• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Fix Hornady Auto Charge

CaptainMal

Silver $$ Contributor
My old one started flashing it's readout. Called Hornady and they essentially told me they do not repair them and I could just junk it. Fine. What did I have to loose. Took it apart, unplugged the internal connections, heated two soldier joints that looked cold, filled the connections with dielectric grease and ...it still didn't work just right but ---the readout light went dim and stopped flashing.

Then I found a near foolproof way to stop the constant overcharges - even on the "Fast" speed setting. THIS is what it's about:

A variation of the McDonalds' straw for the RCBS unit, I found a tube, threaded it, made it a bit ovular at the end and screwed it inside the drop tube. Went over 30 drops with no overages. Maybe the last 20 on High Speed test dumping IMR 4350. You have to unscrew it to dump out the tube for cleaning.

Checked most of the drops with the old Lyman scale and they really are +- .1 gn. I know. That's garbage and I need a million dollar scale to .0001 gn. Then how come those with the million dollar scales get beat by me at the Manatee Club shoots?

My readout on this Hornady is not bright so I will look for a deal on another scale. might even buy a generic .01 gn. pocket scale to check things. Lyman Gen 6 - You got one for sale?

For those with the Hornady Auto Charge - this little threaded tube stops the clumping drops of tubular powder and the overages.

YOUR WELCOME!
 
Hornady and RCBS do NOT repair their electronic scales/dispensers. When out of warranty they tell you there's nothing they can do. That "junk it" was my interpretation of our phone conversation.

As for "pretty expensive", that's relative. Many here use scales costing upwards of a thousand dollars. Their rifles are multiple-thousands with mega-money scopes and precisely machined parts. Expensive is not an issue to many. They would call something like a Lyman, RCBS or Hornady scale, "cheap" meaning also "poor quality".

If your goal is the ultimate precision, those with that attitude are correct.
 
I've been meaning to try this same thing as far as a means of avoiding overthrows. What pitch is the threading inside the trickle tube?
 
I don't know. First made a courser pitch and it jammed in and worked. Then went to, I think a 5/16 x 24 that looked the same but still did not quite fit. Went in and jammed perfectly at the "no thread" part. Nothing metric seemed to line up either.

No matter. Both of the pieces I made worked perfectly.

Also think a piece of rubber made to jam into the tube and then drilled out to a hole size that allows a quick enough drop would also work. You just have to reduce the size of the hole and have a ridge that stops and breaks up the clumps. Then, no overages.
 
So with all your knowledge and affluence you bought a cheap poor quality Hornady measure?

CaptainMal said:
Hornady and RCBS do NOT repair their electronic scales/dispensers. When out of warranty they tell you there's nothing they can do. That "junk it" was my interpretation of our phone conversation.

As for "pretty expensive", that's relative. Many here use scales costing upwards of a thousand dollars. Their rifles are multiple-thousands with mega-money scopes and precisely machined parts. Expensive is not an issue to many. They would call something like a Lyman, RCBS or Hornady scale, "cheap" meaning also "poor quality".

If your goal is the ultimate precision, those with that attitude are correct.
Click to expand...
 
I buy cheap because I am.

Actually retired after 33 years as a school teacher in 1999. Not one penny added to the dollar amount of my pension since then. Affluent because I am a happy guy. With my pea brain it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Aware of the Gen 6 and the jamming. Thanks for the link on that one also.
 
Last edited:
There's a guy on 6BR that makes these style "fixes" about $10 I think for RCBS,Lyman,and Hornady.
 
Have a RCBS 1500 that got some water droped on it, wasn't sure what to do, called RCBS and was told to PKG. it up with $45 Dollars and send to them if they can't fix it will send NEW ONE so it can't be fixed new one is $45 Dollars NOW THATS A DEAL.
 
In or out of warranty?

RCBS and Hornady have both been good at servicing and backing their products. Evidently these electronic gizmos are the exception. I have heard other stories kind of like mine about RCBS. Your type of story is also told.

No clue why the response to problems is so different for many people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
164,716
Messages
2,182,968
Members
78,492
Latest member
Paulsen27

Share This Page

Back
Top