Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 I say I need help troubleshooting, but this may be a "feature" of my new press and I don't know it. I got my new 550 mounted and mostly setup but I have a nagging problem with the powder measure. When a case engages the powder measure there is a little binding that happens on both the upstroke and downstroke. One of the two bars that the powder measure failsafe return arm actuates is snagging on the bottom of the powder measure. See the photo for reference. The slower I go the worse the rubbing/ binding is. The failsafe arm is mounted IAW the Dillon instructions. Anyone ever see this issue?
Chief Rick Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 It's normal. You can use a small spring to help return the charge bar to it's normal position. Sorry, I don't have the ability to take pics or explain it better right now.
Kid Rich Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 That is designed that way, it ensures that any powder that may be stuck in the tube will be shook loose. kR
Cypress Sun Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 As Chief Rick stated, the situation is normal. The positive return is one of the "improvements" added over the years. The pictures above illustrate springs installed above the powder bar and below the powder hopper. They used to come with one spring, this one has two. The extra spring was installed by the person that I bought the measure from. It works pretty good on the bar return but does have resistance on the powder drop. Strictly my opinion, do not attempt to bypass the fail-safe. If the powder bar does return all the way to the original position, the powder will not meter correctly and you will have low powder/no powder loads.
Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Lucky I run a 550. If you have questions call me. Imis
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 A drop of oil on ALL friction and pivot points on the PM linkage helps. OLG
SOUTH-PACIFIC,SASS #59402 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 make sure all moving parts are clean and no rough edges to scrape or drag
TN Mongo, SASS #61450 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 I added the updated positive return kit to an older used 550 that I had purchased (just like the powder return on the one you just bought) and the binding/jump was excessive. I may be speaking sacrilege here, but I used a small file and a little emery paper to smooth it out a little. It still jumps, but it's not nearly as annoying. I still use one of the springs (like the ones pictured above). My powder drops are very consistent with light loads for wife's .32 Single Six revolvers. I did the same thing to my new 650 Dillon 15 years ago and it has always dropped consistent powder charges. I also use a single spring on the powder system of this press.
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 Here's a link to two videos of what is going on.
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 said: Lucky I run a 550. If you have questions call me. Imis I may take you up on that if I can't straighten this thing out.
Sedalia Dave Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 On my SDB I found the excessive jumping was caused by the plastic bushing on the other end of the rod not remaining seated in the bracket. It would slide down on the up stroke of the ram and then on the down stroke it would catch on the bracket before the spring tension forced it back up and into place. A small zip tie now holds mine in place.
Sedalia Dave Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Are you by chance loading 45 ACP or 45 Cowboy specials?
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 3 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said: Are you by chance loading 45 ACP or 45 Cowboy specials? Nope, this is a .45 Colt case.
Cypress Sun Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 It's hard to tell and has nothing to do with the hangup but the powder bar does not appear to be fully returning to the hopper. Does the upright post on top of the slide bar return fully to the edge of the hopper assembly? Edit; I would call Dillon on this matter. I only have one of the measures of this design and it's nowhere near that bad. They may have to send you another or fix the one that you have.
Pee Wee #15785 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Mine dose the same thing but I load black so am not dropping powder and just let it happen. When dropping a full load of smokeless it can bounce the powder out. Just tried it on .44WCF case. I weigh my charges if using smokeless. Will follow this as I may change to using the powder measure for SASS loads.
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 47 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said: It's hard to tell and has nothing to do with the hangup but the powder bar does not appear to be fully returning to the hopper. Does the upright post on top of the slide bar return fully to the edge of the hopper assembly? No, it does not travel all the way to the post. I ordered a second powder measure for a quicker caliber conversion, I'll install that one tonight and see if I have the same problem.
J.S. Sooner, SASS #73526 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 It may not be adjusted properly. Should be smoother that that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwqazYqbx5M I do put some grease on the bellcrank cube #13871 to help it run smoother.
Rye Miles #13621 Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Did you weigh the rounds and check for inconsistent powder charges?
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: Did you weigh the rounds and check for inconsistent powder charges? I haven't dropped any powder yet. This was discovered while setting up the new press adjusting the bell on the case. It just doesn't seem like this is normal. I watched a 76Highboy video on YouTube at lunch today and his powder measure is smooth, nothing like mine.
Sedalia Dave Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Try coloring the arm with a magic marker and see there the wear points are. Might reveal where it is catching.
Sedalia Dave Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Watched your video in slow motion. The catch is occurring when the part that looks like a hatchet head hits the left bottom corner of the power measure. I'll try to get a screen grab later and highlite the spot. You can watch in slow motion by clicking on the little gear icon at the bottom of the video and selecting playback speed.
