Completed round counter?

[ano]

press strokes != completed rounds

I will catch 357 brass, 10mm brass and sometimes just bad looking brass and remove it either at station2, or 3 on my .40 setup 1050, so it looses a few, sometimes I miss anupside down bullet etc

so say 1000 strokes, only 990-995 are actual rounds.

to get an estimate of loaded rounds I just weigh it, but usually I dont bother with that either. I just put everything in one huge box, sitting here loading 40 now.. my bulletbox counter says Im up to 4000 today so far

[Youngeyes]

Now that I've got a micro switch in my hands, I'm realizing that it's too stiff for smaller rounds (e.g., .380 acp) to trigger the switch. Not sure if these can be opened without destroying them in order to access the spring and cut a coil off to make the switch easier to trigger.

May have to go with the photo interrupter, but as a temporary solutions, I've got the micro switch mounted to the edge of my bench such that the press operating arm depresses the switch's lever at the bottom of the stroke. The counter has a pause button, so I need to remember to pause/unpause when changing powder loads mid-session or for any other issues that require cycling the press without spitting out a completed round.

There are several levels of micro switch. Dillon uses them for their primer alarms. They are very sensitive. FWIW I have found the photo interrupter to be super accurate and easy to use. The micro switch used to have a round or two that either bounced and was counted twice, or bounced over the plate and was not counted. This setup hasn't missed a round yet. I have it hooked to two counters. The top counter I reset at the end of the session. The bottom display I let accumulate to let me know overall how many rounds that I've loaded overall. I wouldn't go back to the micro switch.

[ChuckS]

Microswitches typically have at least 10 ms of bounce. If your counter electronics is fast, it will register multiple contact closures. You need to debounce the signal. That, or be dumb and count the primer trays ;-)

[PaulAnthony]

First post so go easy!

I have found the best way to count completed rounds is a switch above the crimp die. I machined an adjustable length steel pin that sets in the die and operates the switch only when a finished round is at station 5 on a the 650. It's 100% accurate.

I played with several optical sensors and found they miscount depending on how shinny the brass is.

I am also using an inductive sensor on the case feeder tube. I'm not sure it's clear in the picture. This counts the cases falling through the tube and also controls my case feeder.

[Youngeyes]

Excellent first post. Welcome to the Forums.

[G19]

@PaulAnthony, great setup!

I played with several optical sensors and found they miscount depending on how shinny the brass is.

I am also using an inductive sensor on the case feeder tube. I'm not sure it's clear in the picture. This counts the cases falling through the tube and also controls my case feeder.

So I guess wet tumbled brass has been giving you issues with optical sensors? Did you try an infrared photo interrupter? Got a link or part # for the inductive sensor you're using to count cases in the casefeed tube?

@Youngeyes, you mentioned the IR photo interrupter you're using has been 100% - are you dry tumbling or wet tumbling your brass?

[Youngeyes]

@PaulAnthony, great setup!

I played with several optical sensors and found they miscount depending on how shinny the brass is.

I am also using an inductive sensor on the case feeder tube. I'm not sure it's clear in the picture. This counts the cases falling through the tube and also controls my case feeder.

So I guess wet tumbled brass has been giving you issues with optical sensors? Did you try an infrared photo interrupter? Got a link or part # for the inductive sensor you're using to count cases in the casefeed tube?

@Youngeyes, you mentioned the IR photo interrupter you're using has been 100% - are you dry tumbling or wet tumbling your brass?

Dry. Crushed walnut shells. The IR works on new Starline brass as well.

[G19]

@Youngeyes, you mentioned the IR photo interrupter you're using has been 100% - are you dry tumbling or wet tumbling your brass?

Dry. Crushed walnut shells. The IR works on new Starline brass as well.

Thanks. I wet tumble, but if it works for new brass, should be fine for wet tumbled brass.

On a separate note, what's the smallest size round you've used with the photo interrupter setup? I'm wondering if a round as small as .380 ACP would consistently block the IR path. I suppose it's a matter of channeling the round into the IR path, but not so much that the round hangs up in the chute.

