V4 Software Update

[jpjulian]

Following the help file I raised the front of the scale to get the calibration to run. Raised it more to get to the 0.20 GN/s as recommended. Looks to me getting the small tube to 0.20 GN/s is the key.
Current settings with H4350 and a target weight of 41.0
Bulk speed 6
Transition 1.5 GN (2.0 might be better)
Finish speed 4 (3 might be better)
Buffer 0.8 GN
I threw about 50 charges with these settings and tossed 2 overthrows of 0.04. I loaded a box of 50 also at these setting and tossed 2 more overthrows of 0.04. These were the only overthrows and none were more than 0.04, about 2 kernels each. That is an accuracy rate of 96% so far for me with the new software. Time for each charge dispensed averaged about 11 seconds. I didn't time for those I loaded. The front of the scale is one full bubble high to get the 0.20 GN/s Adam recommends. With the scale level, according to the bubble level, the high and low GN/s settings were maxed and I got consistent overthrows of up to 0.10 or more. The more I raised the front of the scale the closer to 0.20 GN/s I got and also got fewer and fewer overthrows and much closer to the desired charge weight.
Just my limited experience but hope it helps.

 

[X Count]

I had a V1 since they first came out and recently upgraded to the V4 system. In general I find it really good but still a bit prone to overthrows.

I made up another drinking straw mod like we used to do with the charge master and it helped. Also playing with the tuning got my pretty close.

Ive worked with similar system for auto weighing ingredients in industrial applications and 2 things I think that prevent the V4 getting more consistent accuracy is. 1 the glass shot glass. It has a huge amount of mass / inertia so when one granule lands there is some time before the shot glass starts moving and the scale can react and give a true reading. Secondly is the distance from the outlet of the dispenser tube to the scale. This distance increases the kernel time of flight and effectively reduces the systems reaction time. When there is a consistent flow of powder out of the spout this TIF is accounted for in the PID loop but when it gets down to the last few kernels and the kernels are falling out sporadically the system ist being predictive, it's being reactive and IMHO those two things are slowing it's reaction time. With the heavy shot glass and the long TIF it struggles to manage the last few kernels within the +- .02 range most of us a aiming for.

 

[X Count]

Following the help file I raised the front of the scale to get the calibration to run. Raised it more to get to the 0.20 GN/s as recommended. Looks to me getting the small tube to 0.20 GN/s is the key.
Current settings with H4350 and a target weight of 41.0
Bulk speed 6
Transition 1.5 GN (2.0 might be better)
Finish speed 4 (3 might be better)
Buffer 0.8 GN
I threw about 50 charges with these settings and tossed 2 overthrows of 0.04. I loaded a box of 50 also at these setting and tossed 2 more overthrows of 0.04. These were the only overthrows and none were more than 0.04, about 2 kernels each. That is an accuracy rate of 96% so far for me with the new software. Time for each charge dispensed averaged about 11 seconds. I didn't time for those I loaded. The front of the scale is one full bubble high to get the 0.20 GN/s Adam recommends. With the scale level, according to the bubble level, the high and low GN/s settings were maxed and I got consistent overthrows of up to 0.10 or more. The more I raised the front of the scale the closer to 0.20 GN/s I got and also got fewer and fewer overthrows and much closer to the desired charge weight.
Just my limited experience but hope it helps.

Would it be better to have adjustment on the front / back of the dispenser rather than tilting the scale and adjusting the calibration?

 

[jpjulian]

Would it be better to have adjustment on the front / back of the dispenser rather than tilting the scale and adjusting the calibration?

That I can't say. I don't really have enough experience to make that kind of judgement. I can only say what I've done with the new software in the couple days it's been out. And I only have roughly 700 rounds loaded since new a few months ago.

 

[Jdne5b]

I would use shims under the rear of the v4 rather than have an unlevel scale.

The enclosure sold in the classifieds is threaded for a bolt that adjusts flow. It works very well.

 

[209jones]

Thought I'd wait a few wks and see what people found out about it first. Think maybe I'll wait til end of July to do it.

 

[CubCouper]

The issue with it not calibrating on certain phones has been resolved, at least for me and another Android user. Adam knows the solution and is probably working on an update to the update for the issue that affected a few of us.

Overall, the new calibration configuration definitely allows finer control over the throwing cycle. I pre-throw hundreds of LT30/LT32 vials for my PPCs. The auto-calibration config on the previous version took about 12 seconds per throw and rarely overthrew. After some fine tuning I could average about 9 seconds. The new (v1.2) auto-calibration config ran faster (about 9-10 seconds on average) but was overthrowing 2 out of 3 charges. With the finer control over timing and tolerances on v1.2, I tweaked a couple settings and have it throwing spot on charges with in 7-8 seconds with no overthrows... all total about a 10% improvement over my best settings on the original software.

