My Dillon 650 is driving me insane!

jclayto · July 23, 2009, 04:12 PM

I have had this used 650 for about 9 months. So far I have only used the press for .38/357. From the beginning I have had continious issues with the brass lining up with the power funnel. I have posted about this before, and called dillon without much help. I called dillon again today and they are sending me some alignment tools to check out the press, but I am not sure if that will do any good. I have adjusted the arm that holds the brass on station 2 every possible way. The manual says to have it a business card's thickness from the brass, I have tried this plus tighter and looser.

Here is the strange thing... The other week I got really frustratrated and started thumping the powder funnel and moving it up and down. After this is started working. I loaded almost 200 rounds of .38 and took of to the range. I switched over to .357 and had to readjust the powder die for proper belling. I had similar issues again resolved by some unscientific jiggling of the powder funnel. I loaded up some .357 and went back to 38 and started having problems again. I have spetn the past 1.5 hours trying to load up some .38's and unless I manually sit there and watch every single case at station 2 using my finger to align it.... this happens

Any suggestions?? It happens with every brand of brass I have tried. All other stations function properly.

BTW.. my web server is having issues if the picture does not load completely, refresh a time or 2 and it will eventually load the whole image.

Joat · July 23, 2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Any suggestions??

RESIZE your picture! It's HUGE.

jclayto · July 23, 2009, 04:35 PM

That actually is resized quite a bit from 10mp. I was hoping to leave it large enough for people to see how the brass is contacting the measure.

I will go make it smaller.

jclayto · July 23, 2009, 04:40 PM

resized... higher resolution is here if needed http://people.clemson.edu/~jclayto/DillonIssue.jpg

Farmland · July 23, 2009, 04:47 PM

Yes that is one large file. I can't tell much except for the fact the powder die doesn't line up with the case. I never had an alignment problem so I can't say if the alignment tool will solve the problem.

Is the problem that the case doesn't go the whole way into the shell plate or is it that the die doesn't line up over the case?

You said when you kept thumping the powder funnel up into the die it worked on the 357Mag. Is the powder die put together correctly? Maybe take the powder measure of the die and see if the funnel is hitting the side of the die. Next put powder funnel back on and give it a try. Another thing to try is to loosen the die then run a case up into the powder funnel then make the die tight.

Sometime it is just a simple thing but it is a hard one to give advice when I never had the problem. But those are some of the things I would check. of course maybe the alignment tool would make it all much simpler.

Farmland · July 23, 2009, 04:52 PM

I forgot to ask since the powder funnel will move up into the die when it makes contact with the case will it go into alignment then?

jclayto · July 23, 2009, 04:56 PM

HI Farmland, when the funnel moves up and down it does not align itself. It looks like it should with the bevel on the funnel, but i guess it is off just enough not to line up. If i am not paying attention and continue to move the press arm it will actually cut the side of the case mouth

The brass goes fully into the shell holder, it just doesnt seem to line up with teh funnel. The strange thing there is, it seems if the shell plate was out of index, it would miss on other stations.

I am going to go disassemble/reassemble the die like you mentioned. I think I have tried this in the past as well but it won't hurt to try again.

It almost seems as if the brass leans a little making it out of alignment.

I think I may be the only person to ever have dillon trouble

their CS is great, but even they can't seem to figure this one out.

Farmland · July 23, 2009, 05:02 PM

No there are more than a few people that have alignment problems. it could be anything from a bad head, shell plate, die etc. or it could be something simple.

I have to finish a few things today so you might find an answer or get faster help at this forum. It is all Dillon equipment and there is a ton of help.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showforum=78

PCJim · July 23, 2009, 09:45 PM

Not with .38 or .357, but I have had an alignment problem very infrequently when loading 9mm. I discovered the problem was that the shellplate was not properly adjusted - read: tightened. It should be just free enough to allow indexing with some resistance, not a lot, but definitely not "free wheeling".

My best rationale of the problem (and it is by NO means scientific) is that the shellplate is just loose enough to allow a misalignment of the powder die, causing the casing to hit the die during the uplift motion. It won't happen in station 1 as the mouth of that die is made wide enough to accept spent casings (which have a wider diameter due to having been fired). Station 2 probably has tighter tolerances, both because the case already has been resized to proper dimensions and also to help in applying a concise flare to the case. Station 3 will be slightly wider as it has to accept the flare that was set into the case at station 2. Thus, you do not see any problems in stations 1 and 3.

Again, this is my opinion and I could be totally wet. But I did find that when the problem developed on my 550, tightening the shellplate a bit more corrected the problem.

