RCBS Charge Master ............ First Impressions

[dickn52]

****COMMENT ONLY****

I just unplugged my chargemaster and the power supply was split down the middle on the prong side. As soon as I touched this thing, the plastic fell off and the transformer was totally exposed. Not sure how it happened, but it scared the bugger snot out of me when I realized what I almost grabbed. Might want to check and see if it was just me or a fault in the design.

 

[amlevin]

****COMMENT ONLY****

I just unplugged my chargemaster and the power supply was split down the middle on the prong side. As soon as I touched this thing, the plastic fell off and the transformer was totally exposed. Not sure how it happened, but it scared the bugger snot out of me when I realized what I almost grabbed. Might want to check and see if it was just me or a fault in the design.

Somewhere along the line that "Wall Wart" got dropped. Just put the pieces back in place and wrap with some "Gorilla Tape". I've got a few that look like that, the most recent being the power supply for my cordless nailer battery charger. Paslode wanted $49 for a replacement. Less than $0.10 worth of Gorilla Tape fixed it for the next 20 years or so.

On those where the "prongs" have been loosened up, just plug it into the end of a real short extension cord and tape in place. That'll give you a plug that will hold up to more "plugging in and pulling out".

 

[savagedasher]

All it would take is a simple call to RCBS . Problem solved . That is how I would of handled the problem . Larry

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I love my Chargemaster. When I finally bought one, I couldn't understand how I lived without one for so long? Now my GemPro just sits and waits to verify the Chargemaster calibration and verify weights every so often. Other than that, the GemPro just collects dust since my Chargemaster throw weights are always spot on. Has about a 02gr to .04gr variance from selected charge weight according to the Gem Pro. Pretty awesome machine. Plus if anything ever goes wrong, (never had problems with any RCBS gear) Ive heard time and time again that RCBS has great customer service.

 

[dickn52]

Guys, don't misunderstand me here. This was a caution post only, nothing at all bad towards RCBS. I did reach out to them, but Holidays etc. Was NOT dropped BTW, sits on the top of a desk/bench against a wall plugged into an industrial strip. I use my Chargemaster weekly and it says plugged into the strip, but unplugged at the machine side. After the straw and the time mod it is near perfect. BTW, the McGyvr fix was perfect, I'm sending it to this guy I know that screwed me on a deal......just saying.

 

[dickn52]

RCBS just did their usual perfect customer service and refused payment on a new one. BTW, I don't think this was the first one of these to have this happen as the lady said "fell apart huh?" as soon as I said power supply. Love RCBS CS, wish everyone understood this as well.

 

[Road_Clam]

Love my CM 1500 combo ! I stopped using 4064 as it was such a PIA to meter through my RCBS drum type powder drop, now with the addition of my 1500 , i've since gone back to using 4064 !

 

[marcusp323]

I have 2 CMs also & love them. Don't compete, except against myself, & not real anal about gnat's ass thousanth of a grain charges either. Tried the McDonald's straw thing & found that mine would still throw over maybe 1 in 20 times, especially with Varget. Ended up using a piece of primer pickup tube as an insert (turned down in the lathe) & now my overcharges are about 1 in 50 instead. It's a tiny bit slower, but worth it. Works for me.
Mark

 

[dickn52]

I have 2 CMs also & love them. Don't compete, except against myself, & not real anal about gnat's ass thousanth of a grain charges either. Tried the McDonald's straw thing & found that mine would still throw over maybe 1 in 20 times, especially with Varget. Ended up using a piece of primer pickup tube as an insert (turned down in the lathe) & now my overcharges are about 1 in 50 instead. It's a tiny bit slower, but worth it. Works for me.
Mark

Did you change the speed setting when you did the straw mod? That helps alot too.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Did you change the speed setting when you did the straw mod? That helps alot too.

I agree. You have to do the speed programming modifications if you use the McD's straw. You can find the video on youtube. With the straw and the proper speed programming mods, I have thrown hundreds of charges, and counting, without one going over. The mods are a must have IMO. Much faster and way more accurate

 

[Caleb85]

MDM, a member on this site, makes a very nice brass or aluminum insert that replaces the "straw mod" and looks good too.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3846088.msg36410118#msg36410118

+1 it has changed my chargemaster 80% for the better !!

