Dillon 550 Setup Problems

Patriot

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I have had a Dillon 550 for a long time. Long enough that I thought it was a
good idea (bad idea) to upgrade it to the 'B' version. I reloaded and then due
to family and whatever ceased reloading for a long time. In fact long enough
that the piston on the press froze up and I had to do the heat/cold trick to
loosen it. That's the background for my current story.

I have been assembling various components and due to the crappy weather I
thought that I would finally start setting up my press to do some serious
reloading. This is where it all came apart.

When I purchased the additions to the 550 to upgrade to the 550B this did not
go off without a hitch. Adding the bracket to the bottom of the press to hold
the powder fail safe rod was ok but the powder measure was so old that it did
not have the correct interface to the rod and subsequently Dillon replaced that
gratis.

I do have a problem with this that I cannot seem to come to grips with. In
the following picture you will see the powder fail safe rod and an angle from
the lower bracket to the powder measure interface. This is due to the
problem that the interface on the powder measure will hang up if I try to
align it vertically with the lower bracket. First question I have for you 550B
owners: Is this fail safe rod supposed to be aligned vertically to the powder
measure?

dillon_press_06_03_07002a.jpg


The interference that seems to be causing my problems is circled in this photo.

DSC_2529d.jpg


Lastly I tried to set up the powder die for .357 Mag and what I found was
that I was not getting any, or minute, belling of the case mouth. When
measured with my calipers it was virtually identical to the case body. The
powder charge bar was adjusted properly (I think) as it was all the way
forward (not like in the picture).

Picture of unbelled 357 mag case:
DSC_2531a.jpg


Finally my last question for now: When you set up your press does this
cam (second picture) ride up against the powder measure housing and
release with somewhat of a 'clack' as I can't find any other word to
describe it. The cam rides on it until the case pushes up the against
the powder measure and then the cam releases. (I hope that I did a
fair job of describing my inquiry).
 
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YES, it should be aligned. I don't know why you can't adjust how the powder measure sits on the powder die; I just loosen the two allen screws and rotate the body until it lines up.

If you are not belling the case, you don't have the powder die adjusted down enough. Again, I just loosen the two allen screws, the lock nut for the powder die, and adjust the latter a half-screw at a time.

You DO know that Dillon will rebuild your entire press for the cost of shipping, I hope. I had them do my first 550 this winter - cost me about $ 60.
 
Thanks Scriv,

If I try to align it that cam on the powder measure will not return. It gets hung
up there. I like your advice. I have poked at this for a couple of months now
and want to get going. Maybe I will just ship the GD thing back to them.
 
Contact Dillon Service and get an RMA. It will cost you about $ 30, plus your actual cost to ship it to them.
 
DSC_2529d.jpg


OK,

I think I know what is wrong but I am not positive what is causing my problem
except I think that it is a lousy fail safe rod. Where I have circled there is
an interference on the upstroke and the down stroke. When the cartridge
is moving the powder bar this mechanism (circled) will hit the frame where
the circle is and stay stopped until such time as the powder bar moves
forward some more and it will snap forward. On the down cycle the fail safe
rod will not pull far enough to allow this to clear the frame until a lot of
pressure is put on the press down cycle. What is happening (I think) is that
the bends on the end of the fail safe rod that fit into the holes in this
assembly are not correct and it is binding the entire assembly when
pulling/pushing the mechanism. This limits the mechanism travel and causes
the frame interference which in turn does not allow the action to cycle freely.

Bottom line is when I have the fail safe rod in a vertical position and the
powder die is adjusted the whole thing works except for this interference.
I get the appropriate belling of the brass and the movement of the powder
bar, If I can solve this interference all should be OK.

This anodized piece of metal should clear the powder bar frame both on the
up cycle and the down cycle I believe, and it does neither.
 
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You can adjust that part with the screw/nut that holds that assembly at a given angle. At least on mine, you can. I have one old system (spring return) and one new system (rod). Your picture is too dark to see the detail in that part of the bell crank.

Have you called Dillon? E-mail also works, but takes a day or two.

Then again, we're in the same county - come look at mine!
 
You can adjust that part with the screw/nut that holds that assembly at a given angle. At least on mine, you can. I have one old system (spring return) and one new system (rod). Your picture is too dark to see the detail in that part of the bell crank.

