. Be sure to position it somewhere that is free of vibration, excessive airflow, possibly not under fluorescent lighting. I find mine works well, but sometimes overcharges. I'm thinking its dependent on some location in the house, as I've had long sessions of it working well with varget and H4831SC, and IMR4895, but other times where its been overcharging many in a row. When it works properly, you can run it on the highest speed setting and it work perfectly. When you are running into problems (vibration? electronic interfences?), it doesn't matter what setting I used. Overall I would buy it again. It's a real time saver.
Ok awesome thats great to hear. Let me know how it goes...and also if you could post the settings you used as I will also be using varget!
Awesome thanks for your feedback
haha i saw a couple of guys on youtube do that!
Okay, got the email and made two changes to the setting of my unit. First change was the trickle speed, factory setting on mine was 0.6, I changed it to 0.3. There was no science to my choice here I just thought it looked right. After that change I was still getting a very high level of overcharge results (66%). Unacceptable to me. I then changed the trickle start time, ie: my target charge weight is 46.0 grains, the trickle start time is when the unit stops dispensing powder fast and goes to trickle mode. Factory settings on mine was 0.2 grains, I changed it to 1.0 grains. Again there was no science to my choice, but when the unit would throw an overcharge, it seemed to be about 1 grains hot before it would start to trickle. This brought my units acceptable charge dispensing results to 50% or maybe a bit better. All these results were with the unit at the "slow" dispensing speed.
I called the customer service line again, this time the wait was only about 30 mins. I got a different fellow, someone I had talked to before and really liked. He said he had similar issues with his, and he ended up with similar setting I described above, but he ran his at the normal or medium speed. So I went back to the reloading bench and made that change and got a successful rate of 75-80%. To me this is still unacceptable but getting much closer. I think the next step for me is to make some modifications to my reloading bench, it is okay, but there is a bit of movement and vibration to it if I am working the press to seat bullets while the powder dispenser is running.
I haven't decided for myself if I am happy with this purchase or not. I think an oversharge rate of 10% or less is acceptable so I have a little ways to go yet. A good buddy has the RCBS Chargemaster combo and has reported good luck with it, you may want to consider that one in your research.
I called the customer service line again, this time the wait was only about 30 mins. I got a different fellow, someone I had talked to before and really liked. He said he had similar issues with his, and he ended up with similar setting I described above, but he ran his at the normal or medium speed. So I went back to the reloading bench and made that change and got a successful rate of 75-80%. To me this is still unacceptable but getting much closer. I think the next step for me is to make some modifications to my reloading bench, it is okay, but there is a bit of movement and vibration to it if I am working the press to seat bullets while the powder dispenser is running.
I haven't decided for myself if I am happy with this purchase or not. I think an oversharge rate of 10% or less is acceptable so I have a little ways to go yet. A good buddy has the RCBS Chargemaster combo and has reported good luck with it, you may want to consider that one in your research.
paperslayer
Regular
- Location
- Chilliwack
or buy an RCBS chargemaster and not have those problems
It can't be subjected to the vibration of you pulling the reloading press lever while its doing its final trickle. Not sure if that is the problem or not. Try changing locations in your house. You could also try putting a small square of carpet under it, and setting it on a separate stand from the reloading bench. Hopefully you are on a concrete floor. I've used mine to good success, but do admit that if you get conditions that result in bad metering and overcharge, it seems to persist. It's got to be due to the weighing mechanism not settling down. The trickle algorithym seems to run just as you would think it should, pours fast, then slows down to trickle. What's the difference how far out from final balance it goes trickle, as long as you are not getting instant overcharge. The overcharge seems to occur during trickle, so it strikes me that the problem is not the trickle, but the weighing. I've heard of electronic scales being sensitive to flourescent lights and air currents. So that's my guess at how to cure it.
There are plenty of folks out there that have had issues with their RCBS products as well. RCBS's solution is that you send them a photo of your newly destroyed machine and they send you a new one.
My 1st Hornady model wouldn't do anything so I exchanged it for a new one that works very well. I have my press on one table and my measure on another table. I also let mine warm up for an hour or so before I start to dispense. FS
man all the reviews on the net are pretty consistent...these guys love this machine hehe...I cant justify the chargemaster bcuz its 140 more. I know what u guys are going to say though. its 140 well spent blah blah lol. My conditions are pretty good no air flow or flourecent lights. I dont know what to do..decisions decisions
no too expensive locally
I let mine warm up for at least 30 mins, I no longer seat bullets while dispensing powder, no flourescent lights. I think the next biggest hurdle for me is my reloading bench. I will tackle that during the Christmas holidays.
Right on. I have a pretty sturdy bench. And I have a technicians light with swingable boom. U think that would be a prob?
I'm a Hornady fan myself.
I have the LnL AP Ammo Plant and I'm very satisfied however I also went with the RCBS Chargemaster Combo due to more favorable reviews.
The RCBS can be found online for $290.00 and with an additional $10.00 purchase in RCBS products you are eligible for $50-$75 in cash rebates.
I'm sure that Hornady will get you sorted out though.
PS: RCBS also has program settings that can be modified. The settings can be found HERE.
I have the LnL AP Ammo Plant and I'm very satisfied however I also went with the RCBS Chargemaster Combo due to more favorable reviews.
The RCBS can be found online for $290.00 and with an additional $10.00 purchase in RCBS products you are eligible for $50-$75 in cash rebates.
I'm sure that Hornady will get you sorted out though.
PS: RCBS also has program settings that can be modified. The settings can be found HERE.
$290 where?
