Opinions please, Scales

C

Centerfire

Member
Looking for learned opinions regarding the following scales.
Good, better, best, no good

Acculab 123
Adam HCB 123
Denver Instruments MXX 123

Comments please.
Centerfire
 
This is by no means a learned opinion, however. My acculab
has now been tried in 3 locations. It now occupy's an unused
office. No fluoresent lights and I can detect no drafts, using
yarn taped to the ceilng. One day a ppc case weighs 111.22
and another day it weighs 111.46. The numbers after the decimal
point seem to float regularly.
 
i don't have that issue witn my denver mx123.

do you have an inline power conditioner ?

how about monitoring your line voltage ?

mike in co
 
Bob, Centerfire,

I called Denver today to verify that the Aculab, Adams and Denver123 were all the same scale under the skin. Tech support said that definitely the Acculab and the Denver were the same under the case and label. He said he hadn't heard of the Adams but figured if it shared specs with the others and had 123 in its name that it was probably made by them also.

Bob, as an owner I'm sure you already are aware of this but he offered, without an inquiry from me, that the 123 scales need to stabilize for an hour after being turned on before they can be trusted. He also said that they were not suitable for battery use as they would drift with varying input voltage. That made me wonder if small changes in input AC voltage would persist past the regulated power supply and produce the results you report. I also wonder if a small (cheap) UPS would condition the line voltage sufficiently to fix the irregularity that you report.

But I also wonder if this amount of drift matters to precsision reloaders if it takes longer than a session at the bench for it to occur. I really don't worry if my long range 6BR loads are 30.2gr or 30.3gr as long a they are plus or minus a few hundredths from each other in the same ammo box.

Greg
 
I have the MMX 123.

I have clean power.

I leave it in a conditioned room (about 55-65degrees) on a solid table.

This room has doors, closed, and a sign... "open slowly-delicate operations in progress" :D

I have zero issues with repeatability or fluctuation but I seriously question that yarn could show you anything in the way of breezes. Spiderweb maybe but not yarn. The movement of the hand over the tray causes fluctuation. I have to move sloowwwwwlyyyyy around it..... On a rolling office chair..... sneak up on it.

It will repeat daily, weekly, yearly.

It weighs the oil from my fingers.....

I clean the check-weights with a new tissue, gently.

I don't breathe toward it. Nor rush it.....

I don't look directly at it neither......

I keep it under a cover.

I trust it, now.

I love it.

:)

al
 
fluc-tuation

Al

Either you are getting the scale excited waving your hand:eek:, or static electricity is causing it. A used bounce is a good thing to have around scales.

Later
Dave
 
Dave Coots said:
Al

Either you are getting the scale excited waving your hand:eek:, or static electricity is causing it. A used bounce is a good thing to have around scales.

Later
Dave
Click to expand...

I don't think so. Very small air currents affect it. If someone walks up to look at it it goes all over, slowly settling down as the air quits moving. If you move quickly to add powder or if you reach for the scale pan and stop it'll move.

It's unusable with people working in the 15X20 room.

al
 
al,

Lab scales are locked in those little glsss restrooms to inhibit air currents.

Could you find some clear container to pop over your Denver to do the same job, maybe something like that little plastic thingee that goes over Dillon scales?

John
 
John Kielly said:
al,

Lab scales are locked in those little glsss restrooms to inhibit air currents.

Could you find some clear container to pop over your Denver to do the same job, maybe something like that little plastic thingee that goes over Dillon scales?

John
Click to expand...

the scale comes with a glass ring, that circles the "pan". i keep a cover on the glass till used.

and yes , the air moved my your hand is registered on the scale.

mike in co
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have the acculab 123 and it faithfully replicates the weight. When I weigh powder, I dump into a glass vial which fits into the opening (hole) in the plastic cover. It is less vulnerable to air currents with that setup. When I load in my motorhome I have to wait for any movement caused by wife or dog to resettle. These scales that are accurate to 1.5 hundredth of a grain are verrrry sensitive, but once you get used to them, you can be sure that any mistakes downrange aren't because of powder weight fluctuations. I love mine. Randy J.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I guess I am going to be out on that proverbial limb as I purchased the Adam Equipments Highland HCB 123 scale. After weeks of investigation I concluded that these scales should all be about the same specifications (.001g) with the exception that the HCB has a rechargeable battery within the unit. Well I'll let you know in a couple of weeks after I get a chance to wring it out and see how much it drifts, etc.
Thanks again,
Centerfire
 
Centerfire said:
I guess I am going to be out on that proverbial limb as I purchased the Adam Equipments Highland HCB 123 scale. After weeks of investigation I concluded that these scales should all be about the same specifications (.001g) with the exception that the HCB has a rechargeable battery within the unit. Well I'll let you know in a couple of weeks after I get a chance to wring it out and see how much it drifts, etc.
Thanks again,
Centerfire
Click to expand...

