Re: RCBS CHARGE MASTER STRAW TRICK
6mmbr.com just had some tips posted yesterday about the CM:
<span style="font-weight: bold">Mute That Annoying Beep</span>
Some ChargeMaster users complain about the loud beep at the end of each cycle. There’s a simple way to silence the beep — and you don’t have to cut any wires or permanently disable the speaker. To mute the beep, simply hold down the Zero button until “beep off” displays. Repeat to restore the beep function.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Activating the Auto-Dispense Mode</span>
You can set the ChargeMaster to automatically dispense your pre-programmed charge as soon as you put the pan back on the scale. Simply press and hold the “Enter” button. The code “Auto” should then appear on the display. At this point, push “Disp” to dispense the first charge. When you replace the pan, the unit will automatically dispense the same charge. For some people this is an added convenience. You can always go back to the default manual dispense method by changing the dispense mode using the “Enter” button again.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Use a McDonald’s Straw to Reduce Over-Throws </span>
Jaco Brink provided another useful tip to avoid “over-throws” (excess charge weight): “The RCBS employee advised me to take a McDonnell’s straw (because it is thicker than a normal straw), cut off about a half inch piece and put it into the tube where the powder exits. This caused the last part of an extruded powder to cluster less, and reduced the amount of overthrows dramatically.”
<span style="font-weight: bold">Instructional Video</span>
The video below shows how to set up and calibrate a Chargemaster 1500. Be sure to level the unit carefully, both left to right and front to back. Starting at the 1:44 mark in the video you can see the unit dispense a 50-grain charge in 30 seconds. The slow, final trickle stage takes about half of the total time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwGrlzrVAC8
<span style="font-weight: bold">How to Shorten Dispensing Times</span>
The last tip is for advanced users only. You can alter the programming settings to speed up powder dispensing dramatically. One user reported that, by re-programming his machine, his cut his dispensing time for a 30-grain load from 22 to 13 seconds “with no overthrows”. WARNING: once you change the parameters, there is no “restore” command to set everything back to the defaults. So proceed carefully. The speed enhancement procedure is described on the pages linked below:
Basic ChargeMaster Speed Enhancement | Advanced ChargeMaster Programming Tips
I didn't know about the Auto Dispense trick. I might have to try it out next time.