Edited July 21, 2015 by G19

[revomodel10]

Being a Senior, I am not really very technically savvy.

I load as many primers as I want to load,

I lube up the same amount of brass & have as many bullets standing by.

Primers, they seem to always come in minimum package of 100, (I do buy them 1000 at a time, though).

The primer tubes I got from Dillon for my 3 1050's , coincidently also only hold 100 primers each.

When I finish loading my completed rounds for the day,

I box up all the "good" (I toss any flipped primers & upside down bullets, etc.) bullets in Dillon ammo boxes. (they also can be ordered with a capacity of 100).

This makes it easy for me to see how many bullets I have loaded for a given session.

This way of counting completed rounds has worked for me for many years.

It does not cost any extra money, also.

[PaulAnthony]

G19

The inductive sensor I'm using is Amazon item # B00979RA1M. It's cheap and hasn't missed a beat. Anyone hooking these up needs to know some basic electronics. There are some good Youtubes on using this type of sensor.

Yes, I tried infrared sensors. Both direct and retro reflective.

I could not find an accurate way to count brass with optic sensors. Round and shiny makes a lousy target for a beam of light. Light beam width, reflections and distance could all throw off a count.

[Youngeyes]

Here's a quick video on the counter. Sorry it's a little out of focus. I haven't permanently mounted the sensors yet. The metal over hang piece keeps the round channeled down into the IR beam. I don't have any .380 to try, but I'm sure it will work. You might have to lower the over hang piece to accommodate the smaller round. I can see having several caliber conversion pieces for different calibers. I have successfully loaded .38 spl with the same set up.

[G19]

G19

The inductive sensor I'm using is Amazon item # B00979RA1M. It's cheap and hasn't missed a beat. Anyone hooking these up needs to know some basic electronics. There are some good Youtubes on using this type of sensor.

Yes, I tried infrared sensors. Both direct and retro reflective.

I could not find an accurate way to count brass with optic sensors. Round and shiny makes a lousy target for a beam of light. Light beam width, reflections and distance could all throw off a count.

Thanks for the part #. What benefit are you getting from counting cases since you are separately counting completed rounds? You mentioned that you are also using this to control your casefeeder - are you setting this up so that you automatically feed cases until you reach X number of cases, that way you don't have any cases remaining in the casefeed tube once you have loaded the # of rounds you wanted to load for a session?

I was thinking of using the IR photo interrupter reflectively, by mounting them side-by-side, but sounds like you've run into issues there too. Youngeyes seems to be having good success with the photo interrupter I posted earlier, so perhaps that particular model has some characteristics that make it better suited for round/shiny objects.

I like the idea of a rod in the crimp die activating a switch, but I'm using the Lee factory crimp die, so no hole in the top of the die (there's an adjusting knob instead). Another alternative is using a low force, long arm microswitch and having the completed round press the lever arm as it moves from station 5 to the ejector wire.

Edited July 22, 2015 by G19

[G19]

Here's a quick video on the counter. Sorry it's a little out of focus. I haven't permanently mounted the sensors yet. The metal over hang piece keeps the round channeled down into the IR beam. I don't have any .380 to try, but I'm sure it will work. You might have to lower the over hang piece to accommodate the smaller round. I can see having several caliber conversion pieces for different calibers. I have successfully loaded .38 spl with the same set up.

LOL - c'mon man, if you can set all this up, you can focus a videocamera!

Thanks for the video. .380 rounds seem to drop a bit more unpredictably given they are smaller/lighter than other rounds, but as you suggest, 'caliber conversion' 'funneling' pieces for the chute might be the way to go. I'm thinking maybe a bending some 1/8" steel rod into a U shape, epoxy upside down over the chute, and then hang 'caliber conversion' pieces on that, optimized for each caliber.

[PaulAnthony]

G19 This is funny! I bought that same lever switch from Amazon. You can see my review there. It's not a low force switch.

[G19]

G19 This is funny! I bought that same lever switch from Amazon. You can see my review there. It's not a low force switch.

