ES13Raven Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 (edited) Recently my powder drop starting spilling powder onto the shell-plate every 10 rounds or so. This is not from indexing the shellplate - it happens during the powder drop.I have not made any changes to my setup. I only load 9mm and use TiteGroup.Others have said this might be from static electricity buildup, so I recently ran a ground wire from a nearby outlet to the press. I have also tried wiping down the press and hopper with used dryer sheets. Neither of these have made a difference.My 550b is about 8 months old and I have about 7000 rounds through it.Anyone have ideas on how to fix this?Here are some examples:Video: Edited April 5, 2015 by ES13Raven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeislarge Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Clean and or polish your powder funnel. Cases are sticking to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Have you cleaned the funnel lately? It does need some cleaning now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Clean and or polish your powder funnel. Cases are sticking to it. Thanks. What is the best way to do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Are we talking about the outside or inside of the funnel? The flaring/belling part looks pretty clean: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeislarge Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The flaring/belling part. But you can clean/polish the whole thing. Typically the flare will stick in the case mouth and when you lower the ram it disconnects rather violently causing powder spillage. I lube my pistol cases and this helps with the release but I did polish the funnel as well with 1500 grit paper then some Flitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I don't think the brass is sticking. That looks to be coming from a clumping of powder still in the powder slide pocket or the inside of the funnel. It builds up and drops every so often when you drop the slide. Clean the slide and the inside of the funnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 I thought it might be something else too. The flare/belling part of the funnel is smooth, shiny and polished already. I was reading that some people who wet-tumble have the case sticking issue, but I dry tumble in lizard bedding with a little nu-finish. I also use One Shot case lube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadsechelon54 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Have you resolved your issue? I get spillage occasionally also, especially loading 7.62 x 39. Please do post your results. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lidarius Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I had the same issue, however my press was new and it started happening after about 500 rounds loading 9mm and then 300 rounds of 45 ACP I have not loaded in a few months due to a move. I will try these solutions and provide feedback. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Hjj Spam? How do we report a post to the Mods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walnut Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I have had the same problem in the past with powder appearing on the shell plate. Over the years, I've have had powder come out from from several places, but always appears on the shell plate. The powder bar itself was "leaking", so I had to shim it, then inside the powder funnel was rough causing the powder to hang for a second or two before it dropped, so I polished it with a SS pistol cleaning brush wrapped in 0000 steel wool with a bit of oil, chucked in a drill and polished out the inside and lastly the the powder would spill out as it rotated on the shell plate because the detent ball would stop it abruptly when it snapped into place. I change the steel ball detent with a plastic ball detent that I bought on ebay with the shell plate bearing kit. That made a big difference on one 550, not so much on the other one. Don't ask me why. . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Well, I have done a lot of searching the Interwebs on this issue. Some people think it is static buildup. Others think the powder expanding die is sticking to the inside of the brass. Some people think the powder is bridging in the funnel. This gave me an excuse to buy a Dremel I will let you guys know if it fixed the issue, but here is what I did: 1. Dumped all the powder back in the bottle 2. Cleaned the hopper, powder bar etc. 3. Bought a tapered reamer and tried to ream out the funnel, but didn't get too far 4. Bought a Dremel, sanded and polished the powder measure bowl (22273) 5. Grinded the bowl of the powder funnel (13806) 6. Polished the bowl of the powder funnel 7. Polished the tip of the powder funnel (didn't really need it, but why not) 8. Sanded the area where my electrical ground contacts the press Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I ran about 150 rounds through, and the changes I did made a big difference but did not completely eliminate the problem. I had powder spill on the shell plate for 2 of the 150 rounds, which is much better than every 10 rounds or so. The powder that did spill was minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walnut Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 One trick to find out if it is the power drop vs other place, when you upstroke to power drop, wait 3-5 seconds before you lower the handle and see if you get any power still leaking. I have had to clean out the powder funnel assembly (long skinny silver tube that is part of the powder hopper assembly) I have even spray the the entire powder drop (not the plastic hopper tube) with brake cleaner and then run some powder throught it again, with the powder thrower set at max, with a ball power (high graphite content) to coat the inside and then try to throw some charges again to see it fixes it. But I have always had a little bit of powder dribbing on the shell plate. I hope that helps, btw happy national beer day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Just wanted to give an update on this.. I have loaded several hundred more rounds with ZERO powder spillage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Clean and or polish your powder funnel. Cases are sticking to it. So after loading about 1000 rounds it started happening again. This time I tried different techniques to see if I could prevent it - and I can. Lifeislarge nailed it on the head. The cases are sticking on the powder funnel tip, and it releases harshly causing the powder to spill. I was able to prevent it from happening by going slow & smooth during the part of the up-stroke where the funnel releases the case. The downside is this really slows me down. Is the answer to just clean / polish the powder funnel tip every so often - or is there another cure? I have read that others have had luck using the Dillon 1050 powder funnel - the “Powder Activator” on the 550b. Or a Mr. Bulletfeeder powder funnel? Edited May 27, 2015 by ES13Raven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Maybe lube your cases a bit more? I also use One Shot, fairly liberally, maybe I'm getting more inside the case mouth and it helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 It's definitely buildup on the powder funnel tip. It looks clean, but its not. I took it out and polished it again and the problem has gone away for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 You might also use a cotton swab and alcohol to clean the interior of the powder funnel. How do you clean your fired cases, dry media or water and stainless steel pins? Our experience is that the wet cleaning removes the carbon from the inside of the case quite thoroughly. This carbon acts as a lubricant on the powder funnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ES13Raven Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 You might also use a cotton swab and alcohol to clean the interior of the powder funnel. How do you clean your fired cases, dry media or water and stainless steel pins? Our experience is that the wet cleaning removes the carbon from the inside of the case quite thoroughly. This carbon acts as a lubricant on the powder funnel. I dry tumble with lizard bedding and a little nu-finish. I think using a U-die is a contributor to this issue as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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