I'm sick of my scale!!!

mniesen89 · March 30, 2008, 09:35 PM

I've had my lyman 1500XP scale for about 3 months and what a P.O.S it is!It gives me incosistant loads about +/- .5 gr. I want to purchase a new electronic scale anywhere from 200-350$ but wanted some professional feedback on what to get that will give me much more consistant loads.

KDM · March 30, 2008, 09:50 PM

I've got an RCBS Rangemaster 750 and I'm happy with it. After every 5 or so rounds I'll pour the powder back into the pan to verify charge weights...always returns to the same weight.

It's sensitive to breath (no, mine don't stink), wind, and breezes thru windows. But hey, it's reading in tenths of a grain. It's gotta be sensitive.

Cal is easy. Runs on 120V or a 9V battery.

Plus, it's green.

Ruger4570 · March 30, 2008, 09:51 PM

I don't know anything about Lyman scales as I use an OLD Redding balance beam that is close to 50 years old. I never got another scale as this one still works perfectly. I do have a Digital scale too, but I doubt you will find a digital that is more accurate than a balance beam scale. The digital are generally accurate to 1/10th gr, so are the balance beams but I can split the lines visually and get closer to 1/20 grain with my Redding.If you are getting bad weights, you might check your pivot points ( both knife edge and bearing surface) for damage or dirt.

mniesen89 · March 30, 2008, 10:01 PM

pivot points?? please explain.... keep in mind my scale is digital

30Cal · March 30, 2008, 11:49 PM

I use a beam scale for loading. It just works without any fuss. The only time I break out the electronic is when I'm doing some tedious task like weighing a box of bullets one by one.

Sport45 · March 31, 2008, 05:10 AM

My $90 PACT BBK has served me well for several years. Why do you want to spend $200 - $350?

CPTMurdoc30 · March 31, 2008, 07:10 AM

I have a PACT BBK 2 it is a good fast scale. But I am looking for a RCBS 10-10. For precission work you can not beat the RCBS 10-10 or the Oaus 10-10.

dmb3006 · March 31, 2008, 07:20 AM

I have used a PACT Dispenser and Digital scale for 3 year's dispenser is connected to the scale via a infra-red data port.When the scale pan has received the amount of powder programed into the dispenser it stops filling the pan.It has scale weights to calibrate the scale.simple to use.Great help also when sorting cast bullet's will dispense 2.7 grains of powder exact time after time.I check every 5 or so just to be sure.It is sensitive to moving air;but it weights +or -1/10th of a grain.I don't know how I ever loaded as much as I have with out it and my RCBS electric rotating case prep. station.Lee's tool that goes on your drill motor for case trimming is also a great tool.I got mine as a Christmas gift from my Wife.A friend who had one directed to MID-WAY I can't say enough good about this machine.

MaineColt · March 31, 2008, 09:17 AM

"pivot points?? please explain.... keep in mind my scale is digital"

The pivot points are where the beam actually balances. I have a Lyman balance scale, where it balances, there is a small axle that has a "sharpened" edge on the bottom. This axle sits in a small trough. This small trough tends to collect dust which can make it read 1/10th of a grain incorrect for me. So, each time that I use it, I blow the dust out, and wipe the axle with my finger.

Mine is very accurate as long as I clean this each time.

Kev

CrustyFN · March 31, 2008, 09:53 AM

I own a Pact scale that I bought at Cabelas for around $80 that works good. I used a friends Dillon digital that I thought was a great scale. The next scale I buy will be the Dillon. I think you can buy the Dillon for around $120.
Rusty

TEDDY · March 31, 2008, 10:08 AM

my opinion only:I use an old redding and an RCBS.once I set my measure I dont check again.am I taking chances that the measure will lose ajustment NO I use mostly Lee disk measures.
Just bought digital scale from midsouth $24.95? very accurate.but I use it to weigh bullets.also have Pact $89.used it once and it broke sent to factory they fixed it.general hunting and plinking I dont need tack driver.or picky about .01gr factory loads vary more than that.

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**Unclenick** · March 31, 2008, 01:27 PM

mniesen89,

Your scale doesn't have pivot points, but lab scales are made with 4 post load cells which give the best immunity to the sample location on the pan.

