SOB ! Chargemaster is f'd up.

[Saito]

Well, I just went out to turn out my first few rounds of .300BO and my Chargemaster seems to be AFU. I've had it since 2008, so my warranty is expired and then some.

RCBS - Precisioneered Shooting Products - Warranty

It won't turn the powder dispensing tube with powder in the hopper It's hard to turn the tube manually and there's a crack in the plastic just above the rear of the pickup tube in the powder bowl. I don't have a good photo hosting site anymore either :-/ I'll try and get some pics up to detail the crack. It hasn't been abused at all but has allowed me to load quite a few rounds(probably 9-10k over the years). I left my regular powder dispenser in WY when I moved too. fml

Should I tear into this fucker since the warranty is done for ? ?

 

[Sportin Wood]

Cal up RCBS. I sent mine in and for $75 they sent me a new unit.

 

[TRAAV]

They just told me $200.00 for a replacement.

 

[Trevor300wsm]

Geez....must all depend on who you talk to. I sent one back last year (out of warranty) for a bad keypad. They said send them a check for $35 and that was all.

 

[TRAAV]

Yep they told me they do not repair them that it is a flat $200.00 and they send you a new one. The issue I was having is my scale would not hold 0. To the point I could not even calibrate it. It would jump about .9 both ways.

 

[Saito]

I'm trying to upload a pic from my phone for the 1st time.

 

[MJY65]

It definitely stinks when equipment breaks, but I try to look at it as an amortized cost. If you get a new one for $200, it cost you 2 cents for each of those 10,000 rounds you loaded.

 

[Saito]

It definitely stinks when equipment breaks, but I try to look at it as an amortized cost. If you get a new one for $200, it cost you 2 cents for each of those 10,000 rounds you loaded.

Feel like you're leaving out the original cost of the Chargemaster ;-) and I plan to call RCBS on Tuesday morning to see what they say.

 

[MJY65]

Feel like you're leaving out the original cost of the Chargemaster ;-) and I plan to call RCBS on Tuesday morning to see what they say.

I guess you could say 3 cents per round if you used the original purchase price. The $200 replacement can get spread over the next 10,000 rounds. Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to make you feel better about it.

 

[former naval person]

Send it back. You might get a surprise if you are nice. JMHO

 

[gvanhyning]

Powder thrower and balance beam.

 

[rdinak]

If mine dies tomorrow, it has been a great tool and a good deal. However my experience with RCBS leads me to believe they will take care of you.

 

[Saito]

Oh I definitely feel like I've got my monies worth out of it. This will be my first time dealing with RCBS's customer service. I'll be sure to let you guys know what they say. I've always had good luck w/ CS in this community. Gemtech, Sig & Triad Tactical are at the top of my list in the CS dept.

 

[Saito]

Powder thrower and balance beam.

Sounds like a fantastic way to pass the time. If you've got the time anyway ;-) lol I just switched one of the 550Bs over & used that. I've got a 10-10 scale still that I use when I'm setting the Dillon up.

Btw- the blackout runs with and without the can running 9.2grns of H110 under a 240 SMK.

 

[milo 2.0]

I've sent three units in, $45.00 replacement fee. I'd just send it to them with note as to what's wrong, I can't see them changing that price.

 

[Bradu]

I'm curious why there are so many different prices for replacement charges when sending a broken one in? I wouldn't mind having one of these but I know my tuned scale and trickler aren't going to fail anytime soon.

 

[varmint slayer]

Did the crack just happen between the last time you used it and this time? Was it acting up at all before now? I'm curious how it would have cracked there seeing how there isn't really any majors pressure or anything to warrant cracking. Do you keep powder in there for long period of time? I have heard some pistol powders can really fuck up the plastic in them if left for too long.

 

[Desert Fox]

I have a Lyman DPS II, Bought it use and not sure how old it was when I got them. Send it to Lyman for repair twice and both was repaired at no charge. First trouble, I forgot to turn it off and left it on for a couple of days and won't reset. The second time, it won't zero.

Tell RCBS that you're buying a Lyman, may be they'll fix yours for free

 

[427Cobra]

Sadly to say any of the consumer grade electronics will fail, doesn't matter what it is, they are designed to be made as cheap as possible, and are marketed for maxium profit.

Powder thrower and balance beam.

This is what I use, and recommend, time is a problem though, so I worked OT, saved and got a Gen 2 Prometheus, still a balance beam, still a powder throw, but combined together, speed, accuracy, and a much better warranty.

 

[mtrmn]

Never messed with an electronic, but when I knocked my 1010 off a shelf it was FUBAR. Sent it in for "evaluation" and went back to work. Came home 3 weeks later and found a brand new 1010 waiting for me. No charge whatsoever, and I TOLD them I screwed it up.

 

[Saito]

Did the crack just happen between the last time you used it and this time? Was it acting up at all before now? I'm curious how it would have cracked there seeing how there isn't really any majors pressure or anything to warrant cracking. Do you keep powder in there for long period of time? I have heard some pistol powders can really fuck up the plastic in them if left for too long.

I just noticed the crack and haven't had any issues up to this point. I also never leave powder in the hopper & use my 550s for pistol rounds . . .but I'm sure after reading this thread that RCBS will take care of me.

 

[Fuzzball]

"Geez....must all depend on who you talk to. I sent one back last year (out of warranty) for a bad keypad. They said send them a check for $35 and that was all."

