RCBS Chargemaster 1500 Question

[southern_idaho]

For those of you who use the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 - Do you leave it turned on all the time? I know the one other digital scale that I owned everyone recommended that it be left on all the time.

Just curious what everyone else is doing regarding their Chargemasters - and thank you!

 

[DennisH]

If you use it a lot, leave it on but have a battery surge protector on the power cord.

Everything I own has a battery back up surge protector on it.

Dennis

 

[Big Mc]

I myself loading something once a week. I turn on my 1500 a good two hours before it,s time to shine. I check a lot with a balance beam, so far two hour warm-up is working. Tommy MC,,

 

[southern_idaho]

Re: RCBS Chargemaster 1500 Question or two

Also emptying the powder out completely and/or changing types of powder seems to be a bit of a pain
Any good tips from the experienced users on that?

 

[bdale]

Hi southern-Idaho I have been using one for a bunch of years and all I do is turn mine on let it stabilize calibrate it and start dispensing powder, i have never had any problems with mine and I even have a long neon light bulb above my reloading bench. The last day at the range I had SD's as low as 4 on several strings. I don't get caught up in a lot of the hype about what to have on or off around my scale I just let my equipment do its job, I don't second guess it with other scales I trust my ChargeMaster Combo it hasn't give any reason to doubt it thus far. As for getting the powder out I just open drain have funnel in powder bottle and let her drain use brush to knock out last few kernel's, only thing I would do differently if I had designed this unit would be to put the dispenser tube farther down inside the powder well.

 

[Prairiedogger]

No good way to do it simpy. That is one flaw in the design. You just have to move it to the edge and open the valve.
I use the brush and get it all out.

 

[jo191145]

Mine has been running since 2005. Habit.
First started reloading in the basement and continuous run was mandatory.
Have since moved upstairs and now it's stable right off the bat. I leave it running anyway except for power outages.

 

[savagedasher]

I turn mine off and turn it on about a hour before. To clean I slide it to the edge of the table and
drain it back in the container while it is draining I put the pan back on and 999 enter disp.
Good Shooting Larry

 

[Old Navy]

I drilled a 2" hole in my bench next to the drain. I use a 3" funnel with a short piece of hose attached. Under the bench I built a small platform to set the powder container on. I can drain into both the Alliant tall bottles and the Hodgdon/IMR containers without spilling a grain. I use a Dillon primer tube to blow the powder in the drop tube back into the hopper. Never have to disturb the scale. Later! Frank

 

[DennisH]

No good way to do it simpy. That is one flaw in the design. You just have to move it to the edge and open the valve.
I use the brush and get it all out.

Same here,

I HIGHLY recommend a battery backup. It gives constant correct power to any of your electrical instruments. I live in the country and this is very important to me. But I recommend it to everyone. A thunder storm will interrupt your power supply. JMO

Dennis

 

[Delaware_Ken]

Good Morning,

Also a good idea to close the valve after emptying the powder. Don't ask me why I'm telling you this, but it's amazing how much powder can come out of the drain tube and spread all over your reloading bench in a short amount of time.

Ken

 

[rox]

Also a good idea to close the valve after emptying the powder. Don't ask me why I'm telling you this

For some reason mine ended-up with a sticker on it saying "Check drain valve before fill".

One solution I've seen for draining the hopper was made from a square-section powder tub (probably Viht) with a slot cut out of the front near the bottom. The tub could be laid on its back under the valve to collect the powder, then the powder was easily poured back into the correct tub.

..

 

[SDDasher]

Take a dab of bright red or orange fingernail polish and place it on the top of the release valve knob. Makes me check to make sure it is in the "up" position before putting powder in the dispenser.

 

[Cleftwynd]

Mine hasn't been shut off for two years. I also run mine from a UPS, clean power and doesn't get shut down during power outages. (I live rurally and not only do we have outages at least twice a month, the power here varies from 115 to 128v.)

I built a heavy stand for mine, sits 6" higher on the bench and makes emptying so much simpler since I don't have to move it.

 

[DBailey]

I do not leave my Chargemaster on or even plugged in. I store it in it's box until a few minutes before use. It's seen it's fair share of use.
Four and a half years, no issues.

 

[southern_idaho]

Good Morning,

Also a good idea to close the valve after emptying the powder. Don't ask me why I'm telling you this, but it's amazing how much powder can come out of the drain tube and spread all over your reloading bench in a short amount of time.

Ken

Amen. I owned it all of 2 days before I did that one. Sheesh!

 

[southern_idaho]

If you use it a lot, leave it on but have a battery surge protector on the power cord.

Everything I own has a battery back up surge protector on it.

Dennis

Thanks to Dennis and the others who mentioned using the battery backup surge protector - will do.

Hey Dennis - I think I have a barrel on order from you

 

[gary0529]

For some reason mine ended-up with a sticker on it saying "Check drain valve before fill".

One solution I've seen for draining the hopper was made from a square-section powder tub (probably Viht) with a slot cut out of the front near the bottom. The tub could be laid on its back under the valve to collect the powder, then the powder was easily poured back into the correct tub.

..

+1

 

[powderbrake]

I do not leave mine on. I turn it on about 10 -15 minutes before using, and calibrate immediately before using.
I wipe everything with dryer sheets, including the funnel for the cases, seems to work very well.
I just bought a 28000 mah battery pack to run it when I am loading at the range. It should last several days.

 

[myownman]

Good Morning,

Also a good idea to close the valve after emptying the powder. Don't ask me why I'm telling you this, but it's amazing how much powder can come out of the drain tube and spread all over your reloading bench in a short amount of time.

Ken

YES, 2000MR is like Mercury!