There are no scales that cannot be made inaccurate by bad environmental conditions, but most of the electronic scales made for loading are not constructed with best practices. All but one I am aware of have plastic rather than metal load cell beams. These allow the electronics to be less sensitive (and expensive), but are prone to more temperature drift and to having hysteresis. Getting one with good temperature compensation is hit or miss. That's why you keep hearing that one person got, say, a Pact, and it stayed right on its check weights and didn't drift, and the next person will say his had bad drift and he had to send it back to the factory. That seems to be true for Lyman, RCBS, Dillon; anybody with plastic load cells. Some individual units are great and some are not. Among cheap scales, only the mechanical beam balance scales have consistent reliability, though they do need to be kept clean an dust free and should be stored in a bread box or under another dust cover.

If you want a scale with a lab type metal load cell, I am aware of just one that is sold for reloading purposes. That is the Aculab VIC-123 sold by Sinclair. It has 1850 grain capacity and resolves 0.02 grains instead of the usual 0.1 grains. It is a plug-in-only scale and is kept plugged in 24/7 because it keeps its load cell powered up whenever it is plugged in. That way you don't need a warm-up period. I have one of these scales. You can see the smallest drafts on it and you want to wear a static discharge wrist band (Radio Shack) when you use it because the pan will react to the attraction of static charge when you approach the pan with your hand. It is a stripped-down version of an $800 lab scale made by the same company. Part of the stripping down was to omit the Faraday shielding. I wish they had not done that because it increased its interference sensitivity, but otherwise the scale works well for me. I did put a Corcom RFI filter between the AC line and its wall transformer to help isolate its AC power supply from line noise. I had a filter I got from an electronics surplus dealer, which took the pain out of the price.

To correct environmental conditions, you need a good draft shield. You also need to realize that sensitive electronics in a plastic box will be prone to interference. Keep the scales away from fluorescent light fixtures, including the compact fluorescent lamps. If your scale is not battery powered, don't plug it into the same breaker circuit that has fluorescent lamps, computers, televisions or other devices that use switching regulated power supplies operating from it. Don't have an electric motor running on the same line, especially not one with brushes. The scale needs to be in an area where temperature is pretty constant or at least changes very slowly.

primlantah · April 1, 2008, 10:41 AM

Unclenick,

What you say about the circuit and its load messing with a cheap scale makes perfect sense. A question though, do you think using a battery backup/UPS would be able to prevent the interference? They are supposed to 'condition' the electricity that passes out from them.

Waldog · April 1, 2008, 09:25 PM

I have the PACT and had a little trouble with the scale drifting. After a little research, here is what I found out. If the outlet your scale is plugged into is shared with other electric equipment that has a pretty good load, the cycling of that load can cause your scale to drift due to voltage fluctuations. I seems that electronic scales can drift with very small line voltage variations.

I plugged my scale into a "regulated" computer surge suppressor and the scale drifting stopped. Give that a try! Worked for me.

Master Blaster · April 2, 2008, 06:29 AM

A balance beam scale is what you want.

30Cal · April 2, 2008, 10:58 AM

I was just about to hire an electrician to run a dedicated, filtered circuit in my garage for my scale. But then I remembered I have a 5-0-5 beam scale (which also runs good even when you don't bother warming it up).

Ty

thallub · April 2, 2008, 11:30 AM

Used a Redding #1 scale for 40 years. Several years ago my son bought me an expensive RCBS electronic scale for Christmas. That scale was nothing but trouble. It would not stay zeroed. Went back to using my Redding #1 scale and then up graded to a Redding #2 scale.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GUA4JG/...G&linkCode=asn

Dave P · April 2, 2008, 11:58 AM

+1 on the VIC 123. Great scale. No problems with static in FLA, just air conditioner drafts!

$250

http://www.affordablescales.com/scal...cculab_VIC-123

jhansman · April 2, 2008, 06:02 PM

Yeah, I had the 1500XP for about a day, and it went back. I had high hopes for it, but could never get consistency from it. When I grow up, I hope to get an RCBS Chargemaster combo.

March 31, 2008, 05:10 AM	#6
Sport45 Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 1999 Location: Too close to Houston Posts: 4,196	My $90 PACT BBK has served me well for several years. Why do you want to spend $200 - $350? __________________ Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.

March 31, 2008, 07:20 AM	#8
dmb3006 Member Join Date: January 15, 2008 Posts: 38	Electronic scale & powder dispenser I have used a PACT Dispenser and Digital scale for 3 year's dispenser is connected to the scale via a infra-red data port.When the scale pan has received the amount of powder programed into the dispenser it stops filling the pan.It has scale weights to calibrate the scale.simple to use.Great help also when sorting cast bullet's will dispense 2.7 grains of powder exact time after time.I check every 5 or so just to be sure.It is sensitive to moving air;but it weights +or -1/10th of a grain.I don't know how I ever loaded as much as I have with out it and my RCBS electric rotating case prep. station.Lee's tool that goes on your drill motor for case trimming is also a great tool.I got mine as a Christmas gift from my Wife.A friend who had one directed to MID-WAY I can't say enough good about this machine.

