Got my Chargemaster 1500 combo today, guess what, it doesn't work

09outlander

09outlander

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So I ordered a Chargemaster 1500 combo from Natchez a little over 3 weeks ago, it finally showed up in the mail today. So I open it up, read the instructions and decide to try it out. Turned it on, calibrated it as per instructions, no problems. I fill it about a quarter full with W231, punch in 5.0 grains and hit dispense. The dispensing tube makes a slow half rotation and stops, all I can hear is a faint humming sound from the motor. It sounded like the motor was really struggling.

Needless to say I'm not happy, going to be calling RCBS tomorrow.

Also, if I remove all of the powder and hit the dispense button it spins up fine, it's almost like the weight of the powder is to much for the motor.

If anybody has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.
 
Well I tore it apart and found the problem. Powder was getting between the dispensing tube and plastic housing, causing the tube to jam and shutting off the motor, it must have overload protection. The hole in the plastic housing is out of round.

Hopefully RCBS will just send me the plastic housing and not ask me to hammer the #### out of it, although at this point I wouldn't mind putting a box of .45 into the ####ing thing.
 
Ouch on the bad luck. The chargemaster is a great unit; fast and accurate. Hopefully RCBS takes care of you quickly, nothing worst than waiting several weeks for a failed unit.
 
My first one lasted until about two weeks after the warranty had expired. I sold it to a guy in a similar situation who needed parts. My second one has been going strong for 3+ years. Good product, poor QC.
 
Got one last autumn and it reduces my reloading time at least three times. I should try some comparison tests to my Ohaus balance. I notice some long grain powders build up in the final trickle stage, and a glob will fall out over charging by a tenth to three tenths. Rarely it would do the same with flake powder but I notice it and use tweezers to remove that bit.

That bit aside, when your replacement comes you will enjoy having this tool.

Sorry, this wasn't helpful to the question in the OP.
 
Must be the 1 in 100 that is bad. I have loaded thousands of rounds from 4.5 to 104 gr and never had an issue.

From what I have been told RCBS really does stand behind their products.

Hope they tell you to smash it. Sounds like fun to unload on it with a 45.
 
Out of interest and to settle my curiosity, during the last 100 222rem rounds I reloaded, I randomely selected about 25 charges dispensed the by Chargemaster combination. My Ohaus balance was previously calibrated for the powder pan, but I reaffirmed balance and proceeded to compare the 25 charges on this balance.

My findings were not unlike those listed in a review I read where the man did a similar test: Consistently the Chargemaster dispensed a charge that was (when weighed on balance) about a tenth of an grain lighter, with a variation of about seven hundredths of a grain(putting aside the odd correction I had to make due to reasons in previous post). This is an informal test, where I "recorded" the results in my mind. Someday I expect I will be bored and record a more thorough test of more rounds in a typical OCD manner.
 
And what is the margin of error for the Ohaus?

What powders were used in the test? The reason why power choice is important, is that some powders are known to be difficult for any machine to dispense (e.g. large-grained extruded powders). BLC-(2) is a "slippery" small-grained ball powder that dispenses well and a great choice for these kinds of tests.

The important thing is consistency, and being consistently within a tenth of a grain is consistent.
 
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Andy said:
And what is the margin of error for the Ohaus? What powders were used in the test?

The important thing is consistency, and being consistently within a tenth of a grain is consistent.
Click to expand...

I could verify the Ohaus's consistency if I had some various objects of known various weights. I operated on the presumption that it was correct as I lack the aforementioned objects. The powder I weighed was IMR 4320. Not that you really need to weigh it for 222rem - just dump it in the case until full, seat bullet. ;) I don't recommend or do that, as I desire tight groups, and that particular combination for my 222rem works well.

As I said in the previous post, this wasn't a thorough test and I hope to do more thorough tests in the future. Given that the adjustment increments for the chargemaster and most balances is tenths of a grain, the balance has the advantage of allowing the user to be very particular about the needle moving to exact zero every charge... this could add up to hundredths or even thousandths of a grain consistency. Sorry, I'm going off on a pedantic tangent.

Instead of resurrecting this thread later with more results, I may start a new one with more detail.
 
Using a check weight set I have found the chargemaster to be more accurate than my pacific M and my 10-10 from years ago. I also keep a few coins around where I recorded the weights. Out of 15 seperate weights I use, only the chargemaster is bang on with all of them. The balance scales seem to have a range where they are accurate, but outside of that range start to wander off.
 
Andy said:
My first one lasted until about two weeks after the warranty had expired. I sold it to a guy in a similar situation who needed parts. My second one has been going strong for 3+ years. Good product, poor QC.
Click to expand...

Agree my first one was trouble right out of the box but they fully replaced it and the next one has been perfect
 
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