That's about what I suspect the things cost RCBS to buy and ship to you - anything more in purchase or replacement is their gravy. They are way too cheap to make any sense in maintaining a shop and employees to repair the things.

All electronics fail, even the most costly; it's just a matter of when. (That's why I had a decent job in defense electonix for decades.) Of course everyone loves their digital gimmicks ... until they take a dump! Your failure is mechanical but cheap plastic parts are quite vulnerable to age hardening and fracture.

 

[Aimsmall55]

Why don't you try reprogramming the speed settings. Also I'm no gear head , but maybe you could try taking it apart and seeing if powder somehow got threw the crack and is jamming the thrower. As far as the crack itself, I don't see where that would be "catastrophic failure" causing. Is it trying to turn???

 

[USMAGator]

Mine quit working about 2 months ago. The motor was clearly running when the unit was trying to dispense powder, but the powder tube was not spinning so nothing was coming out. I called RCBS and was told to send them a check for $200 and they'd send me a new dispenser since mine was out of warranty. I figured I might as well try to fix it myself, since there was no warranty to void anyways. Removing the 4 screws in the bottom of the unit allows you to access the incredibly simple innards of the dispensing unit. In mine, the gear that drives the dispensing tube had come off and fallen out of position, so the motor was not engaging anything. The position of the gear also kept me from being able to manually turn the powder tube easily. The gear was pretty easily reattached (just align it and slide it back onto its shaft) and mine has run fine ever since. Not sure if that's the issue that yours is having, but it can't hurt to check since your warranty is up anyways. Just be careful if you do decide to disassemble it, there is a strip connecting the two "halves" of the unit when you take it apart, so they will not fully seperate, but they come far enough apart that you can work on it if you need to. Good luck and I hope this helps!

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

[Saito]

I was about to tear into it & that's when I noticed the warranty sticker & checked the warranty out on their site. I think I'll wait to talk to them before I break that sticker off. And yes, you can tell it's trying to turn & it appears the electronics are fine. I'm sure it's just a mechanical issue. The tube will turn w/o powder in the hopper but once there's a load on it(powder in the hopper) it won't turn much at all. There probably is some powder down in that crack. I don't really 'need' this thing working right now, but it would be nice I'm not sure about dropping 200 bones for a new one either(cuz I think I paid like 270$ for it). We'll see I guess.

 

[[email protected]]

I'm selling a Scott Parker tuned beam scale and omega auto trickler, faster and more accurate.

 

[Saito]

RCBS sez 200$ and they'll send me a new one(after I ship them my old one). Figure it'll cost me 20-30$ to ship it to them, so I'm gonna tear into it and just buy another one(then I'll have 2 of them for 280$, instead of 1 working one for 200$) I'm sure I can fix this damn thing. It's all justified in my mind ;-) lol

200$ is now the going rate for replacement. Some of you guys got a great deal on your replacements.

 

[milo 2.0]

RCBS sez 200$ and they'll send me a new one(after I ship them my old one). Figure it'll cost me 20-30$ to ship it to them, so I'm gonna tear into it and just buy another one(then I'll have 2 of them for 280$, instead of 1 working one for 200$) I'm sure I can fix this damn thing. It's all justified in my mind ;-) lol

200$ is now the going rate for replacement. Some of you guys got a great deal on your replacements.

I think the one year warranty plays hard. Look for just the dispenser part on sale, or buy a new whole unit, and send the new bill of sale with it for replacement. I do believe they're going off serial #'s now though, so it may not fly.

 

[.284]

I found Rcbs awesome to deal with. I'm in Canada and when I called and told them this they said the shipping and any border issues was not worth the hassle. So they told me to smash it with a hammer. I asked to speak to someone else..... Again they said they were not kidding and to smash it with a hammer, just take pictures of the smashed unit with serial numbers and send them.
So away I went with a hammer and a camera...... Did the deed and sent the pictures. I had a new unit free of charge except for shipping costs in about a week or so.
Best warranty you could ever ask for.

 

[Saito]

I tore into the CM today and there was quite a bit of powder below the crack in one of the bearing housings. You can see it on the bench in the pic. This thing is really simple, as was stated above. Came apart easily and you'd have to be a pretty ham fisted mo-fo to fuck something up(cuz I was one at one time). I super glued the crack closed and I'll be putting it all back together in the morning.

 

[varmint slayer]

Hope that fixes it. Let us know how she runs after you get it back together.

 

[Saito]

Well I put it back together yesterday morning and had the same problem again. I then re-soldered the 2 wire connection to the motor because it looked pretty flimsy(like only a couple strands of wire were attached). I also took the motor & gearbox off to check them out.

I then realized what I should have done first. I should have switched powders. It spit out a charge of 7828 SSC(the last powder i used)like it was no thing. Won't run H110 for shit.

Will one of you guys with both a Chargemaster & H110 please see if your Chargemaster will run with H110 ? ?

 

[scatterbrains]

mine runs it fine.

 

[ACK]

The scale went south on my Chargemaster a couple of years ago, it would turn and then it would turn itself off, tried a new power supply, no luck. Called RCBS expecting their exceptional customer service. Nope, send the unit +$175 and they will send you a new one.
I ended up buying a new one. If it fails, I will try to repair it by cannibalizing the old one.
On the other hand I have an old digital RCBS scale (PACT clone?) after 8+ years it is still going strong.