Here's hoping that somehow this helps..

Alleykat · July 24, 2009, 07:59 AM

Looks to me like the shellplate isn't indexing properly. I've loaded thousands of rounds on my 650, with great success. Follow Dillon's instructions exactly, as to shell plate allignment during indexing.

goldfacade · July 24, 2009, 03:40 PM

I have the same issue with my 650. Very frustrating, and it does it on the 3 pistol calibers I load (9, 40, 45). I also manually check the index with every pull of the handle. I will be shipping it out for a complete recondition to Dillon next. The machine does have about 60K rounds thru it though.

Alleykat · July 25, 2009, 09:25 AM

There's a simple fix. Youse guys just needs to find it!

45Dave · July 25, 2009, 10:28 AM

I love my 650, strange that only the powder station is out of location, as others have said, if the shell plate was out of index all of the stations would be out the same amount. Sounds like the hole that holds the powder station may have been made off location, Dillion has to repair/replace that or is there any chance the powder funnel is the wrong one and is tipping inside it's bushing? If the powder funnel is tipping then it would be off location for you. About the only other thing would be for the case to be tipping at that station, somthing may be cocking it there.
Just a couple thoughts.

Hydraulicman · July 25, 2009, 10:45 AM

this happened to me on my 550 with 9mm

I had too much play in the shellplate. I needed to screw the shellplate bolt down till the indexing star will not move. then back out till it will. Now it runs like a top.

I smashed/crused bashed some 9mm becasue my shell plate was too loose

Ron · July 25, 2009, 01:32 PM

this happened to me on my 550 with 9mm

I had too much play in the shellplate. I needed to screw the shellplate bolt down till the indexing star will not move. then back out till it will. Now it runs like a top.

I smashed/crused bashed some 9mm becasue my shell plate was too loose

I too had this problem until I adjusted the shell plate, called Dillon and they walked me through it. After that I had no futher problems.

July 23, 2009, 04:12 PM	#1
jclayto Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2005 Location: Anderson, SC Posts: 600	My Dillon 650 is driving me insane! I have had this used 650 for about 9 months. So far I have only used the press for .38/357. From the beginning I have had continious issues with the brass lining up with the power funnel. I have posted about this before, and called dillon without much help. I called dillon again today and they are sending me some alignment tools to check out the press, but I am not sure if that will do any good. I have adjusted the arm that holds the brass on station 2 every possible way. The manual says to have it a business card's thickness from the brass, I have tried this plus tighter and looser. Here is the strange thing... The other week I got really frustratrated and started thumping the powder funnel and moving it up and down. After this is started working. I loaded almost 200 rounds of .38 and took of to the range. I switched over to .357 and had to readjust the powder die for proper belling. I had similar issues again resolved by some unscientific jiggling of the powder funnel. I loaded up some .357 and went back to 38 and started having problems again. I have spetn the past 1.5 hours trying to load up some .38's and unless I manually sit there and watch every single case at station 2 using my finger to align it.... this happens Any suggestions?? It happens with every brand of brass I have tried. All other stations function properly. BTW.. my web server is having issues if the picture does not load completely, refresh a time or 2 and it will eventually load the whole image.

July 25, 2009, 10:28 AM	#13
45Dave Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: South East Michigan Posts: 109	right powder bushing? I love my 650, strange that only the powder station is out of location, as others have said, if the shell plate was out of index all of the stations would be out the same amount. Sounds like the hole that holds the powder station may have been made off location, Dillion has to repair/replace that or is there any chance the powder funnel is the wrong one and is tipping inside it's bushing? If the powder funnel is tipping then it would be off location for you. About the only other thing would be for the case to be tipping at that station, somthing may be cocking it there. Just a couple thoughts.

July 25, 2009, 01:32 PM	#15
Ron Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: The SunShine State Posts: 74	this happened to me on my 550 with 9mm I had too much play in the shellplate. I needed to screw the shellplate bolt down till the indexing star will not move. then back out till it will. Now it runs like a top. I smashed/crused bashed some 9mm becasue my shell plate was too loose I too had this problem until I adjusted the shell plate, called Dillon and they walked me through it. After that I had no futher problems. __________________ NRA Life Member

July 23, 2009, 04:35 PM	#3
jclayto Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2005 Location: Anderson, SC Posts: 600	That actually is resized quite a bit from 10mp. I was hoping to leave it large enough for people to see how the brass is contacting the measure. I will go make it smaller.

