View Full Version : Ways to make a digital scale more reliable?
I'm currently using a Dillon digital scale to weigh my powder charges. I like the size and the ease of use..., and the fact that it matches all my other Dillon stuff.... But it seems to be pretty inconsistent when used with the power adapter plugged in. I haven't used it enough with just batteries to get an idea of the consistency.
Are these scales more consistent when used with just batteries to power them? Are there ways to overcome the power fluctuations that make these scales inconsistent when they're plugged into an outlet?
I'm running the Chargemaster and don't see that too much. It's an outlet plug in unit. Every once in a while the pan will weigh 1/10th different.
How inconsistent is it? I had a Dillon Digital which worked well till the display crapped out on it one day. Make sure its not being affected by drafts & overhead lighting. You may also wanna try a different outlet or batteries. I have one outlet in my house that makes digital scales do weird things.
I learned reloading from a wise man, He used beam scales. He told me that cellphones, computers, & cordless phones will affect the "newfangled scales" because they all have chips that oscillate at certain frequencies. I'm no electrician but it all made sense, maybe you have something in the electrical circuit your adapter is plugged into causing voltage variations or oscillations, or maybe you have a defective adapter.
I had the same problem using digital scales at my bench. I don't know if it was from a line source or fluorescent light interferance but I added two cheap ferric oxide line filters to each power supply and the problem was solved. Both scales require a warm up period to read accurately without fluctuation. Stop by Radio Shack and pick up a couple of different sized filters, they are cheap.
Just got an old fashioned 5-0-5 scale as I was tired of the inconsistencies with a digital and I have tried a few different ones.. The beam works, no issues and I think it's actually faster for me than waiting for the digitals to 'settle in' (even after a warmup). I reduced my load times yesterday over what it has been taking me with a digital scale, as I have been loading test rounds where I weigh and trickle every charge..
I threw one pan on the digital scale when I started out yesterday and just let it sit while I loaded on the beam... the load started out at 11.3gr and wound up at 12.1 an hour later... :eek:
I have found that when my Furnace/AC runs I will get erratic readings sometimes. I am also carefull about other things that are plugged into the same plug or circuit. Things like dehumidifiers kicking on and off cn upset my sale.
anachronism
03-30-14, 09:03
Digital scales go nuts when plugged into the same circuit as many florescent light fixtures. The cycling of the ballast/starter causes slight voltage variances that can make scales behave erratically. The el cheapo florescent fixture in my reloading area caused me to toss an RCBS (PACT) scale, and return a (probably) perfectly good new Dillon because they were haunted.
I've seen none of this on my RCBS ChargeMaster. I work in my basement near a fluorescent light with a furnace about 20 feet away. I'm using a separate outlet and I'm not certain of what is or isn't on that particular circuit.
If the issues you're seeing are power related it could be your house runs hot. 120V isn't always 120V at your outlet and there are many houses in the US with voltages at the outlet of 130-135V. For my vintage guitar amps that are sensitive to voltage variance as it negatively affects their tone, a VARIAC is the solution. Not a cheap solution but one of the few that is guaranteed to work when voltages need to be just right.
Honestly I don't understand how fluorescent lights could negatively impact a digital scale....Not saying it isn't possible, but I'd like to understand why before suggesting solutions to that problem.
If the voltage varies over a period of a few minutes, a better solution would be to use a Sola Constant Voltage Transformer Model 23-13-060-2 to regulate the voltage to the electronic scale... Check eBay ~$20
I figured out that plugging it in and leaving it on helped a lot. I read somewhere that you should give electronic scales about 20 minutes to warm up and some folks just leave them running 24/7. I'll be leaving mine on from now on. I also calibrate it right before use, and hit the zero (tare) button before every measurment. I read that helps also.
i always leave mine on.
i also use a check weight
The wall wart type power supply is not often good at filtering line voltage. If you can put a ferrite on it at the scale end. These are little cylinders and can be gotten at Radio shack. You just loop the wire a couple times and snap it shut. that hopefully takes out high frequency( lighting, RF ).
The other thing they can be bad at is filtering the 60Hz and 120Hz harmonic of our line voltage. That's basically a design flaw. I have a guitar tuner and it's wall wart doesn't filter well so it will register the note A# for no reason A# = 58Hz and 117Hz so our 60Hz/120Hz causes it to register.
To answer your question... yes the Battery power should not give you these problems. Again most any chips inside the unit will have little capacitors right at the pins of the chips to knock that crap out. But when you get an excessive amount coming from the power supply it simply causes things to act erratically. The wire acts like an antenna, which is why you want the ferrite at scale end and not at power supply end because the cable would still pick up RF and feed it right on into the scale.
OR.... your scale is defective.
Just run it off batteries. They last for a long time.
Some good info in this article, too: http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2012/04/good-stuff-anti-static-spray.html . I use this stuff especially in the winter when it's very dry. Seems to help.
Suwannee Tim
04-03-14, 15:06
These are subjects I know well, power quality, electronic scales and electronics. Fluorescent lights will not cause a significant degradation of power quality. Well designed and made electronics should tolerate significant degradation of power quality without adverse effect. If you are having problems with your electronic scale it's because your scale is junk. The problem is probably not a power quality issue anyway, it's probably RF interference. It doesn't really matter, either way the solution is to buy a better scale. I use a Scientech SA 510 scale which I greatly enjoy, I bought it on Ebay for a lot less than it sells for new. With a little bit of effort you can identify a high quality scale and purchase a good used specimen for a good price. One caveat, your scale must read grains in addition to the usual grams, troy ounces, av. ounces, etc. Converting from grams to grains and back gets tiresome in a hurry and dangerously error prone. I had my Scientech programmed to read grains by the factory which is referred to as a "custom weight register".
.... I bought it on Ebay for a lot less than it sells for new.
I hope so... at $4,800.... that's a little more than most reloaders like to spend. Hope you didn't get one out of a lab with a caustic atmosphere. I used to open up lab gear to find the insides corroded. They work, but I never wanted to trust them.
But if you think it's RF, isn't the $5 cure a lot easier than the $5K cure? Or are you saying Dillon scales are the Bushmaster of reloading, end of story?
Glad you're getting improvement, SW. I've used a D-terminator for some years now without issue. I load in the garage, so store it indoors. I only warm mine up for a few minutes, run check weights, and go to work. Like any scale, a little air movement will "bounce" it around, and it needs to be on a level surface. Call Dillon CS if you aren't happy with the scale.
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Haven't had any problems with my Chargemaster, either. One of the best reloading accessories ever, especially when loading large rifle cartridges using extruded powder.
Haven't had any problems with my Chargemaster, either. One of the best reloading accessories ever, especially when loading large rifle cartridges using extruded powder.
I almost cried tears of joy the first time I fired that sucker up.
Me too and with the mcyd's straw mod it will even throw varget correctly.
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