GemPro 250 belly up

[Travelor]

I purchased a GemPro 250 in August and in a very short time became a real fan. I even weighed a lot of 22LR ammo I was having trouble with occasional low powered loads and was able to cull them out.

Friday I got the scale out to weigh check some 22LR ammo got an error message and it wil not work. Da**! I fell in love with the little scale and now it is TU.

Called Old Will's and got a very nice guy on the phone who sent me a return label and assured me they will fix or replace the unit quickly. I could not have asked for a better support with my new little friend.

George

 

[cooper_m22]

I've been using a Gempro 250 for about 3 years now and so far, no problems. Best scale I have ever had.

I'ts encouraging to hear that they back up their warrantee... just in case.

 

[Preacher]

I've only had mine a few weeks and it has been a sweet ultra dependable scale until yesterday when it started to wander all over the place, and now it will not calibrate...
I'll call in the morning, and I sure hope all will be well with the warranty...

 

[LRPV]

I've only had mine a few weeks and it has been a sweet ultra dependable scale until yesterday when it started to wander all over the place, and now it will not calibrate...
I'll call in the morning, and I sure hope all will be well with the warranty...

Mine was like this when it came out of the box. I kept trying to eliminate possible problems that I was causing. I finally emailed My weigh and they said I need to return it. I have not sent it in yet so I guess I'll see how that goes.
Jason

 

[Preacher]

Just like Travelor mentioned, a call was made and a shipping label is being sent, and the scale will be replaced... Now lets see how long that takes....

 

[LRPV]

I got my replacement last night. This second scale performs exactly like the first one did. I tried the batteries in this one too. Out of the box it read ERR0. I put the cover on the load cell and then the ERR0 went away (my first one didn't do this) I tried to calibrate and it read the check weight at 20.034g and would not zero out like the nice little video shows on their website. I tried it repeatably with the same results. I decided to zero it out try to weigh some charges just for grins and it began to float down and down just like the first one. This one is going back for a refund tomorrow.
Jason

 

[Travelor]

Well, I got my scale out for one past try before returning it - IT WORKS PERFECTLY now.

I'm skeptical as to how long it will continue to work, but it has held for 1 week now and still going.

Fingers crossed,
George

 

[jp]

Not trying to hi jack your thread, But I have had 3 Acculab 123's and all of them were junk, drifted up and would not stabilize no matter what I did. The only thing I can say about them is they did have a Great replacement policy and Customer service . My last one is like the others ..not worth my money. I was told by the rep. that they got a batch of bad boards. So I will be looking for another scale my self..

 

[oneflyer]

PLug in the scale, leave it plugged in. When new leave it on for 24 hours before trying to calibrate it. Do not unplug your scale unless you aren't going to use it for an extended period of time. Most of the "problems" encountered with these scales can be cured by patience and good use practices.

 

[in2deep]

I was just reading about Sam Hall breaking a couple records at 600 yards shooting sub 2 inch groups and couldn't help but notice he uses a 30 year old RCBS 505 beam scale.

 

[LRPV]

I left the first one plugged in over 4 days trying to get it to work. I messed with the second one for a little less than 2 days. Two scales, same results. Maybe it is something I'm doing wrong but until I can afford something different, the Chargemaster is going to have to be good enough.

Almost everything I've tried to do that involves shooting has turned to crap for the past year anyway so maybe it is just time to find a new hobby.

 

[Preacher]

The replacement balance showed up today... Pretty good turn around on that return..
The person I spoke with when I called about returning it, said there was no reason to leave it on when you were not using it.. Never said anything about leaving it on for 24 hours before using it either...
I cried once and now have the GD503, so this one is up for sale..

 

[Erik Cortina]

The replacement balance showed up today... Pretty good turn around on that return..
The person I spoke with when I called about returning it, said there was no reason to leave it on when you were not using it.. Never said anything about leaving it on for 24 hours before using it either...
I cried once and now have the GD503, so this one is up for sale..

Preacher, if you had actually "cried once" you wouldn't have a Gempro 250 for sale! ;D

 

[Preacher]

The $175.00 I paid for the Gempro wasnt worth crying over, but the $899.99 price of the GD503
had em leaking for a bit ;D

 

[Erik Cortina]

The $175.00 I paid for the Gempro wasnt worth crying over, but the $899.99 price of the GD503
had em leaking for a bit ;D

I know what you mean! LOL

 

[Dave T]

Unless you want to pony up and buy a GD503 then do what I finally did and dump these cheap digital scales and get a good beam scale and have someone like Scott Parker tune it up and don't look back.
Dave T

 

[Steve Blair]

My GD503 made the most tedious reloading aspect easy and fast. I no longer fight the scale and it delivers extremely repeatable results. If it is within your budget, I cannot recommend it enough.

It is so accurate that I had to incorporate an additional procedure to my routine. Before starting to weigh charges, I trickle and weigh ten kernels and average their weight. Then, when approaching the target weight, a little mental arithmetic determines whether to trickle another grain or not.

This extra effort is more than offset by eliminating re-weighing charges, frequent zeroing and assorted other gremlins. I have tested both my RCBS 10-10 and Ohaus Dial-O-Gram against the GD503 and found both scales more variable and sensitive to air currents. Another way may work fine and my two beams are not tuned, but the GD503 is everything I have wanted in a digital scale for a long time.

 

[Ing. Michael W. Mayerl]

There are two big scale manufacturer: J-scale and MyWeigh.
Both have scales for reloaders (and a lot of other scales) and all are made in China but both offer a very very good guaranty and service !!!
I will never buy a rubbish scale from a manufacturer of reloading stuff - I love the products from J-scale and MyWeigh.
And they are priced right

PS: since many years I use a very small J-Precision battery scale. 20gramm capacity and 0,1grain accuracy (in gramm 0,002gramm accuracy). Perfekt for reloading. The batteries have a lifetime of about 1 year and I load a lot of ammo.

Tip: the best accessory for each electronic scale is this one (made by Lyman - powder pal funnel pan):

 

[mysticplayer]

Zombie Rebirth... found this while looking for error codes on Gempro 250's.

I have been using mine for a couple of years and it works well. Then as few night ago, it was possessed. Another backup scale also was all over the map.

the first eventually just went ERR 0 and that was that. I am sending it back for repair.

So chatting with a friend who is an electrical engineer, the suspicion is either faulty scales (but both have worked very well) or problem with the electrical system.

Aha, cause that same night, the TV/Cable converter also went for a dump and that thing has given us ZERO problems.

Sooooo, the most likely issue is power spikes or "noise" or surges that were way worst then normal and basically crashed some stuff.

Solution - APC surge protection. They usually have batteries so if your power goes out, you don't have your computer turn off and loose all your data. The units I got were old style, no batteries $10. it is also a powder bar so all my electronic goodies at the bench get plugged in.

These units have much better electronics to stop surges from hurting electronics like TVs, computers... reloading scales.

The power bars with surge protection apparently are no where as good (???)

The old/first unit still has the error message cause I think it is fried.

The new one is working well and seems to drift a lot less. Will do more weighing over the weekend but this might resolve problems for a lot of shooters.

Jerry

 

[stool]

they are not all junk....have had mine for years and it works quite welll...
i have been spoiled by the gempro250....i would have to say an excellent scale for the money.

Not trying to hi jack your thread, But I have had 3 Acculab 123's and all of them were junk, drifted up and would not stabilize no matter what I did. The only thing I can say about them is they did have a Great replacement policy and Customer service . My last one is like the others ..not worth my money. I was told by the rep. that they got a batch of bad boards. So I will be looking for another scale my self..