Ha! Glad I mentioned it. Was checking out the website I linked to earlier - Digikey; they have thousands of switches, and you can sort by operating force. Going to pick up a very inexpensive, low force switch just to play with: http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=176483323&uq=635731546338483834

[TDA]

I attached a photo interrupter circuit into the system I already have, in place of the micro switch. At first, I had some rounds miscounted when they jumped over the beam. I put in a small piece of metal on top of the chute. This pushed those "jumped" rounds back down. It now counts every finished round without fail. I love it. I used the interrupter that G19 recommended in post 3.counter.jpg

If it would be possible to share your info on how you wired this up, including the voltages used, I would greatly appreciate it!

I have the same Photointerrupter and have been on the phone with their tech service and they seem to have no idea how it would be used in place of a microswitch.

My display runs on 5-30v and the Emitter appears to want 1.5v, so it looks like two power supplies will be needed.

Thank you!

[G19]

I attached a photo interrupter circuit into the system I already have, in place of the micro switch. At first, I had some rounds miscounted when they jumped over the beam. I put in a small piece of metal on top of the chute. This pushed those "jumped" rounds back down. It now counts every finished round without fail. I love it. I used the interrupter that G19 recommended in post 3.counter.jpg

If it would be possible to share your info on how you wired this up, including the voltages used, I would greatly appreciate it!

I have the same Photointerrupter and have been on the phone with their tech service and they seem to have no idea how it would be used in place of a microswitch.

My display runs on 5-30v and the Emitter appears to want 1.5v, so it looks like two power supplies will be needed.

Thank you!

Where are you getting that info? The IR LED has a forward voltage of 1.7 volts, so you'll need more than 1.5V for sure. I'm going to run mine off 2xAA batteries (3V).

[TDA]

Typo on the Emitter voltage.

[Youngeyes]

I run the emitter on one 1.5 volt AA battery. I have the battery in a small project box with an on/off button. The red and black wire on the emitter is connected to the battery in the box. The green and white wire connect to make the connection to the input of the display. The display runs on a 110v to 12v wall plug. Be careful. I burned out a couple of emitters.

[TDA]

That's how I had it wired, and with a 1.5v battery, but it isn't counting. Tried 3v as well.

I have two emitters and neither seem to do anything...

Thank You!!

[Youngeyes]

Hook up a meter between the green and white wire and see if you have a signal. Also, for some reason if you place the receiver facing the emitter, it doesn't work. The receiver has to be sideways( perpendicular) to the emitter. I'll post a picture when I get home.

[G19]

That's how I had it wired, and with a 1.5v battery, but it isn't counting. Tried 3v as well.

I have two emitters and neither seem to do anything...

Thank You!!

With 3V, you want a resistor in series with the IR LED so that you aren't passing too much current through it, which will burn it out. On a 3V circuit, a 68 ohm resistor should get you in the neighborhood of 20 mA through the IR LED.

3V - 1.7V (fwd voltage of IR LED) = 1.3V

1.3V / 0.02A = 65 ohm

65 ohm is not a common resistor value, but 68 ohm is.

Might want to check if your emitters are still good (not burned out) - if you don't have a multimeter, maybe run the LED for a while and see if it gets slightly warmer.

I run the emitter on one 1.5 volt AA battery. I have the battery in a small project box with an on/off button. The red and black wire on the emitter is connected to the battery in the box. The green and white wire connect to make the connection to the input of the display. The display runs on a 110v to 12v wall plug. Be careful. I burned out a couple of emitters.

Interesting that you are running the LED on a 1.5V circuit, and I assume no resistor. What's the current through that circuit? Edited July 22, 2015 by G19

[TDA]

Appreciate the help!

I'm going to just go the Microswitch route.

I don't get along very well with things with no moving parts...

[G19]

Appreciate the help!

I'm going to just go the Microswitch route.

I don't get along very well with things with no moving parts...

If you don't have a micro switch already, get a low force micro switch - the link in post #40 has thousands of switches, and you can sort by operating force.

The counter I bought came with a micro switch that is way too stiff for small pistol rounds to reliably depress the lever.

[Youngeyes]

You need to angle the IR beam.The problem I had with the microswitch is that if it's light enough for a small caliber, it bounces with a heavier round.