Gem Pro 250 - caution

2

27-T

Member
Several months ago, I purchased a Gem - Pro 250 electronic scale. It never would work. After repeated complaints to the warranty people in Phoenix, they finally replaced the scale. Now the new one works but, it weighs incorrectly. A 20 grain RCBS check weight weighs 43.3 grains on the replacement scale. A 50 grain check weight weighs 106 grains. I've written to the warranty folks in Phoenix, several times, and they have just ignored me. They do not have a phone number on their website or I would call them. I have asked that they call me or respond to my e-mail with directions. Still no reply.

As a result, I would caution anyone on this site about this model scale and the supposed warranty.

I would not recommend this scale to anyone interested in accuracy, or support from the manufacturer. Just my opinion, but, save yourself some grief and buy a scale from a company that supports you and your purchase, and has a reputation for solving any problem with their product.

27-Troadster
 
I don't doubt your story, but it should be noted that my Gem Pro 250 scale works great; no complaints. It's the least expensive scale which will weigh to .02gr resolution.

If mine failed, I would immediately buy another one.

Good luck resolving your situation.
 
You just had a bit of bad luck, they are inexpensive, try again. I bought two at the same time for some reason and still haven't taken the second one out of the box. One thing I did notice though, if the batteries get low it will give inaccurate readings. I also noted that it will give more accurate readings if you switch to milligrams instead of grains. I have several sheets of conversions I downloaded from the net that are in .1 grain increments. .1 grain is roughly 6.48 milligrams and using the milligram setting, I try for + - two milligrams which is easily doable with a trickler.
 
I guess I got lucky. I've been using one for three years without incident. I even tested it against a higher-end scale which reads to 0.01....it was on the mark every time (well, close to the mark since the GemPro is down to 0.02).

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
 
Gem pro

I do not own a gem pro scale, but one of my friends had one that was reading as you describe. He gave it to me to see if I could figure out what was wrong. After playing with it for a while, and reading all the instructions, I decided to try the extensive calibration that is described in the instructions. The instructions state this calibration is done at the factory, and should not need to be done by the owner, BUT, after doing this calibration, the scale works perfect. Give it a try.
 
Gem Pro 250

Thanks for the input, guy's. I'll try that linier calibration that you mentioned.

27-Troadster
 
Mozella said:
I don't doubt your story, but it should be noted that my Gem Pro 250 scale works great; no complaints. It's the least expensive scale which will weigh to .02gr resolution.

If mine failed, I would immediately buy another one.

Good luck resolving your situation.
Click to expand...

Agreeing with Mosella,
But you wouldn't have to buy another, they are life time guaranteed . :) We have been using these for about ten years now, never have we had a problem returning one. There is NO communication required, you send it to the address supplied in the guarantee card . Two weeks later you get a new one. They are not all equal, we now have two that will hold fairly well, but will still go crazy every now and then. Still haven't exactly figured out why, but cell phones seems to be one of the biggest culprits. They work great, just stay on top of them with your check weights.
Charlie
 
Gem Pro 250

Charlie - I guess I'm just from the old school that when you spend your money for something, why doesn't it work!!!! A good warranty is nice, but if the thing is made properly in the first place, you shouldn't have to be sending the item anywhere. In my case, this is the second one I've sent back. That, to me, does not speak well of the product. $30.00 worth of shipping and insurance added to the price of the scale makes it a pretty expensive scale that doesn't work. Frankly, I would just as soon have my purchase price, original shipping, and the two return shipping costs refunded.

Why is it that this kind of stuff is accepted by all of us? Shouldn't we demand that products we purchase are what they are advertised to be? Somehow we've grown very complaisant. In my opinion, we should all speak up about the quality of what we are buying.

Thanks for letting me vent!!!!

27-Troadster
 
well I can feel your frustration- Digital scales are finickly items to work with- Line voltage interference- even with battery only operation due to proximity- air currents- temp ( helps to turn them on for a bit to let them stabilize) and as mentioned radio frequency interference. As someone else mentioned we are dumbed down for quality- we keep buying 20-70thousand dollar rolling problems with out b....... enough about the lack of quality there- so I guess we are are own worst enemy in this department.
 
I read all the "how to calibrate and use" items from many sites when I got mine and it seems to fork just fine.

Bob
 
27-T said:
Charlie - I guess I'm just from the old school that when you spend your money for something, why doesn't it work!!!! A good warranty is nice, but if the thing is made properly in the first place, you shouldn't have to be sending the item anywhere. In my case, this is the second one I've sent back. That, to me, does not speak well of the product. $30.00 worth of shipping and insurance added to the price of the scale makes it a pretty expensive scale that doesn't work. Frankly, I would just as soon have my purchase price, original shipping, and the two return shipping costs refunded.

Why is it that this kind of stuff is accepted by all of us? Shouldn't we demand that products we purchase are what they are advertised to be? Somehow we've grown very complaisant. In my opinion, we should all speak up about the quality of what we are buying.

Thanks for letting me vent!!!!

27-Troadster
Click to expand...

I feel your pain. This is Benchrest. The same thing takes place when you buy an action for $12 or 1300 dollars and have to spend a couple hundred more to make it right. These are just kits, what do you expect?

Later
Dave
 
Gem Pro 250

Dave - I just expect value received for my money. The manufacturers do not advertise "it might work and it might not" or they do not advertise "this is a half assed action that will need a lot of work". Dave, I feel we should expect some quality for $1200 or $1400 or $250 dollars. It doesn't matter. I've said elsewhere here, they don't have to do a thing to our money to use it and they don't have to send it back to us for repair or replacement. Isn't this a two way street?

27-Troadster
Jim
 
Gem Pro 250

Wilbur said:
Let us know how you come out on that if you will...please sir.
Click to expand...

Dave and Wilber - I sent the scale to the Phoenix repair station almost three weeks ago. Still haven't heard from them or gotten the scale back. I sent it to them 2-day priority mail, also. Since you both asked, I thought I'd let you know what is going on (or, not going on).

27-Troadster
Jim
 
I have been luckie...mine works well....no it is not an a&d dx120i,
but it works.

It would appear you are the unluckie one and the rest of us are luckie.
 
Gem Pro 250

Lo and behold, the replacement scale arrived today, July 1st.

Thanks for everyone's interest.

27-Troadster
Jim
 
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