 

[marcusp323]

I changed the parameters on both, one works great that way, the other likes it's factory setting (which, by the way, is much different from the ones I saw on youtube). Different individuals with different tastes, evidently.
Mark

 

[Rust]

Couple of things I do using my Chargemaster. First off I turn it on an hour before use so that the circuits warm up and stabilize, in particular the little strain gauge. Second I plug it in to a higher end Monster power strip to eliminate any RFI/EMI from fluorescent or LED lights. Third I always use the little plastic door/cover to keep any stray breezes from the ceiling fan or A/C from causing erroneous charges. Fourth I tare fairly often and recalibrate somewhat often.

I check a few throws using and old Ohaus 10/10 and if things are copacetic just go.

With 47.7 gr of H4350 a 0.1 gr difference doesn't amount to much. Worked well enough to win a couple of 1,000 yard matches. Well, one of those matches the conditions were so bad it was more a matter of luck. Had the guys on either side of me crossfire onto my target with the really bad gusts. With 89.5 gr of RL-25 a 0.1 gr difference really doesn't amount too much.

Which is to say the Chargemaster is indispensable on my bench.

 

[SEMO Shooter]

I have had my Chargemaster for almost a year. I use the brass insert that has been mentioned in previous posts and find that it works better than the McD straw. With the brass insert I have an over-throw occasionally, maybe one or two out of fifty.

My reload table is close to level but not perfect, and I had never leveled the Chargemaster. Last week I decided to level my Chargemaster. It was level side to side but was a little lower in the rear than front, so I leveled it front to rear. With it level front to rear it started to overcharge often. The clump of powder that collects near the end of the drop tube would drop instead of a few kernels when trickling the last couple of tenths. I raised the front back up just a bit, and it worked like it always had, with an overcharge once in a while. Overcharges are not more than a tenth, and are the result of a powder clump dropping at the very end of trickling. Mine never undercharges.

When the powder dispense is complete, the display shows weight, and on mine that weight always matches the charge weight I have programmed. Then it displays the number of rounds charged, and then charge weight displays again. When that final weight is displayed is when I sometimes see an overcharge by one tenth, and it will only be 3 or 4 kernels over. If I pull the pan off of the scale as soon as the round count is displayed, and do not wait for the final weight to display, I may have a slight overcharge than I am unaware of. If you are wanting a precise charge wait until the Chargemaster has finished before pulling the pan.

 

[csandfort]

The brass insert reduced my over/under charges to 1 or 2 out of fifty, also. Mine are usually over-charges but not always. I decided to put a full chamfer (made it look like a leather punch) on the brass insert, the end that sticks into the drop tube, and it reduced erroneous charges to 1 or 2 out of 90-100. Maybe reduces clumping? It happens so seldom that I have to pay extra attention to the weights or I could go into robot mode and miss an over/under charge. Full disclosure: I'm using 3 Chargemasters so powder charges are coming fast and furious.

For a short time I disabled the beep which indicates the Chargemaster has completed a cycle. I soon found that it is easier to keep track of completed cycles by hearing the beeps.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I have to hear the beeps too. If i turn em off i seem to always pick it up during a trickle

 

[dickn52]

I have to hear the beeps too. If i turn em off i seem to always pick it up during a trickle

I just look at the display....wait for the stable dot to show up and that's it.

 

[WindSurgeon]

I abandoned the Chargemaster. I found it threw +/- .2 grains and I could never be confident in it. I ended up double weighing charges and eventually decided it was better and faster to throw a slightly under charge and then trickle up on my scale. Without a $600+ scale system, that was the only way I could remove the inaccuracy and be confident that if I missed the 10 ring, it was me and not the ammo.

 

[dickn52]

I have both an M5 and the CM Combo. When I want to tear paper at the x ring only, I will use the beam and trickle method. When I want to hit the 10 and x then I use the CM Combo. But I like my RCBS Chargemaster.