March 31, 2008, 09:53 AM	#10
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	I own a Pact scale that I bought at Cabelas for around $80 that works good. I used a friends Dillon digital that I thought was a great scale. The next scale I buy will be the Dillon. I think you can buy the Dillon for around $120. Rusty __________________ I don't ever remember being absent minded.

March 31, 2008, 10:08 AM	#11
TEDDY Junior member Join Date: December 10, 2006 Location: MANNING SC Posts: 837	scales my opinion only:I use an old redding and an RCBS.once I set my measure I dont check again.am I taking chances that the measure will lose ajustment NO I use mostly Lee disk measures. Just bought digital scale from midsouth $24.95? very accurate.but I use it to weigh bullets.also have Pact $89.used it once and it broke sent to factory they fixed it.general hunting and plinking I dont need tack driver.or picky about .01gr factory loads vary more than that.-----

March 31, 2008, 01:27 PM	#12
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,060	mniesen89, Your scale doesn't have pivot points, but lab scales are made with 4 post load cells which give the best immunity to the sample location on the pan. There are no scales that cannot be made inaccurate by bad environmental conditions, but most of the electronic scales made for loading are not constructed with best practices. All but one I am aware of have plastic rather than metal load cell beams. These allow the electronics to be less sensitive (and expensive), but are prone to more temperature drift and to having hysteresis. Getting one with good temperature compensation is hit or miss. That's why you keep hearing that one person got, say, a Pact, and it stayed right on its check weights and didn't drift, and the next person will say his had bad drift and he had to send it back to the factory. That seems to be true for Lyman, RCBS, Dillon; anybody with plastic load cells. Some individual units are great and some are not. Among cheap scales, only the mechanical beam balance scales have consistent reliability, though they do need to be kept clean an dust free and should be stored in a bread box or under another dust cover. If you want a scale with a lab type metal load cell, I am aware of just one that is sold for reloading purposes. That is the Aculab VIC-123 sold by Sinclair. It has 1850 grain capacity and resolves 0.02 grains instead of the usual 0.1 grains. It is a plug-in-only scale and is kept plugged in 24/7 because it keeps its load cell powered up whenever it is plugged in. That way you don't need a warm-up period. I have one of these scales. You can see the smallest drafts on it and you want to wear a static discharge wrist band (Radio Shack) when you use it because the pan will react to the attraction of static charge when you approach the pan with your hand. It is a stripped-down version of an $800 lab scale made by the same company. Part of the stripping down was to omit the Faraday shielding. I wish they had not done that because it increased its interference sensitivity, but otherwise the scale works well for me. I did put a Corcom RFI filter between the AC line and its wall transformer to help isolate its AC power supply from line noise. I had a filter I got from an electronics surplus dealer, which took the pain out of the price. To correct environmental conditions, you need a good draft shield. You also need to realize that sensitive electronics in a plastic box will be prone to interference. Keep the scales away from fluorescent light fixtures, including the compact fluorescent lamps. If your scale is not battery powered, don't plug it into the same breaker circuit that has fluorescent lamps, computers, televisions or other devices that use switching regulated power supplies operating from it. Don't have an electric motor running on the same line, especially not one with brushes. The scale needs to be in an area where temperature is pretty constant or at least changes very slowly. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

March 30, 2008, 09:35 PM	#1
mniesen89 Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: deland,fl Posts: 238	I'm sick of my scale!!! I've had my lyman 1500XP scale for about 3 months and what a P.O.S it is!It gives me incosistant loads about +/- .5 gr. I want to purchase a new electronic scale anywhere from 200-350$ but wanted some professional feedback on what to get that will give me much more consistant loads.

March 30, 2008, 09:50 PM	#2
KDM Senior Member Join Date: October 4, 2006 Location: California Posts: 457	I've got an RCBS Rangemaster 750 and I'm happy with it. After every 5 or so rounds I'll pour the powder back into the pan to verify charge weights...always returns to the same weight. It's sensitive to breath (no, mine don't stink), wind, and breezes thru windows. But hey, it's reading in tenths of a grain. It's gotta be sensitive. Cal is easy. Runs on 120V or a 9V battery. Plus, it's green. __________________ "Ask not for a lighter load. Instead, ask for a stronger back."

