Balance beam vs. Digital scale

I have had a bunch of electronic scales over the years. I still have a lyman charge master, and Denver instruments Commercial electronic scale that I used in measuring bullet cores back in the late 80's and early 90's.

I also have a RCBS 10/10 scale.

I have checked the RCBS 10/10 scale against the Denver Instrument scale and the 10/10 is dead nuts.

Charge masters are a bad investment as they go bad from time to time, and they only come with a year's warranty....your choice.

I have learned that florescent lights will screw up electronic scales, especially the Charge master.
 
I calibrate my chargemaster every time I use it and that is it. I try to find a stable load so if it happens to be off at 10th one way or another no biggie.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleyman

I have learned that florescent lights will screw up electronic scales, especially the Charge master.

older magnetic ballasts are the ones that typically cause the issue.

In magnetic ballasts, current flows through coils of copper wire before moving on to the lamp tube. When the copper is exposed to the current, it generates a magnetic field that captures most of the current that might have continued to flow. In this way, it regulates the electricity in that only small increments actually continue onward to the light bulb.

Electronic ballasts operate lamps using electronic switching power supply circuits. this is usually a solid state device (like a computer chip). Electronic ballasts take incoming 60 Hz power (120 or 277 volts) and convert it to high-frequency AC (usually 20 to 40 kHz). theres no magnetic field generated by a massive heavy (compared to a small computer chip anyway) copper coil in them.

so modern fluorescent fixtures arent going to be much of an issue, if at all.


easy way to tell - without taking your fixture apart anyway - is by the diameter of the lamps. the older magnetic ballasts typically are used in fixtures that use the old t-12 (1.5") lamps. those are the big fat ones. Modern fixtures with t-8 (1" lamps), CFL (the curly ones everyone hates), or even the newer skinny t-5 (5/8" lamps) are going to be run by electronic ballast. some older (8-12 years or so) t-8 fixtures will still have magnetic ballasts in them, but those are quite literally a dying breed these days. if you were to compare the weight of a magnetic and electronic ballast - the electronic versions come in at a fraction of their magnetic predecessors.
 
Haven't had the pleasure of a digital just yet, but have loaded over the years with a simple Lyman, then RCBS 10*10, and now a Redding. The Redding has been by far the easiest to use and most repeatable. The fulcrum under the pan loop is curved and keeps the loop centered, which is a nice touch. One can click right along with the Redding scale and trickler.
 
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