lee powder dispenser not repeating

[stevesmith]

my lee reloading kit came with the powder meter for dispensing set amount of powder. i setthe amount and verify it by a scale.. i can never get it to dispense same amoutn 2 times..its always different amounts. if i check it 5 times i got 5 different amounts. any idea what causes this????
is it just a lee product that is crap????
im lost with it. any help wold be greatly appreciated..

Steve Smith

 

[dsculley]

I have found mine to work well. The powder is metered by volume. Stick powders do not meter as well as some others. Anything that causes the powder to settle/pack differently will cause a change in the amount of powder metered. You might try tapping the side of the meter before throwing each load. I can't recall the brand, but I saw an old powder meter that had a weight that was to be lifted and dropped between charges. You could take some fishing line and a lead weight and do the same thing. Lifting the weight to the same height would add consistency to the force applied to settle the powder.

Dennis

 

[stevesmith]

I have found mine to work well. The powder is metered by volume. Stick powders do not meter as well as some others. Anything that causes the powder to settle/pack differently will cause a change in the amount of powder metered. You might try tapping the side of the meter before throwing each load. I can't recall the brand, but I saw an old powder meter that had a weight that was to be lifted and dropped between charges. You could take some fishing line and a lead weight and do the same thing. Lifting the weight to the same height would add consistency to the force applied to settle the powder.

Dennis

i will try that but i have been consecutive of tapping it 20 times while its metered in..then tpping it 20 times after throwing it..still no repeation..im thinking its new and may have some type of burr on the mouth of the cylinder where it loads before you throw the load.

 

[gohring3006]

My Lee didn't throw consistent till I ran a lot of powder threw it. It needs to be seasoned so to speak. Some guys use graphite to speed up the process.

 

[stevesmith]

My Lee didn't throw consistent till I ran a lot of powder threw it. It needs to be seasoned so to speak. Some guys use graphite to speed up the process.

where would you put the graphite at to help speed it up??lightbulb

 

[CogburnR]

Throw charges in 2 throws(sometimes 3 for 100g), when you raise the lever the powder flows in, wait a second then lower the lever slightly and raise it again hitting the stop with a bump. If you are throwing long cut powder in big charges it might still be .5g off.

I have a Redding, 2 Dillons and a Lee. I use the Lee most of the time as I load stick powder most of the time and it is more consistent once I figured it out.

The Dillons work well with ball powder, haven't ever bonded with the Redding 3br yet. Harrel's Culver measure and the Johnson are supposed to work well.

 

[gohring3006]

Just run it threw like you would powder. Keep in mind I never tried it.
I just kept filling my hopper with powder and run it till empty then repeat. I did this multiple times and it started throwing consistent. Mine has a sweet spot at about 3/4 full any more and it throws light any less it throws heavy. Go figure, I still can't wrap my head around that one..

 

[stevesmith]

Just run it threw like you would powder. Keep in mind I never tried it.
I just kept filling my hopper with powder and run it till empty then repeat. I did this multiple times and it started throwing consistent. Mine has a sweet spot at about 3/4 full any more and it throws light any less it throws heavy. Go figure, I still can't wrap my head around that one..

what i thought might be happening while im trying to wrap my head around it is that a 90 grain throw might be almost a full chamber in the metering tube and it holds a few grains more or a few less when loading it before the throw..then i broke it down to 2 throws then went to 3 throws and they still arent consistant..the (seasoning) sounds out of whack but at the same time seems to try to make some sense..if it gets lubed well the grains will flow well and allow some reputition. im gonna open it up when i get home and see if i can see maybe a lip around the holding tube or something to that nature that would be obstructing a precision fill and throw..its the only thing i can come up with to do other than throw it away...lol

 

[gohring3006]

I had the very same problem, I asked a lot of experienced reloaders and they told me to season/ break it in, and it worked. I throw 58grn charges with one throw but I think I would throw 90gr with two throws.

 

[stevesmith]

I had the very same problem, I asked a lot of experienced reloaders and they told me to season/ break it in, and it worked. I throw 58grn charges with one throw but I think I would throw 90gr with two throws.

just got off of the phone with lee and talked to a engineer and he explained it like this..if you used leaves to fill a bag the same amount of leaves want fill 2 bags the same, basically that much powder and with it being in small granules like it is it want dispense it properly and for me to set it up to fill a few tenths shy nd then trickle to maximum..he did say it would do better after it had powder coating the internals real well. but to expect it to meter that much of that kind was asking a whole lot out of it..and offered me a full refund if i wanted to try another kind.. but told me they all operated basically the same way and that this same problem would be there with everyone unless i had a automated dispenser. soafter i get setup and chugging its not really hard to fill a tad heavy then scoop out to exactly what iwant then seat the bullet and move on..
i appreciate allthe help very much.
hope you have a blessed day

 

[CogburnR]

I have found that generally setting up so it throws a tad light and then trickling more in is more accurate, my scale does not like having powder dipped out. Weigh a few charges both ways and I think you may discover the same thing...

Sometimes I have to re-zero my electronic scale if I happen to push down a little on it while trying to dip a little powder out.

 

[stevesmith]

I have found that generally setting up so it throws a tad light and then trickling more in is more accurate, my scale does not like having powder dipped out. Weigh a few charges both ways and I think you may discover the same thing...

Sometimes I have to re-zero my electronic scale if I happen to push down a little on it while trying to dip a little powder out.

only a electronic scale will do what is called back weighing and that means taking weight off the scle and it still weigh correctly..a beal will not by no means do that but if you have a good digital scale it will weigh down or up with the same precision..it has to be able to do that to be certified as a (digital) measuring weighing device..
im not sure why yours is having to be zeroed if you push a littlebit on it because the bridge (load cell) on the inside goes each way the same and will weigh the same way.. i have a small Frankford Arsenal DS-750 Electronic Powder Scale 750 Grain Capacity from midway for $19.99 and ive checked it every way it can be checked up down backwrds sideways and its dead on the money, returns zero immediately and actually weighs better than my lyman pro 1500scale for 1/10 of the price and if i need another scale i wouldnt think twice about buying it..in fact right now theres free shipping on it..its $19.99 look at it ..its very small , battery operated comes with its own weight and leather carrying case and batteries already installed and weighs like a $1000.00 scale would..you should buy one check it out..if you dont like it send it back for a no hassle refund..i promise you will be surprized by this little scale..

 

[g0rd0]

I have found mine to work well. The powder is metered by volume. Stick powders do not meter as well as some others. Anything that causes the powder to settle/pack differently will cause a change in the amount of powder metered. You might try tapping the side of the meter before throwing each load. I can't recall the brand, but I saw an old powder meter that had a weight that was to be lifted and dropped between charges. You could take some fishing line and a lead weight and do the same thing. Lifting the weight to the same height would add consistency to the force applied to settle the powder.

Dennis

the Lyman 55 has a knocker on it

 

[stevesmith]

the Lyman 55 has a knocker on it

i may end up adding somethig to it to see if i can get it to do better..for the moment im ust throwing a little to much and scooping out the extra..its a lil aggrivating but after i get to rolling its not to bad..i loaded 65 rounds of 338 lapua last night in just over 2 hours but that was with the cases already lubed and ready to go..so for the moment im doin ok with it..
thanks for your and everyones help...
have a good day...