July 23, 2009, 04:40 PM	#4
jclayto Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2005 Location: Anderson, SC Posts: 600	resized... higher resolution is here if needed http://people.clemson.edu/~jclayto/DillonIssue.jpg

July 23, 2009, 04:47 PM	#5
Farmland Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2009 Posts: 869	Yes that is one large file. I can't tell much except for the fact the powder die doesn't line up with the case. I never had an alignment problem so I can't say if the alignment tool will solve the problem. Is the problem that the case doesn't go the whole way into the shell plate or is it that the die doesn't line up over the case? You said when you kept thumping the powder funnel up into the die it worked on the 357Mag. Is the powder die put together correctly? Maybe take the powder measure of the die and see if the funnel is hitting the side of the die. Next put powder funnel back on and give it a try. Another thing to try is to loosen the die then run a case up into the powder funnel then make the die tight. Sometime it is just a simple thing but it is a hard one to give advice when I never had the problem. But those are some of the things I would check. of course maybe the alignment tool would make it all much simpler.

July 23, 2009, 04:52 PM	#6
Farmland Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2009 Posts: 869	I forgot to ask since the powder funnel will move up into the die when it makes contact with the case will it go into alignment then?

July 23, 2009, 04:56 PM	#7
jclayto Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2005 Location: Anderson, SC Posts: 600	HI Farmland, when the funnel moves up and down it does not align itself. It looks like it should with the bevel on the funnel, but i guess it is off just enough not to line up. If i am not paying attention and continue to move the press arm it will actually cut the side of the case mouth The brass goes fully into the shell holder, it just doesnt seem to line up with teh funnel. The strange thing there is, it seems if the shell plate was out of index, it would miss on other stations. I am going to go disassemble/reassemble the die like you mentioned. I think I have tried this in the past as well but it won't hurt to try again. It almost seems as if the brass leans a little making it out of alignment. I think I may be the only person to ever have dillon trouble their CS is great, but even they can't seem to figure this one out.

July 23, 2009, 05:02 PM	#8
Farmland Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2009 Posts: 869	No there are more than a few people that have alignment problems. it could be anything from a bad head, shell plate, die etc. or it could be something simple. I have to finish a few things today so you might find an answer or get faster help at this forum. It is all Dillon equipment and there is a ton of help. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showforum=78

July 23, 2009, 09:45 PM	#9
PCJim Senior Member Join Date: July 11, 2008 Location: FL Posts: 570	Not with .38 or .357, but I have had an alignment problem very infrequently when loading 9mm. I discovered the problem was that the shellplate was not properly adjusted - read: tightened. It should be just free enough to allow indexing with some resistance, not a lot, but definitely not "free wheeling". My best rationale of the problem (and it is by NO means scientific) is that the shellplate is just loose enough to allow a misalignment of the powder die, causing the casing to hit the die during the uplift motion. It won't happen in station 1 as the mouth of that die is made wide enough to accept spent casings (which have a wider diameter due to having been fired). Station 2 probably has tighter tolerances, both because the case already has been resized to proper dimensions and also to help in applying a concise flare to the case. Station 3 will be slightly wider as it has to accept the flare that was set into the case at station 2. Thus, you do not see any problems in stations 1 and 3. Again, this is my opinion and I could be totally wet. But I did find that when the problem developed on my 550, tightening the shellplate a bit more corrected the problem. Here's hoping that somehow this helps..

July 24, 2009, 07:59 AM	#10
Alleykat Junior member Join Date: July 26, 2007 Posts: 3,668	Looks to me like the shellplate isn't indexing properly. I've loaded thousands of rounds on my 650, with great success. Follow Dillon's instructions exactly, as to shell plate allignment during indexing.

July 24, 2009, 03:40 PM	#11
goldfacade Member Join Date: July 22, 2008 Location: Central, FL Posts: 90	I have the same issue with my 650. Very frustrating, and it does it on the 3 pistol calibers I load (9, 40, 45). I also manually check the index with every pull of the handle. I will be shipping it out for a complete recondition to Dillon next. The machine does have about 60K rounds thru it though.

July 25, 2009, 09:25 AM	#12
Alleykat Junior member Join Date: July 26, 2007 Posts: 3,668	There's a simple fix. Youse guys just needs to find it!

July 25, 2009, 10:45 AM	#14
Hydraulicman Member Join Date: June 11, 2009 Posts: 98	this happened to me on my 550 with 9mm I had too much play in the shellplate. I needed to screw the shellplate bolt down till the indexing star will not move. then back out till it will. Now it runs like a top. I smashed/crused bashed some 9mm becasue my shell plate was too loose