??Digetal scales??

[kc]

I just bought a new Digital scale and I just cant get it on I have even had me wife read the intrutions and its not right.
I am using Retumbo 55grs with a 160gr bullet and it is back to the beams.
I guess there is a problem thats my fault I just cant get it on.
I did give it time to warm up and even had it under my arm?
when I turn it on it has an auto shut off and that works.
the powder is like a magnet it many of the grains cling to the tray that came with it.

I just don't get it.

 

[Boss Hoss]

It is called static electricity and that is normal for the powder to stick---try a brass one. Do not know what brand you have but if you have it plugged in to an outlet that is "dirty" meaning a fluorescent light is powered off of that line then the power is tainted possibly.

Sorry you are frustrated but I have been using the digital scales for 20 years and love them.

What brand is it and did you calibrate it?

 

[boomtube]

"...back to the beams."

Yep.

 

[Trickymissfit]

"...back to the beams."

Yep.

and model A Fords.

 

[kc]

I must corect this post...I am using a few powders and I was using the load posted as an example.

YEP! Back to beams.

 

[kc]

I must corect this post...I am using a few powders and I was using the load posted as an example.

YEP! Back to beams.
I also noticed as I added grains the numbers never changed.

 

[woods]

"...back to the beams."

Yep.

and model A Fords.

Some people like the Shimano level wind reels and take the time to learn to use them, working through the backlashes

and some are still using the Zebco pencil sharpeners



Some people like the 5M Series John Deere tractors and take the time to learn how to use them

and some still like to use Mules and hand plows


My point is everything has a learning curve but the better things in life usually have a steeper one. To get rid of the static electricity take a dryer sheet and wipe everything down.

 

[boomtube]

Woods, are you conceeding that marvelous, modern, excellant digital gimmicks are hard to use and have a "steep learning curve?'' lightbulb

Actually, I never felt that was true when I repaired/calibrated professional grade digital scales at Cape Kennedy years ago. They are quite simply to use. I just don't care for them because the good ones are very costly and they still require professional maintanance to remain trustworthy while the cheap digitals made for reloaders don't get any professional calibration at all. But, if a digital suits you, it suits me - for YOU!

There has yet been a hunting rifle action that is superior to the Mauser 98, it's some 111 years old now. Nothing is yet superior to a balance beam scale either, they work off gravity and gravity never changes.

I prefer my Abu Garcia level wind reels to my Diawas and Shimanos but on windy days in exposed open water I have no heart burn picking up a Zebco 33.

 

[woods]

Woods, are you conceeding that marvelous, modern, excellant digital gimmicks are hard to use and have a "steep learning curve?'' lightbulb

Actually, I never felt that was true when I repaired/calibrated professional grade digital scales at Cape Kennedy years ago. They are quite simply to use. I just don't care for them because the good ones are very costly and they still require professional maintanance to remain trustworthy while the cheap digitals made for reloaders don't get any professional calibration at all. But, if a digital suits you, it suits me - for YOU!

There has yet been a hunting rifle action that is superior to the Mauser 98, it's some 111 years old now. Nothing is yet superior to a balance beam scale either, they work off gravity and gravity never changes.

I prefer my Abu Garcia level wind reels to my Diawas and Shimanos but on windy days in exposed open water I have no heart burn picking up a Zebco 33.

You know it seems to be a common component in a lot of posts where someone doesn't like digital scales that they were once a tech or used a lot of them, so I take that into consideration. However I have used an RCBS 1500 for a few years (still the original one) and it has yet to fail me.

I loaded for years with the balance beam and even before the digitals I was not satisfied with the one I had. Since I am OCD I had to have EXACTLY the correct amount of powder and that meant trickling and then reaching up to lightly push the pointer down and let it come back up (since the balance beam I had would get sticky). That meant cleaning the blade slots and cleaning the whole **** thing and recalibrating with weights. Even then there were several anomalies that were frustrating. Ever pull bullets and reweigh the powder to see if it matches what your spreadsheet says that you put in the case? Never turned out the same for me with my balance beam.

I have pulled bullets and reweighed the powder that I had loaded with the 1500 and they ALWAYS come out EXACTLY what I weighed the first time.

Now maybe I just don't know all the working parts and the things that can go wrong with my automatic transmission, I am just happy to get in and drive.

After turning on the 1500, I calibrate with the 50 gr weights and set the pan on the platen. It ALWAYS weighs EXACTLY 150.0 grs. After rezeroing with the pan on it and dispensing a charge, I lift the pan and the display ALWAYS says EXACTLY -150.0 grs, that is a recalibration each and every time you dispense a load.

Put a short plastic straw into the end of the dispense tube and you can set it to dispense exactly the charge you want. Wait 5 seconds after the beep and it will tell you how much you have dispensed. If you put a short section of a plastic straw into the end of the dispense tube it will dispense what you punched in 90% of the time. If it is over .1 or .2 grs then dip a few granules out.

