doubs43
04-26-2010, 07:00 PM
I've now spent three days with my new Smartreloader iSD Scale & Dispenser. Here's what I've learned so far.
It's larger than I expected but that gives it a solid base on the bench while the powder reservoir will easily hold a full pound of powder or more. The key pad is easily used by even the largest fingers. It was designed in Italy and made - where else - in China.
Setup was quick and easy. Once the base was removed from the box, the reservoir installed and the 110 volt plug snapped into place, there only remained placing the table for the pan in place and setting the pan on it. Pour powder in the reservoir and you're ready to go.... almost.
The instructions call for a 7 minute warm-up to allow the sensor to stabilize. Then use the two 50 gram weights to calibrate the scale. Once calibrated, place the pan in place and zero the scale. Enter a weight and press "Dispense". A typical load requires approximately 30 seconds.
The scale has a 50 load memory or the desired load can be entered each time quickly. The dispenser will automatically begin each time the pan is placed on the table until you press the "Stop" key.
There is a dial on the right side of the unit to empty the reservoir of powder.
This unit is particularly useful for powders that don't meter well through a measure. I like it's ease of use. The pan has two flanges so that a left handed person can work as easily as a right handed one. There's a dust cover that swings to one side for use or covers the pan and table when not in use. I like the large powder reservoir and easily removed cover. The scale matched the weight readings on my older Lyman electronic scale and showed a substantial difference with my ancient Lyman D-7 beam scale. On a 44.0 grain charge, the D-7 was off by over a full grain.
Cons are all small things. The powder dump could be better and extend farther away from the unit. The reservoir cylinder could fit tighter. The key pads have both numbers and letters and I'd like to see a key that allows switching between them rather than one push for numbers and more for letters.
I bought mine from Graf & Sons for $206. I have no financial interest in either Graf or Smartreloader. I thought others might find my experience - short as it is - with the iSD interesting.
Link to Smartreloader: http://www.smartreloadermfg.com/isdscaledispenser.html
It's larger than I expected but that gives it a solid base on the bench while the powder reservoir will easily hold a full pound of powder or more. The key pad is easily used by even the largest fingers. It was designed in Italy and made - where else - in China.
Setup was quick and easy. Once the base was removed from the box, the reservoir installed and the 110 volt plug snapped into place, there only remained placing the table for the pan in place and setting the pan on it. Pour powder in the reservoir and you're ready to go.... almost.
The instructions call for a 7 minute warm-up to allow the sensor to stabilize. Then use the two 50 gram weights to calibrate the scale. Once calibrated, place the pan in place and zero the scale. Enter a weight and press "Dispense". A typical load requires approximately 30 seconds.
The scale has a 50 load memory or the desired load can be entered each time quickly. The dispenser will automatically begin each time the pan is placed on the table until you press the "Stop" key.
There is a dial on the right side of the unit to empty the reservoir of powder.
This unit is particularly useful for powders that don't meter well through a measure. I like it's ease of use. The pan has two flanges so that a left handed person can work as easily as a right handed one. There's a dust cover that swings to one side for use or covers the pan and table when not in use. I like the large powder reservoir and easily removed cover. The scale matched the weight readings on my older Lyman electronic scale and showed a substantial difference with my ancient Lyman D-7 beam scale. On a 44.0 grain charge, the D-7 was off by over a full grain.
Cons are all small things. The powder dump could be better and extend farther away from the unit. The reservoir cylinder could fit tighter. The key pads have both numbers and letters and I'd like to see a key that allows switching between them rather than one push for numbers and more for letters.
I bought mine from Graf & Sons for $206. I have no financial interest in either Graf or Smartreloader. I thought others might find my experience - short as it is - with the iSD interesting.
Link to Smartreloader: http://www.smartreloadermfg.com/isdscaledispenser.html