How do you know when your rcbs chargemaster is breaking bad?

[rdinak]

I really like my RCBS Chargemaster. It has served me well for several years. However I suspect it is about to give up the ghost. I carefully zero the scale before each use and double check charge weights on a balance beam scale when loading pistol powder. However recently I have noticed if I leave the scale on overnight with a weighed charge in the pan the weight wanders.....

My reloading room is indoors, temperature controlled and the press is secure and stable. Am I missing something? Is four years and a couple of cross country moves the useful life span of an electronic scale? I dont understand in a controlled environment why the weight would wander overnight....it doesn't change on the balance beam scale?

suggestions and comments please

 

[arnie19]

maybe air currents ,static electricity near by or even those curly light bulbs nearby . I wouldn't let it set that long and then reuse unless you recalibrate . Oh also maybe moisture in the air .

 

[Twoboxer]

In Digital, I've got a GemPro 250 (~$125) and an A&D FX120i (~$550). The GemPro does the same thing sooner than overnight . . . dunno about the FX yet.

Point is, I don't think any digital scale in the Chargemaster's (scale) price range would do any better. Dunno how high you'd have to go before that didn't happen.

 

[immelmann]

I run a extension chord to power the chargemaster, away from other electrical sources in my reloading room in a room generally without air movement. At the range I use the little window but only because it is outside in the breeze.
I used to also provide power from a UPS but not any more. I have had 'range' power (at the range) pop a transformer and am on my second power pack.
Sometimes the chargemaster won't dispense a memory charge when the pan goes back on the scale and it says 'error'. I just re-zero, re-calibrate and start again.
Short of re-zeroing and calibrating the scale after every charge throw, the wander is unavoidable. I generally recalibrate after about 100 throws anyway as it 'wanders'. I would never go back to a beam scale.

 

[tomme boy]

Don't leave a charge in the pan. Problem solved. I have had one of these for about 15 years and it has always done that. If there is nothing in it, it never changes. It is always right on too.

 

[pell1203]

I noticed this drift as well when I left my scale turned on and now I totally remove the base, the one with the plunger that inserts into the base of the scale on which you lay the pan, and flip it over so there is no weight on the scale when I am not using it. When ready to load some rounds, I put the base back in and find that when I lay the pan back on the scale it almost always reads either right at zero, or very close to it.

My thought is that the continuously bearing weight of the base and pan on the scale may be skewing the results. Not sure if there is a spring mechanism or pressure pad that is gradually getting fatigued when weight bearing. Just my .02.

 

[ZombieMonkey]

It's normal. I wouldn't worry as the scale will tend to drift with time. Different factors will be at work affecting how quickly this may occur, etc, but with the type of scale the charge master uses there should be no worry on your end. Just re-callibrate before use and you're good to go.