Your Nemesis Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 10 hours ago, Lucky Lead Pepper said: Here's a link to two videos of what is going on. Completely normal that is on there for getting the measure to drop completely and settle the powder it helps in consistent powder charges Put a spring around the measure and the aluminum pin up by the adjustment knob and it will help the measure come all the way back and i also seems to smooth things out. before the powder fail safe system came out the spring is what brought the measure back closed. I still use several measures with just the spring and no fail safe Put powder and dies in it and start loading. I have been on a 550 (converted from a 450) for more years than I care to calculate. and when I got my first measure with the fail safe I thought the same thing. I called Dillon and that is what they explained to me. Good luck
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 When I ordered my press I also ordered a caliber conversion for 38 special with an extra toolhead and powder measure. I removed the powder measure shown in the video and switched over to the other powder measure. It works much differently...much better. It operates like the ones I've seen in videos. I loaded it up with powder and got it set up to meter consistently. I'm groovin' now. Clearly there is something wrong with the first one I tried. I'll reach out to Dillon and see if they can sort it out. Thanks for all of the tips and advice.
Choctaw Jack Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 In the videos posted in this thread,I noticed the failsafe rods were inserted from left to right.I have always assembled mine right to left ,or from front to rear.I have 5 different powder measures set up like this,and they all run fine,with no "jumping". Any thoughts?
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 21 minutes ago, Choctaw Jack said: In the videos posted in this thread,I noticed the failsafe rods were inserted from left to right.I have always assembled mine right to left ,or from front to rear.I have 5 different powder measures set up like this,and they all run fine,with no "jumping". Any thoughts? Every piece of Dillon literature says to go left to right. I wondered if that may be the issue, so I pulled it and tried to go the other way and it was worse. I thin I just got a bad powder measure.
Abilene, SASS # 27489 Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 At least you have a good functioning one, and both are new, so you should be able to compare details of the two.
Choctaw Jack Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 15 minutes ago, Lucky Lead Pepper said: Every piece of Dillon literature says to go left to right. I wondered if that may be the issue, so I pulled it and tried to go the other way and it was worse. I thin I just got a bad powder measure. GuessIve been lucky,then.
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Remove the powder slide and test cycle. Silicone spray works well here. OLG
Sedalia Dave Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 Did no one watch the last video I posted. That video while not the best shows exactly what causes the catch. You can also see it when watching the OP's videos in slow motion. The red arrow points to where the catch is occurring. The part his finger is touching hits the raised boss on the body of the powder measure. It takes very little to change the amount of engagement between these two parts. In the case of the video adjusting the "S" bend in the Fail safe rod is all it took to correct the problem. Or it could be the amount of offset it the portion of the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly that hits the powder measure body. Or is could be that the bolt holding the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly to the powder measure body needs to be either tightened or loosened. Here is a screen grab from the OP's second video it clearly shows where the problem is occurring.
Cypress Sun Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said: Did no one watch the last video I posted. That video while not the best shows exactly what causes the catch. You can also see it when watching the OP's videos in slow motion. The red arrow points to where the catch is occurring. The part his finger is touching hits the raised boss on the body of the powder measure. It takes very little to change the amount of engagement between these two parts. In the case of the video adjusting the "S" bend in the Fail safe rod is all it took to correct the problem. Or it could be the amount of offset it the portion of the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly that hits the powder measure body. Or is could be that the bolt holding the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly to the powder measure body needs to be either tightened or loosened. Here is a screen grab from the OP's second video it clearly shows where the problem is occurring. I watched it several times. IMO, if I'm going to pay that much for a reloader, it's up to the manufacture to make it right....not for me to have to rig it so it works. I'm sure that Dillon would and will make things right as I have had zero problems that haven't been resolved quickly and to my satisfaction.
Lucky Lead Pepper Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 7 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said: Did no one watch the last video I posted. That video while not the best shows exactly what causes the catch. You can also see it when watching the OP's videos in slow motion. The red arrow points to where the catch is occurring. The part his finger is touching hits the raised boss on the body of the powder measure. It takes very little to change the amount of engagement between these two parts. In the case of the video adjusting the "S" bend in the Fail safe rod is all it took to correct the problem. Or it could be the amount of offset it the portion of the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly that hits the powder measure body. Or is could be that the bolt holding the Lock-Link Bell Crank Assembly to the powder measure body needs to be either tightened or loosened. I did watch the video. His problem is the same as mine but a different cause. I looked at everything he pointed out in the video and none of it matched what I had going on.
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