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Upgrading my chargmaster 1500

skeetlee

Lee Gardner Precision
Silver $$ Contributor
My chargmaster 1500 has been and still is a great unit, but i feel its time to upgrade a bit. Im a short-range guy meaning 1000 yards and in. I dont think i need to spend the money for the rcbs matchmaster but i havent ruled it out either. the two dispencers that i am focusing on are. The Hornady auto charge pro and the RCBS supreme. Both units about the same money.
My 1500 is a still a good unit but the scale constantly drifts and it's my understanding that the new units don't so much. Plus, whom doesn't like new gear. I think I'd be fine with either choice but what one of these two units do you guys prefer, or should I just step up for the matchmaster? Your thoughts?
Lee Gardner Precision
 
Skeeter there alot of chargemaster 1500 being used in the loading barns still. The key to stop the drifting is to use battery packs like a talent cell. The drifting comes from your electrical circuit. Florissant lights with vause the issue too. Just get you a battery pack (talent cell) and your good to go. They last a couple weeks on one charge.
 
Sleepyhollow said:
Skeeter there alot of chargemaster 1500 being used in the loading barns still. The key to stop the drifting is to use battery packs like a talent cell. The drifting comes from your electrical circuit. Florissant lights with vause the issue too. Just get you a battery pack (talent cell) and your good to go. They last a couple weeks on one charge.
Click to expand...
where is a good place to buy the battery packs ?
 
Hi Lee, here is a pic of the Talent cell battery I use for my chargemaster & AnD FX-120i
CAUTION!!! Watch the polarity! I had to get a reverse polarity pigtail to run it with the AnD scale!talent cell.jpg
 
Not sure what you mean by drift. I've been using a 1500 for at least 10 years and it's still functioning well.

That said. I've recently switch to dropping charges with a RCBS powder measure and tricking up on a small cheap scale that is as accurate and repeatable. It's a little faster than my "optimized" Chargemaster and it gives me something to do while waiting.

As for drift the Chargemaster 1500 has an auto zero function so zero drift should not be a problem. One problem that I do know can cause issues if powder gets into the unit under the platen. Take the scale and turn it over and shake it. I keep an O-Ring on the scale under the platen to prevent powder from getting into the unit.

As for scales, the technology available today is remarkable. I bought a Gem 20 scale when my backup Lyman scale went south. I have run repeatability test on this little scale and it consistently maintains a ~0.05 gn, 95% accuracy which is better than I need.
 
My Chargemaster is mostly stable. It does drift sometimes even though I power it with a battery. I check it using a Scott tuned balance scale and a cheap RCBS trickler.

I have bought and used the two most popular scales sold in the neighborhood of $1,000, but sold them. They are complicated to set up and do not measure a charge better than my old system.
 
rebs said:
what does it men that the scale drift ? mine mainly throws over charges
Click to expand...
Drift is a way of saying if for example I place a known 25 grain weight on my scale it immediately displays 25 grains. However, as the scale sits that 25.0 grains begins to drift reading 25.1, 25.2 ... or drift down from nominal.

Ron
 
If you're using it at the range then yeah a lithium battery pack would be the way to go, but at home I'd never have anything lithium in my reloading area. At home I prefer a UPS with sealed lead acid battery when I need to even out the power for electronics and protect from brownouts and surges. This one is cheap and works very well. APC BE600M1

It won't run a computer for long, but I use one for my networking equipment and it will last many days for that use so likely a week or more for your reloading stuff. Meaning, no power and bored, just reload :D

 
Doom said:
Not sure what you mean by drift. I've been using a 1500 for at least 10 years and it's still functioning well.

That said. I've recently switch to dropping charges with a RCBS powder measure and tricking up on a small cheap scale that is as accurate and repeatable. It's a little faster than my "optimized" Chargemaster and it gives me something to do while waiting.
Click to expand...
Seating a projectile is what I do while waiting for the next throw.
What else would you do ? ;)
 
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