Seat the bullet in a previously charged case while the dispenser is running (can't do it when it slows down or stops because of the bench vibration). By the time you have finished charging the loading block of cases you are within 3 or 4 cases of having all the bullets seated also.

Yes there is a learning curve but you know in your heart that your level wind Garcia's are a much better reel than that Zebco 33, right?

 

[boomtube]

"....you know in your heart that your level wind Garcia's are a much better reel than that Zebco 33,"

Indeed, in most respects, but not always. When casting light lures into the teeth of a wind the old Zebco can't be beat so which reel is "better" is a relitive term. My point is, the functional "quality" and design of any tool depends on what's needed to best do the job at hand.

I see no valid downside to a beam scale and do see LOTS of downsides to digitals. It's my belief that MOST of those bemoaning how "slow" a beam is are not using them properly. Like my Zebco, a digital does have valid advantages at times but not often. They can't be beat for weighting cases and bullets, few of us chase our tails that way for long. Since weighing powder is the most often needed and by far the most critical thing we work with, I refuse to use anything less than the most trustworthy tool available for that job, it's clear a beam is superior for powder charges to me.

You and others certainly have the option of using whatever scale you wish amd presenting any argument you see fit. But you don't have the option of saying a digital is more accurate or any where near as dependable than a properly operating beam. The beam you mention wasn't operating correctly (we agree on that?) and using that one malfunctioning unit to condemn the entire catagory is no more valid than condemning digitals across the board because a young friend of mine had one that crapped out an hour after he started using it. But, I know of NO beam scales that haven't delivered excellant performance for years. It is valid to point out that my 46 year old beam is still as precise and sensitive as the day I bought it and I fully expect it to be that good in another 46 years. Surely you accept that no two electronic anythings will work that long. ( If it did I wouldn't have had a job for most of my life!)

 

[Trickymissfit]

I used to use an RCBS 505, and then came into a new Ohaus 304. The difference was amazing. This was the same scale we used at work to manufacture "bob weights" for balancers. Later we went to an electronic scale setup that was very expensive due to an error that was built into the 304 scales (not enough for us to ever worry about). But the downside was the same as the 304 in that it wants to be in a clean enviorment. We later bought two of them as it seemed that we were always needing two scales at the sametime. About that sametime I bought a Pact, and brought it in to do a compairison. The $10K scale appeared to have a slightly different reading, but the difference was less than .01 of a grain. So I take it down to the calibration room to see how it compaired with what they were using. (it was owned by TACOM, and was considered to be the master everything came off of). The Pact ended up being closer to the master than what were were using. Their boss asked how many thousand dollars the thing cost? They cried! My boss orders in a half dozen of them. They're still using those six scales eleven years later. Mine was stolen, and I replaced it with another one just like it, but with the inferred port. Still going just fine. Later I picked up a BBK from Pact and it is a nice little scale (I like the other better). While all this was going on I got rid of the 304, and just never looked back. But I will buy the powder despinser one of these days to finish the whole system out. Now some folks have complaigned about flouresent lights bothering them, but I have never seen this and my house is full of them. I even went so far as to see if a power conditioner would make it work even better, and saw no difference. But I did notice a difference in use when I had it hooked into a cheap power strip like they sell at Walmart, and even that was slight.
gary

 

[boomtube]

"Now some folks have complaigned about flouresent lights bothing them, .."

Flourescent light, as such, has no more effect on a scale than sun light. Flourscent light fixtures often have magnetic "ballast" transformers that can make the line voltage "dirty"; if that's true, a line conditioner can correct it but IF the line is clean then a conditioner will obviously do nothing. Other thing is the magnetic field of the ballast can also interfere with the scale's electonics. Again, if your fixture doesn't use a ballast, or it's small, or it's sufficently removed, then it won't interfere. Some power tools can have have the same power line and magnetic effects.

 

[Trickymissfit]

"Now some folks have complaigned about flouresent lights bothing them, .."

Flourescent light, as such, has no more effect on a scale than sun light. Flourscent light fixtures often have magnetic "ballast" transformers that can make the line voltage "dirty"; if that's true, a line conditioner can correct it but IF the line is clean then a conditioner will obviously do nothing. Other thing is the magnetic field of the ballast can also interfere with the scale's electonics. Again, if your fixture doesn't use a ballast, or it's small, or it's sufficently removed, then it won't interfere. Some power tools can have have the same power line and magnetic effects.

one thing that will have an effect on a digital scale in my use is a rapid temperature change or a cold draft. At work we put all ours in a plexiglass box. At the house I don't worry too much about it. The electricity in my house is very clean on purpose; it can have a major effect on my audio equipment. I chased a ground fault loop for six months before we finally traced it to the breaker circut in the panel, and even then I still don't understand what was wrong as everything seemed to work just fine. I kinda wonder how touchey the electronic powder dispensers are about this.
gary

 

[TnTom]

im guessing if you were to call the manufacturer there is a customer service tech who will step you through the set-up and will be able to get you up and running in a heart beat or he'll tell you to return the unit.
Why beat your brains out trying to understand what the problem is, just let your fingers do the walking.