Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles RCBS Chargmaster combo keeps over throwing charges???

Any body else have this problem? My chargemaster electronic powder dispenser continually throws charges .5-.7 grains over target amounts. Anybody else have this problem and what did you do to deal with it? I hate having to scoop .5 grains out of the charge or targeting a lower charge to try and compensate.

Haven't had that bad a problem, but when mine was throwing charges a little heavy now and then, I saw that it wasn't leveled properly. Otherwise mine is extremely accurate.

I have the older powdermaster and it would �run over,� generally by .1 grain.
I found a longer warm up cycle for the scale helped quite a bit. I now warm the scale at least 45 minutes prior to calibrating and dispensing charges.
I also found the scale and charge master adjust to powder density when multiple charges have been thrown. This is to say after a few charges have been dispensed the unit becomes more accustomed to the powder density and the unit stops on the desired setting.
I had the most trouble with large flake powders such as IMR 800X. The charges of 800X are small and the flakes are large. The powder master wants to start fast and immediately slows and the memory in the unit requires several charges to adjust.
I don�t know how long your warm up period is but I would try a longer warm up and dispense several trial charges to see if the unit adapts its memory to the density of the powder.

You can cut a small piece of drinking straw and insert into the end of the tube and it will greatly reduce overruns



Also you can set your dispense amount a little below your target and tap the end to dislodge a few granules more to hit it dead on




Since I put the straw in I set the dispense to the exact amount I want and on the 4 or 5 overruns out of 50 loads, I will just dip a few granules out. But I reload a lot of RL powders which are short grain

I don't have issues beyond the first charge dumped - it pretty much always overruns the first one, then it's fine after that. The few that go 0.1gr over after that are just the nature of stick powders - have the same issue when trickling by hand.

+1 RCBS units were/are made by Pact. My older Pact unit instructions specifically instruct you to warm them up, make sure the table/bench you are using the unit on is level and stable and to also make sure you don't have a fan or heater blowing air around the unit during use. I generally set my unit it up to throw charges a few tenths of a grain below the desired weight and use the trickle button to manually trickle up to my charge weight. Just like we did with regular balance beam scales before the advent of electronic models. You might consider using a balance beam scale to make sure that your calibration process is correct and that the thrown weights from your electronic unit is consistent with the balance beam model. Electronic units use a strain gauge to send the information to the units electronics. Once you have checked you units accuracy against a balance beam unit and the unit is still throwing charges above your desired weight I would call the tech support folks at RCBS and explain whats going on. Most likely they will ask you to send it back for inspection and make the necessary repairs or adjustments. Their product service is exemplary in my experience.
Hope this helps,
BD

Box it up and include a check for 45 bucks and send it back to RCBS, thats what I did when mine got squirrelly.

Gunner

No longer made by PACT.

I haven't used a Chargemaster, but my Hornady AutoCharge allows me to set the "lead point" where it switches from fast dispense to trickle. In my tests, some spherical and large-kernel extruded powders needed a longer trickle time to avoid dropping too much too fast. Picking a longer lead point prevents "overs."

I agree: call them and ask for assistance.

I don't have the chargemaster but on my lyman it seems certain powders lend themselves to .1-.2 over-runs. What I do is set the dispenser to drop a charge that is .1 less than I want. If it over-runs, I'm good to go; if it shops .1 or .2 short, I just tap the powder "snout" lightly with a pencil and a few more grains will drop out bringing the weight up to the desired.

I've got the rcbs chargemaster. It overruns depending on the powder I use. Some are much worse than others. Imr 3031, for instance, is pretty bad.

Great tip on the soda straw. I will try that as well as the letting it warm up for a while be for running. Thanks to all for the helpful tips

I do not have an RCBS, but I do have the Lyman. These are very sensitive devices and certain outside forces can through them off. Things like cell phones, Air conditioners-fans-heat ducts, open drafty door ways, pounding and shacking of the loading bench via the press, Laptops and wireless Internet, loud music and even florescent lights.

I keep mine on a separate bench away from the press, keep the radio very low, turn the AC unit way down or off and keep the door closed. When I'm working with my Lyman and someone opens the door to pester me, the unit immediately beeps and tells me to re-calibrate.

If you don't have any of these types of things going on in your loading area/room, then I would call RCBS and see what they have to say.

The Mcdonalds straw approach minimizes the clumping that the factory threaded tube allows to happen. Without the straw, the unit will drop too many grains of powder when it is in trickle mode and cause overthrows. Also, have you adjusted the settings......If you do a google search on "chargemaster settings" you will find numerous pieces of information. I have mine fine tuned to maximize speed and I only see a couple of overthrows per 50 loads. The Chargemaster is the single biggest improvement I've found in reloading.

YES I cannot imagine using the old beam scale for all of my rifle reloading. No comparison in my opinion.

Bought a slightly used Chargemaster on the classifieds here that already had the straw modification done. Still overdumps occasionally, just pinch out a little powder, trickle back into pan until correct weight shows then put the rest in the powder trickler. Not a major ordeal and still quick as hell.

I do alot of test rounds and not reloading of big numbers of the same recipe so usually dip my charges onto my new Hornady unit. But the other day I ran some 7828 for some weatherby reloadings and was so peed off by the time I was done. It was constantly overcharging and by alot more than .1 grain. Got to get used to it but once it goes over it doesn't let you dip back out....it just sits there flashing an overload warning.

That would tick me off too!

I never load more than about 20 rifle cartidges at a time, usually only three or six. For me, even dumping powder into a trickler, "priming" it, and then emptying it when done is way more trouble than it's worth. I have always felt that for someone like me, the automatic dispenser/scale units represent a lot of money that could be better spent on something else. The "finickiness" that I am reading about has definitely cemented that belief. (Not meant to disparage anyone who loads in volume from using one, but meant to help someone just starting out to not spend money that they don't need to spend if their loading will be similar to mine.)

I'll load and shoot a hundred rounds in a weekend, and often not a single one has a weighed charge.

kraky, when you get an OVER with the Hornady unit, just pinch a bit of powder out of the pan and hit "ENTER". It should go right back to automatic mode and trickle.