Have you called Dillon? E-mail also works, but takes a day or two.

Then again, we're in the same county - come look at mine!

Yeah,

I called Dillon and they said they didn't know what I was talking about and
could I sit in front of the press and talk to them. I don't work from home so
until I get a day off that is pretty much out of the question. I will lighten the
pic to see it better. Thanks.
 
Ask if you can Email the pics to them as an attachment. They might be able to help you sooner that way.

I did Len. I sent them the pics and the information in the OP first and
they responded with the "I Know Nutting" statement so I sent them a further
clarification late last night. I might just try taking a file to the rod to try to
take out the extra material on the inside of the radius on the bend which I
think is causing the assembly to bind and not function smoothly. I have been
thinking about a way to replace that crappy rod system as well. While their
press is great, this system sucks royally. It looks like it was designed by some
hack in a cellar somewhere and this Mickey Mouse rod leaves a lot to be
desired.
 
550 B

BP: I have a 550B.. Try loosening the bolt that holds linkage on powder measure...This may solve the problem...Best
 
Before you loosen anything try inserting the rod from the opposite side. Small hole first. Line it up so the rod us straight and give it a try.

regards,

Damn, RGS, you're good. That works pretty good! A few questions though.

1) On the upstroke, is the outer part of the bellcrank supposed to ride up on
the front part of the housing (reinforced part?) that extends out? Mine does
but now it is very gentle vs previously.

2) On the downstroke, does the outer part of the bellcrank come to a stop
momentarily and then complete the travel as the cycle continous?

3) On the downstroke, the outer part of the bellcrank just misses that same
area of the housing that it strikes on the upstroke. Is that normal?

Thanks very much for the help. This pretty much reinforces my theory that
the shaft is a poor design and Dillon needs a little QC with these parts to
make sure that they work as intended. The way they have it now is that
the bends are reducing the horizontal distance on the shaft and that is
binding up the bellcrank.
 
Damn, RGS, you're good. That works pretty good! A few questions though.

1) On the upstroke, is the outer part of the bellcrank supposed to ride up on
the front part of the housing (reinforced part?) that extends out? Mine does
but now it is very gentle vs previously.

Yes


2) On the downstroke, does the outer part of the bellcrank come to a stop
momentarily and then complete the travel as the cycle continous?

Yes the rod makes it complete the cycle by the shell plate pulling it down



3) On the downstroke, the outer part of the bellcrank just misses that same
area of the housing that it strikes on the upstroke. Is that normal?

Yes


Thanks very much for the help. This pretty much reinforces my theory that
the shaft is a poor design and Dillon needs a little QC with these parts to
make sure that they work as intended. The way they have it now is that
the bends are reducing the horizontal distance on the shaft and that is
binding up the bellcrank.

They just need to make sure they are assembled by the users as intended. These are design changes that took place so the powder measures function without the springs they used to use. The tolerances are close enough that putting the rod on backwards throws the whole thing out of line.


Glad I could help.
 
Finally, a resolution to my problem!!!

I sat and stared at this damn thing for a couple of weeks now trying to
figure out what I was doing wrong. The other night I literally spent three
hours raising and lowering the shellplate with a .357 cartridge in it. I finally
figured out what it was (or so I thought). The GD failsafe rod was formed
incorrectly and on the downstroke was causing the outside piece of the
bellcrank to hang up on the powder funnel case. The outside piece wasn't
moving in concert with the inside piece and it lagged a little, just enough to
hang up (and drive me batshit!).

I emailed Dillon and said it was the GD failsafe rod and could they please send
me another and I will pay for it. I also begged them to, before they shipped,
really give it a QC to make sure it is correct. Well I received the failsafe rod
today and just got through replacing the other with it and it finally works like
it is supposed to. Dillon sent it gratis, which they should have since the piece
they send me first is a bonafide piece of garbage and has caused me to spend
an inordinate amount of hours trying to troubleshoot the problem.

I took a picture of the two rods. The one of the left is the new rod (good) and
the one on the right (bad) has a number of new names, most of which I cannot
repeat on this family forum.

DSC_2587a.jpg
 
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