Have been looking at the HCB 123 as a replacement for my Ohaus Navigator. Unfortunately a couple of things fell off a shelf and knocked the draft shield into the platter on the Navigator. It now reports and underload error and won't report weights under about 10 grns or allow calibration. I've sent it to Ohaus but they said that it's discontinued and they have few parts left. If I get a report back from Ohaus that they can't do anything for my Navigator then I intend to purchase the HCB 123, so I'll be looking for your evaluation before proceeding on the purchase.
 
Aculab 123

Love my 123. Built a leveling plate and leveled with a Starrett machinist level. Learned to leave it turned on, if you turn it on and try to use it for the first hour it will drive you nuts! I trust it, and verify with a set Ohas test weights.
 
Adamsgt

I just received my UPS tracking number for the HCB 123 and I should receive by next Tuesday. I have been using a Dillon for the last 5 years and believe it is good value but when using v v N-133 it takes about 11 granules to go up or down 0.1 grain (gn). Therefore in an effort to get under a 5 SD on my chrono I think I will see if this higher resolution scale will deliver lower SD's. Ie better groups.;)
Centerfire
 
adamsgt

Well I said I would get back to you regarding my new Adam HCB123 scale after I had a chance to check it out. Well I let it climatize for 24 hours then I charged the 6V internal battery for a day and set up the 7 perameters before I began to check the weights of items on hand a couple of times.
Since this did well I thought I would see how it worked on the battery alone today. Well it did not work at all on the battery so I need to contact the reseller Monday and see how he would like to handle this dead battery issue.
I'll let you know. :(
Centerfire
 
Well all i know

alinwa said:
I don't think so. Very small air currents affect it. If someone walks up to look at it it goes all over, slowly settling down as the air quits moving. If you move quickly to add powder or if you reach for the scale pan and stop it'll move.

It's unusable with people working in the 15X20 room.

al
Click to expand...

is that after i wiped the scale down with a bounce and waved my hand around, the thing wasn't squirrely anymore. Coincidence?

Later
Dave
 
Dave Coots said:
is that after i wiped the scale down with a bounce and waved my hand around, the thing wasn't squirrely anymore. Coincidence?

Later
Dave
Click to expand...

Interesting!

Seems to me it would still react when you crept up on it if it was static...

I will check it out though. :)

al
 
Darn, sorry to hear that. The internal battery as well as the included USB and RS232 ports were selling points for me. Maybe it's something as simple as a loose or disconnected wire. A year ago I bought one of those rechargeable jump start/compressor thingys that had a built-in inverter so you could plug in something with a 115 V plug. Thought it was great until I got around to trying the compressor. The compressor ran but no air came out. One of these days I'll take it apart and see if it's just a loose hose. It's always something.

How's the scale working other than battery problem?
 
Adamsgt

Jerry, the scale is working fine regarding setting up the 6 items you can set to make the scale work the way you wish. I am trying to learn a correct technique so the scale works the best. I have found so far that if you place something on the scale and wait for the display that is one way. But if you just tap the scale after putting something on it weighs .02 heavier, but it repeats.
So I think i will bump the scale each time I set something on the unit.
I made up a paper tube for dispensing the powder to the weigh pan.
This seems to work well and the draft shield doesn't have to be opened except to remove the pan. Scale settles quickly.
Regarding the scale battery. I believe it is just a dead battery that is not taking a charge. The AC converter is putting out 19v. and the wires to the battery are showing 7 v. But the battery is at 3 volts.
I sent the reseller a e-mail this AM about the battery.
Something else that is included with the scale is a 5 1/4" CD for setting up your computer. I'm not sure what it is for but you might know. Nothing in the instructions.
Centerfire
 
Centerfire said:
Something else that is included with the scale is a 5 1/4" CD for setting up your computer. I'm not sure what it is for but you might know. Nothing in the instructions.
Centerfire
Click to expand...

Seeing as this scale is not one designed for the shooting community, I would guess that the software is designed to store data for counting and dispersion analysis. Probably could be used for weighing cases and seeing the weight distribution of a given lot; same thing for bullets etc. The software for the Lyman DPS was designed for reloading and you could store load data on your computer to transfer to the dispenser as it had limited on board memory for loads.
 
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