March 30, 2008, 09:51 PM	#3
Ruger4570 Senior Member Join Date: April 3, 2005 Location: Rochester, New York Posts: 2,136	I don't know anything about Lyman scales as I use an OLD Redding balance beam that is close to 50 years old. I never got another scale as this one still works perfectly. I do have a Digital scale too, but I doubt you will find a digital that is more accurate than a balance beam scale. The digital are generally accurate to 1/10th gr, so are the balance beams but I can split the lines visually and get closer to 1/20 grain with my Redding.If you are getting bad weights, you might check your pivot points ( both knife edge and bearing surface) for damage or dirt.

March 30, 2008, 10:01 PM	#4
mniesen89 Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: deland,fl Posts: 238	pivot points?? please explain.... keep in mind my scale is digital

March 30, 2008, 11:49 PM	#5
30Cal Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2002 Posts: 1,264	I use a beam scale for loading. It just works without any fuss. The only time I break out the electronic is when I'm doing some tedious task like weighing a box of bullets one by one.

March 31, 2008, 07:10 AM	#7
CPTMurdoc30 Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2008 Location: Stafford VA Posts: 969	I have a PACT BBK 2 it is a good fast scale. But I am looking for a RCBS 10-10. For precission work you can not beat the RCBS 10-10 or the Oaus 10-10.

March 31, 2008, 09:17 AM	#9
MaineColt Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2007 Location: Maine Posts: 222	"pivot points?? please explain.... keep in mind my scale is digital" The pivot points are where the beam actually balances. I have a Lyman balance scale, where it balances, there is a small axle that has a "sharpened" edge on the bottom. This axle sits in a small trough. This small trough tends to collect dust which can make it read 1/10th of a grain incorrect for me. So, each time that I use it, I blow the dust out, and wipe the axle with my finger. Mine is very accurate as long as I clean this each time. Kev

April 1, 2008, 10:41 AM	#13
primlantah Registration in progress Join Date: November 2, 2007 Posts: 110	Unclenick, What you say about the circuit and its load messing with a cheap scale makes perfect sense. A question though, do you think using a battery backup/UPS would be able to prevent the interference? They are supposed to 'condition' the electricity that passes out from them.

April 1, 2008, 09:25 PM	#14
Waldog Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2007 Location: SOCAL Posts: 359	I have the PACT and had a little trouble with the scale drifting. After a little research, here is what I found out. If the outlet your scale is plugged into is shared with other electric equipment that has a pretty good load, the cycling of that load can cause your scale to drift due to voltage fluctuations. I seems that electronic scales can drift with very small line voltage variations. I plugged my scale into a "regulated" computer surge suppressor and the scale drifting stopped. Give that a try! Worked for me. __________________ I am the Christian Conservative that CNN warned you about!! “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy.” Winston Churchill

April 2, 2008, 06:29 AM	#15
Master Blaster Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 1999 Location: One of the original 13 Colonies Posts: 2,281	A balance beam scale is what you want.

April 2, 2008, 10:58 AM	#16
30Cal Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2002 Posts: 1,264	I was just about to hire an electrician to run a dedicated, filtered circuit in my garage for my scale. But then I remembered I have a 5-0-5 beam scale (which also runs good even when you don't bother warming it up). Ty

April 2, 2008, 11:30 AM	#17
thallub Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2007 Location: South Western OK Posts: 3,112	Used a Redding #1 scale for 40 years. Several years ago my son bought me an expensive RCBS electronic scale for Christmas. That scale was nothing but trouble. It would not stay zeroed. Went back to using my Redding #1 scale and then up graded to a Redding #2 scale. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GUA4JG/...G&linkCode=asn

April 2, 2008, 11:58 AM	#18
Dave P Senior Member Join Date: August 16, 1999 Location: North Florida Posts: 1,346	+1 on the VIC 123. Great scale. No problems with static in FLA, just air conditioner drafts! $250 http://www.affordablescales.com/scal...cculab_VIC-123

April 2, 2008, 06:02 PM	#19
jhansman Senior Member Join Date: June 17, 2007 Posts: 680	Yeah, I had the 1500XP for about a day, and it went back. I had high hopes for it, but could never get consistency from it. When I grow up, I hope to get an RCBS Chargemaster combo. __________________ Blessed is the man who has nothing to say, and cannot be compelled to say it.