Quick review: Instead of just 2 adjustments for the Fast and Slow tubes, the new update has 4 tunable factors so that you can control the timing of when it switches from the big tube to the small tube and when it switches from fast to slow on the small tube. For my LT powder (which measures almost as nice as a ball powder) I could run the big tube a little faster, but had to start the slow mode on the little tube a notch faster to .06 instead of .04 to completely stop the overthrows.

Each powder could require a bit of fine tuning, it is easy to do following Adam's built-in help screen instructions.

Rod

 

[jpjulian]

I would use shims under the rear of the v4 rather than have an unlevel scale.

The enclosure sold in the classifieds is threaded for a bolt that adjusts flow. It works very well.

I re-leveled the scale today and re-calibrated. The "ideal GN/s settings" were maxed out again so I tried shimming the dispenser. Not the rear of the dispenser, but the front. It took .040" of shim to achieve the same results as raising the front of the scale one full bubble. With the shims in place the calibration numbers were 24 GN/s (upper) & 0.21 GN/s (lower) and charges dropped with 97% accuracy. This was with H4350.

 

[divingin]

With the finer control over timing and tolerances on v1.2, I tweaked a couple settings and have it throwing spot on charges with in 7-8 seconds with no overthrows... all total about a 10% improvement over my best settings on the original software.

Are these different than the extended settings in the earlier software version? You used to have to long-press the "close" button on the settings page to get to them, but there were 6 or 8 sliders to control the tubes on there.

My phone auto-updated to the new software, but I have yet to try it (and you can't see anything without the software connecting to the V4.)

 

[Mike TackleBerry]

Im not diggin the new software..its made my V4 more unreliable as in over throws.
Im ready to switch back to version 1.0
Just my messing with it for two days straight...got me feelin a bit sour...sorry
I bet its ok in the long run...just not yet
I may need to run it on a Android platform....IOS doesnt seem to co-operate for me.

Mine overthrows like crazy now, Especially with extruded powder! Doesn't matter how I adjust the buffer,bulk or any other setting.

 

[Ruger15151]

Bulk 5
Transition 1.5
Finish 6
Buffer 0.04

I think I need to slow something down as I am getting too many overthrows. Running about 10 seconds or maybe a tad less with H4350.

raise the Buffer to .8 and lower the Finish to 2. Should be good as long as the calibration says .20 transition. If it doesn't, keep raising the front of the scale and re-calibrating until it does.

 

[Sandstorm]

Yea.. the trick is to raise the front of the scale until you reach the sweet spot it appears.. YMMV however..its trial and error

 

[Sandstorm]

Adam posted a Youtube tutorial today.

 

[Chasin Beaver]

Mine overthrows like crazy now, Especially with extruded powder! Doesn't matter how I adjust the buffer,bulk or any other setting.

I am having same issue. Very frustrating that had something that worked to something that doesn’t now. Throwing 8208. Overthrowing about every third charge compared to maybe three charges out of 100 total for old software.

 

[jpjulian]

I am having same issue. Very frustrating that had something that worked to something that doesn’t now. Throwing 8208. Overthrowing about every third charge compared to maybe three charges out of 100 total for old software.

Email Adam.

 

[capper599]

Great post. Keep the info coming. For now, I think I will hold off on upgrading my V4. The old version is working flawlessly for me and I would be a little irritated if the upgrade made things worse.

Second this. The new update might have few bugs that need to be fixed. Will hold on for a while before giving it a trial.

 

[Ccrider]

Second this. The new update might have few bugs that need to be fixed. Will hold on for a while before giving it a trial.

My iphone automatically updated to the new software. I bae used it to load H4198 and H4895. I have not had much time to play with it. I will have to put in some time because I am also getting more overthrows. I have been setting my weight .01 under and adding kernels of powder if needed.

The new software has some cool features. The overthrow issues come from not having the scale setup properly. I was a beta tester and played with the initial, more elaborate software, for hours. After getting the best calibration numbers, adjustment of the tilt angle from front to back will fix the overthrow problem.

 

[rijndael]

My v4 is working great with the new software, I'm glad I upgraded. I'm getting almost no overthrows, maybe 1 out of 25 or 30.

 

[boltman13]

My 4 ran like a champ with VV N-140 and SW Precision. Only 1 over flow with the VV and 3 with the SW. I expect it will handle Varget and H-4350 just as well when i use them.

 

[MikeRu]

Bulk 5
Transition 2.0
Finish 2
Buffer 0.08. With I.P. and H4350

Used the 5-2-2-0.08 settings for 40 cases of H4350 today. V4 with updated software and Ingenuity Precision finisher. No complaints at all, I think only one overthrow. It goes about as fast as I would want it too. Thanks to RickyK.