chp5 Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 In the 650, the primer seater assembly screws into the bottom of the shellplate. On the up stroke, the spring-loaded ram pushes the new primer into the primer pocket of the brass. On the down strike, the ram retracts into the assembly in order to make room for the rotary primer disc to spin and put a fresh primer above the primer seater assembly for insertion into the next brass. I’m having repeated problems (2 times) with the primer seater assembly getting powder/dirt/junk in it. This results in the ram not fully retracting into the assembly and therefor not making room for the rotary primer disc to spin – which causes a total jam of the machine. The only fix is to get a new primer seater assembly – which Dillon gladly sends me for free (Dillon customer service is second to none!). However, this has happened to me twice – each after about 2,000 round through the machine. I have a match this weekend and no 650 for loading until I get a new primer seater assembly from Dillon. The only cause I can see is that I load with SP2 – which is very fine and dense. It must get into the primer seater assembly and mess it up. I use compressed air to try to keep everything clean, but to no avail. I also tried taking the primer seater assembly apart and cleaning it, but you can’t get the ram out of the assembly for cleaning. Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Yup, just got to clean everything every couple of thousand rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 Yup, just got to clean everything every couple of thousand rounds. How do you clean it? I blow it off with compressed air. What else do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 I would hose mine down occasionally with brake cleaner. Somehow I thought I'd managed to disassemble one too, but can't remember the details now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Cy, are you spilling a lot of powder? Are you grabbing a case as the shellplate rotates to ease it into position? Clipped 1/2 a coil from the spring under the shellplate detent ball to make shell plate rotation less snappy? Those might help prevent some of this ---- other than that, I'll side with shred and suggest a chemical scrubbing of the primer punch..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 Cy,are you spilling a lot of powder? Are you grabbing a case as the shellplate rotates to ease it into position? Clipped 1/2 a coil from the spring under the shellplate detent ball to make shell plate rotation less snappy? Those might help prevent some of this ---- other than that, I'll side with shred and suggest a chemical scrubbing of the primer punch..... Nik - yes, I'm spilling my share of powder. I'm loading major 9, so the powder is close to the top of the brass. I'll try clipping the spring under the shell plate. I'll also try some brake cleaner on the old assembly. Thanks for the replies guys! Cy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 A couple of quick thoughts - other good stuff already stated, of course... I used to set the bullet on the case as it moved from station 2 to station 3, and didn't use the powder check. With compressed loads, well, it seemed like a visual check was similarly accurate. This stopped my powder spillage issues. Every once in a while, if I wasn't smooth, the bullet would tip before entering station 4 (seat) and I'd have to re-right it (or crush a case) - I wasn't belling the cases that much, though (loading .38 Supercomp), so a little more bell might help w/ that. I forget why I never moved the seating die to station 3.... hmmm..... Also - case lube (I used OneShot) helps a bunch with being smoother - which helped reduce powder spillage, as well.... Bear in mind, too, that you control the speed of shell plate rotation by how quickly/smoothly you make your upstroke on the 650. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 If you unscrew the primer punch assembly from the underside of the platform, you can partially disassemble it for cleaning. turn the punch/bushing assembly upside-down on your benchtop. Use a screwdriver to press down on the flanged retainer, then use a small screwdriver to pry off the 3-clip. This allows removal of the retainer and spring, so you can flush out the primer seating punch/bushing assembly, which are permanently press-fitted together. Assembly is slightly more difficult, as you have to press the e-clip back on while compressing the spring under the flanged retainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 In my case... I place a decapper in 1, sizer on 2 (also priming), powder measure on 3, and depending on caliber, seater on 4, and crimper on 5. However with 9mm, I don't have the dillon dies and do a seat/crimp on 4 with nothing on 5. I think moving the powder measure to 3 would keep from dropping powder over your problem area. I also have the older powder measure. The first thing I removed was the "positive charge bar return" link. It was nothing but trouble for me. It kept jamming up the works. I have an extra spring on the powder return bar currently on my measure. If I can manage it, I may post a picture of my 9mm setup. I tend to use Tite Group and I'm not loading for major, so I don't get much spillage. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul B Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 I had this problem a lot with SP2 powder which is like fine sand and gets into everything. I was disassmbling everything every 500 rounds. To make things go faster I drilled a hole in the side of the primer punch assembly the size of a tube from an aerosol brake cleaner and spray it out this way. It was a little easier, but it is still a problem unscrewing it from the shell plate. This can happen with any fine powder, specially if your powder measure is leaky or you miss a primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 If you unscrew the primer punch assembly from the underside of the platform, you can partially disassemble it for cleaning. turn the punch/bushing assembly upside-down on your benchtop. Use a screwdriver to press down on the flanged retainer, then use a small screwdriver to pry off the 3-clip. This allows removal of the retainer and spring, so you can flush out the primer seating punch/bushing assembly, which are permanently press-fitted together. Assembly is slightly more difficult, as you have to press the e-clip back on while compressing the spring under the flanged retainer. Yeah, that's what I did. Thanks Dillon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 I had this problem a lot with SP2 powder which is like fine sand and gets into everything. I was disassmbling everything every 500 rounds. To make things go faster I drilled a hole in the side of the primer punch assembly the size of a tube from an aerosol brake cleaner and spray it out this way. It was a little easier, but it is still a problem unscrewing it from the shell plate.This can happen with any fine powder, specially if your powder measure is leaky or you miss a primer. Paul - exactly right - I'm also loading with SP2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 Update: I took off the seater assembly and compressed it with pliers and shot it full of brake cleaner. I the worked the assembly up and down. It took about 5 minutes of this process, but the ram now fully goes back into the assembly where it belongs. I plan to do this as a maintenance item from now on. Thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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