Powder scale question

[cdoc42]

On the chance that there is an electrical expert among us, I pose the following question:

I have a surge protector wired into the main home circuit breaker box, and in addition, a receptacle plug-in surge suppressor that I plug my digital scales into as well. (One for shotgun shell loading in the garage; one for handgun/rifle in another room in the house)

Every time we have an electrical power outage due to severe weather, the lights go out, the whole house generator goes on, and the digital scales get turned on even though they were turned off.

Explanation?

[lugerstew]

Are they both the same digital scale model? Maybe they are designed to auto power on when first plugged in to a receptacle.
What does the scale manual say?

[Marco Califo]

Poltergeist

[mehavey]

IF it turns on when first plugged in, it will do the same when seeing power restored.

.

[cdoc42]

One is an RCBS made by PACT and the other is the same model, different color, BY Pact.

Lugerstew and Mehavey, you solved my dilemma!! They MUST be on an "auto-on" circuit. I just unplugged both and replugged them and they went on. Since I always turn them off but leave them plugged in, now it makes sense why they turn on when the power fails and comes back on! No matter how old you get, you will always experience something simple that makes you feel dumb.

[jetinteriorguy]

So does this mean when you turn them off they are actually in more of a sleep mode? While the only way to completely shut them down would be to unplug them?

[Marco Califo]

I bought a couple of plugs with switches to make it much easier to isolate appliances with zero electricity. 3 prongs in 3 out and a switch on the side.

[cdoc42]

Marco, does this just interrupt the line with a switch that requires a plug from appliance and a plug from the receptacle plug? If so, how does that differ from just an in-line switch in an extension cord?

JetInteriorGuy, that would make sense but I can't answer that.

[Marco Califo]

It is the same. My extension cords do not have switches.

[Nick_C_S]

I'm reading this thread and thinking to myself: "Why in the world would any appliance's default mode be "on?"

But this makes sense, I guess . . .

So does this mean when you turn them off they are actually in more of a sleep mode?

Heh, just one more reason to place my trust in balance scales.

[Aguila Blanca]

The scales probably also have an auto sleep mode, after 'X' minutes of non-use.

It's all part of the brave new world, in which our appliances are smarter than we are (or think they are).

[gwpercle]

Whatever you do ... don't use one of those stone age Beam Scales ... they are just no fun.

No electrical problems to trace down and try and correct ...

Just boring accurate readings ... who wants that .

And avoid the stupid RCBS 5-0-5 beam scale ... after 50+ years the dang thing keeps working ... who needs that kind of reliability ... I don't !
Gary
Just in case you don't get it ... the above post is satire ... it can also be cosidered as sarcasm or irony (look up the meaning)

[NHSHOOTER]

I have 2 of those darn accurate scales..

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by cdoc42

On the chance that there is an electrical expert among us, I pose the following question:

I have a surge protector wired into the main home circuit breaker box, and in addition, a receptacle plug-in surge suppressor that I plug my digital scales into as well. (One for shotgun shell loading in the garage; one for handgun/rifle in another room in the house)

Every time we have an electrical power outage due to severe weather, the lights go out, the whole house generator goes on, and the digital scales get turned on even though they were turned off.

Explanation?

That is how the scale is programmed by the mfg.

[Unclenick]

There are two reasons for it. The on/off is electronic and requires power to work. No power, no electronic on/off. If they had the unit come up in the off state, it couldn't run the internal program initialization that it needs for the electronic on/off and the display to work, so they have to let that happen first. They could set it up so it initialized and then turned off until you pushed the on/off button, but that would likely confuse people, seeing it come on briefly and then go off. For a hard on/off, they'd have to go to a conventional electromechanical switch that does what Marco Califo's switch does. That is actually more costly to do these days.

The second reason can be the nature of the "sleep mode" on some scales. My old Acculab 123 uses a strain gauge load cell. Due to temperature drift, when it "sleeps," it continues to provide power to the load cell, so the load cell's temperature remains steady. This keeps the scale ready to use without a stabilizing warm-up period.

[Nick_C_S]

Aaaaand, there's our answer ^.

Thanks Unclenick.

Learn something every day.

Merry Christmas all.

[reynolds357]

Originally Posted by gwpercle

Whatever you do ... don't use one of those stone age Beam Scales ... they are just no fun.

No electrical problems to trace down and try and correct ...

Just boring accurate readings ... who wants that .

And avoid the stupid RCBS 5-0-5 beam scale ... after 50+ years the dang thing keeps working ... who needs that kind of reliability ... I don't !
Gary
Just in case you don't get it ... the above post is satire ... it can also be cosidered as sarcasm or irony (look up the meaning)

I got me a new fangled Hornady automatic powder thrower scale. I love it for loading up 5 shots for a test group, but once I get set up, I can go much faster with my old school powder thrower, trickler, and beam scale.
No matter what I do to that Hornady, It can't figure out IMR 4350 or Varget.

[RC20]

I got me a new fangled Hornady automatic powder thrower scale. I love it for loading up 5 shots for a test group, but once I get set up, I can go much faster with my old school powder thrower, trickler, and beam scale.
No matter what I do to that Hornady, It can't figure out IMR 4350 or Varget.
reynolds357 is online now Report Post Quick reply to this message

If its the latest Hornady it has 3 or 4 slots to pre load the tuning data. You have to adjust two parameters to get a Hornady to meter right. The older one lost its tuning when you turned it off.

New one you have to put in some value for charge but you can change that.

The RCBS charger light does good without the tuning aspects and its a lot faster than the beam types. It may overshoot or undershoot but its easy enough to adjust the charge.

Why Hornady can't get an auto tune for their or just have one that works??????

[Marco Califo]

I have the Charge Master Combo. It measures each charge and beeps. The display shows it it goes over, and I dump that charge back in the hopper. That is 1% of the time. Replace the pan and it auto measures the next charge. I do not leave it plugged in. When I do plug it in, I must then turn it on. Very happy with it, but have not tried stick powders yet. It uses a tube, threaded inside and rotated to trickle powder. It seems to learn on the first two charges, then builds rhythm.

[std7mag]

HA!!!
Electric scales....
Takes all the fun out of weighing your powder by candlelight!!!

The wood stove beside my powder shelf keeps it nice & dry.
In a pinch, i can just leave the door open for light too.

Kids & their fancy gadgets!!

[Nick_C_S]

Electric scales....
Takes all the fun out of weighing your powder by candlelight!!!

I like balance scales too. Aside from the fact that gravity power is extremely consistent and ubiquitous (at least, in the space/time where we all currently reside), I actually enjoy the ritual of set up; zeroing, check weights, etc. It's part of my enjoyment of loading. My time at the load bench is therapeutic; the ammunition that comes from it is just a beneficial by-product .

But balance scales are time consuming and a bit of a hassle. So I understand why electronic and auto-fill scales are popular. Just not my thing. I do have a 20g electronic jewelry scale that comes in handy at times.