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What affect does humidity have while reloading.


Red Ryder

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Hello: I am using the Pyrex hoppers now here in Georgia where the humidity is always over 60%. The hopper has a seal on the lid so it does not get much moisture in it compared to the Dillon one. I also like that I can leave powder in it and it will not stain. I have one of these hoppers on my SL900 shotgun reloader and it has had powder in it for 3 months and I just loaded up some 12 gauge shells and there was no powder clumping at all. I would suggest you give one a try. On a side not there is no static problems with it also. Thanks, Eric

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6 hours ago, Aircooled6racer said:

Hello: I am using the Pyrex hoppers now here in Georgia where the humidity is always over 60%. The hopper has a seal on the lid so it does not get much moisture in it compared to the Dillon one. I also like that I can leave powder in it and it will not stain. I have one of these hoppers on my SL900 shotgun reloader and it has had powder in it for 3 months and I just loaded up some 12 gauge shells and there was no powder clumping at all. I would suggest you give one a try. On a side not there is no static problems with it also. Thanks, Eric

i see they are like 2" taller. any issues with casefeeder clearance or bullet feeder? they are only $40 so that's nice

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Hello: If you email him you can get any height that you want. I have 3 different sizes for the different presses. I have no clearance problems even with the tall one that is twice as tall as a regular Dillon hopper. I don't fill up the hopper to the top and usually only put in enough powder for about 300 rounds at a time. Thanks, Eric

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Rowdy, my Dillon is in an un-airconditioned outdoor shed, in north central Florida. I guarantee that the humidity hardly ever drops below 85% in the summer. As a precaution,  if I let the powder sit for a couple of days, sometimes a couple of weeks or even months, I take a small rod and just stir the powder in the powder hopper before any reloading session. Never had any clumps that I've noticed, never had any squibs, never emptied a hopper. And the press is not covered...I think this is a must. Covering a press in high humidity areas, IMO, helps seal in the moisture. 

 

BTW, it was 130 degrees in my shed the other day....right before we got an inch of rain.

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48 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

My hopper has never sat empty. Waste of time.

 

Do you have humidity problems? Small(ish) children? OCD? lol.

 

Not everyone's circumstance is the same...

Edited by 4n2t0
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so in my quest to just leave powder in the hopper if possible (though i've mentally committed to taking it out if i'm not going to load in the next 4-5 days) i ordered one of the pyrex powder hoppers mentioned here and other places.

 

i had some questions about mine and got emails back that day and great customer service is in process.

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I always leave the powder in the hopper, but I load in my apartment - heated and air conditioned - and the humidity generally hovers around 45%.  Never had a problem with the powder clumping or volume/charge weight.

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On 8/11/2017 at 7:42 PM, rowdyb said:

that was me for years. isn't paying off since i moved here

 

You get the same weather we do, and I've never loaded anywhere but here. My hopper has been continuously full for 8 solid years. I'm not sure what problem I'm supposed to be having with this...

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5 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

 

You get the same weather we do, and I've never loaded anywhere but here. My hopper has been continuously full for 8 solid years. I'm not sure what problem I'm supposed to be having with this...

well i don't know man. all i know is if i leave powder in my hopper, un touched for 4 days i get a golf ball sized clump. end of story. the only thing that has changed is from loading in my garage in san diego to loading in my garage in arkansas. and of that the only thing that has changed is the ambient temperatures and humidity.

 

what was perfect in san diego is not perfect here. i see no reason to blame it on anything other than the weather.

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5 hours ago, rowdyb said:

  if I leave powder in my hopper, untouched for 4 days, I get a golf ball sized clump. 

 

 

I'm in central Florida, in an unheated/unairconditioned garage, and have WW231

and HS6 and WAC in my hopper for  one year,  and NO clumping    :) 

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I put a dehumidifier in the garage, and it is awesome. And it's draining the catch tank into a 50 gallon barrel so I have a store of non-potable water as well.

 

In just hours I could feel the difference in the garage. Both the unit and the wall gauge showed a drop from 75% humidity in the garage to the 50% I set the unit it at. Mucho mejor.

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8 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

I put a dehumidifier in the garage, and it is awesome. And it's draining the catch tank into a 50 gallon barrel so I have a store of non-potable water as well.

 

In just hours I could feel the difference in the garage. Both the unit and the wall gauge showed a drop from 75% humidity in the garage to the 50% I set the unit it at. Mucho mejor.

:)

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Dang...I'm starting to feel like an idiot.  I empty out my powder measure each time I'm done using it.  I guess I'm just OCD or weird/paranoid that something will happen with the powder left in it.

 

Then again, my reloader is sitting on a portable bench in my kitchen, where it is also next to the washer, dryer, hot water heater, furnace and stove because I have too small of a rental house and have no garage or room to reload in.  :-/  Whenever I reload, I actually move the portable bench into an office/closet type room and reload there and when I'm done, it gets moved back to one wall in the kitchen.

 

So, maybe my paranoia has to do with the furnace, water heater and the electric dryer being close by, so I remove all the powder so there won't be any "mishaps" while it is sitting there.

Edited by R1_Demon
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4 hours ago, R1_Demon said:

Then again, my reloader is sitting on a portable bench in my kitchen, where it is also next to the washer, dryer, hot water heater, furnace and stove because I have too small of a rental house and have no garage or room to reload in.

Why are you heating hot water? 

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I keep powder sealed unless being measuring and charging cases. 

 

I load 50BMG Match round trying to match loading humidity and temperature to anticipated firing humidity and temperature.

 

I am already at the same altitude as my primary range.

 

Some guys I shoot with load at the Range because they cannot duplicate conditions at their home.

 

Choose your ritual according to your religion.

 

This reloading for pistols is wild.  With the 50 a pound of powder is 27 or 28 rounds.  My 45 load makes 1500.

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