Digital Scale Woes

[Aggieddad02]

Guys, I need help with my digital scale. Been working up a load and deterrmined what it needs to be to make major PF. Got the powder throw down to the right weight and proceeded to load up 200 rounds. Last night before loading some more rounds decided to check the powder throw again. Threw 5 charges before checking the first weight and the weight is off by about .16 gr (point 16). Now I ain't gonna lie I am anal about over-charging / under-charging a case. This is my second digital scale, a Gem Pro 250, and from what I have read before ordering it has been used quite often for reloading. It has got to be something that I, a newbie to reloading, am doing but I just do not know what that might be. Open to any suggestions you may have. Brandon has already suggested / told me to use a beam scale but these 58 year old eyes just don't see the hash marks that well any more. Thanks

Walter

 

[dennishoddy]

I agree with Brandon. I was going to invest in digital scale, and did a long search on google. There were some that swore by the digital scales, but it seemed the majority had issues with consistancy. You might have to get some of the cheap reading glasses from wallyworld that will focus at the distance your scales are to see the hash marks. I have bi-focals, so I'm already there.

 

[aeropb]

Started with a nice digital but it died after a few years. So one day I go out to load and I couldn't, I was so mad. I'm never leaving the beam.

 

[bsdubois00]

I agree with Brandon. I was going to invest in digital scale, and did a long search on google. There were some that swore by the digital scales, but it seemed the majority had issues with consistancy. You might have to get some of the cheap reading glasses from wallyworld that will focus at the distance your scales are to see the hash marks. I have bi-focals, so I'm already there.

Someone take note - Dennis just said that I was right!!!!

 

[dennishoddy]

Don't let it go to your head. Everybody has their moments.

 

[drmitchgibson]

I agree with Brandon. I was going to invest in digital scale, and did a long search on google. There were some that swore by the digital scales, but it seemed the majority had issues with consistancy. You might have to get some of the cheap reading glasses from wallyworld that will focus at the distance your scales are to see the hash marks. I have bi-focals, so I'm already there.

In my direct experience, digital powder scales are not treated by their owners like delicate extremely-high-precision instruments. Which is exactly what they are. In fact, I bet a lot of manufacturers of these things don't treat them that well either. They are laboratory-grade in their sensitivity and measurement gradations, and should be treated as such. No rough handling, no liquids anywhere near, put away when not in use. I'd bet >95% of these scales failures are due to poor handling alone. I took apart the load cell frame and chassis on a D-Terminator once, and it was as well-designed as the better neonatal and lab scales I typically work on. But it was not at all serviceable, and hence the $1000 scale offered at the $130 price.

 

[dennishoddy]

I've worked in manufacturing areas, that have unlimited resources. The beam scales they use in the metallurgy departments are inside of glass cases.
Dust, lube on the beam bearing surfaces, etc can cause minor inconsistencies, but nothing like the reports I've heard.

All of that being said, the Digital scales have never been off far enough to cause pressure problems for short range rounds. Those shooting way out there, are really anal, and deservedly so.

 

[Aggieddad02]

Thanks guys. I guess you can tell the newbie fear of over/under charging a round. Just finished following instructions of throwing 10 charges and then weighing and averaging 10 and it was spot on what I thought it was. Gotta love the forum and the members who keep it going - Thanks Everyone for taking the time to respond

 

[Scott Hearn]

I'm a beam scale guy too. I used to work metal finishing place with a chemical lab that had the good digitals. We used them for check coating thickness on chromate conversion coated aluminum (and a lot of other things) by weighing a test panel, stripping the coating and re-weighing them. Why? Because it was too thin to measure with anything less than a very major league microscope! The weight on a known surface area could be converted into a thickness with some math.

I refuse to believe that the cheapo $100/$200 digitals are going to hang in over the long haul and I ain't gonna be paying for lab quality. Also a quality digital will have an enclosure to block air movement. Yes they are that sensitive.
I saw a new RCBS 1010 beam scale at H&H and they look like they are pretty high quality. Taken care of, they look like they would last a couple of lifetimes.