My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

[srv656s]

I'm pretty irritated with this. I've gotten great results with the RCBS Chargemaster, and I love the stupid thing when it's working. Mt first one just wouldn't come on one day. I was able to send it back to Midway since it was fairly new and they replaced it. I got the replacement in July of 2007.

Today I was loading up some .50 BMG and went to punch in a new recipe. I hit the 5 and the keypad thought I was hitting a 6. The keys were all messed up, some worked, some didn't. It was impossible to type anything in. It still dispensed fine with the recipes I had in it, but anything new is impossible.

I checked RCBS's website and it looks like it's under warranty for 2 years, so at least it's under warranty. I'm VERY disappointed that 2 have died on me now, doesn't make me confident that the new one will last.

I can't imagine reloading without the thing, but I'm very disappointed...

Shawn

 

[ptd]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Man, I had that key problem with mine out of the box. I did a brute force fix on it and started mashing buttons as I noticed a pattern (ie 2 was 3, 5 was 6 etc) and for the first time in my life, brute force on electronics worked... Here is to hoping that it continues to work...

-pd

 

[pell1203]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Contact RCBS -- From what I've read here they have really good customer service and have been making sure that all are satisfied. Your problems with the keypad are well known to them.

Good luck!

 

[19Scout77]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

I'm on my 3rd and had the same problem. The first time RCBS sent a new one and a call tag for shipping the other back. The second time they said thay they didn't do that anymore becasue of so many people not returning the old one.

Since you have dealt with this before and I an guessing they sent you a new one before you sent back the broken one--remind them of this fact and there is a good chance they will use the old procedure.

Also, if you push the malfunctioning key over and over again it will eventually display the correct number. Don't press in too rapid succession as if you miss the right number you'll have to do it all over again!

 

[Deisel]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Mine broke a few months back. I had to send mine in and then they sent me a new one. The new one works great, seems a little faster and fewer overruns.

 

[czgunner]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Happened to the first two I had.
My 3rd seems to be working well.

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Sounds like there working the kinks out.

 

[nad1967]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

sent my second in too... I guess that's why they call them growing pains

 

[Dsparil]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

what is an overrun?

 

[Deisel]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

By overruns I mean if you set it for 46.0 grains it will give you 46.1 or 46.2. There are several posts about this and fixes for it. The new Chargemaster I got does this very infrequently, maybe once or twice per 50 rounds at most.

 

[srv656s]

Re: My second RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Broke...

Quick update, I got a new replacement ChargeMaster from RCBS last week. It was tough to get a hold of anyone at RCBS, their # would ring as busy 99% of the time I called. I literally had to just keep hitting redial one day about 50 times before I got through. The lady I talked to said to send my CM in for replacement and they got me a replacement very quickly.

Interesting note, the new CM has a new feature that scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. I dumped my charge and after I replaced the pan it automatically started dumping the next charge. I used to have to push the "DISP" button between each load. It scared the crap out of me because I'd turned away from it and for a second didn't think I'd replaced the pan and I thought it was dumping powder all over my bench. Once I got used to it, it's a nice feature, one less button to push during the loading process.

Hopefully this one will last longer than my last 2.

Shawn