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PW Press Troubles

3K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Rich219 
#1 ·
This has been the week from hell with my P/w 800+. First the wad guide goes a night before a shoot, now the entire press is running rough. The primer assembly is running real rough. It's sticking and then popping up and knocking the primer out of the rail when its being moved into the prime position. Any ideas how to smooth this out?
 
#7 ·
I just went thru that and you really need to talk to Whiz. He is a whiz on these and he makes new ones that are harder. Mine was doing the same thing. It is easy to take out. Let whiz walk you thru it. I could but he will take the time to help you and he has the parts you want. It is the rod that pushes the primer into the hull, they get bent
 
#9 ·
I am pretty sure it is not dirt if it is popping ( sticking then jumping up) Dirt can cause issues so it is worth a check. After I talked to whiz and put my new parts in my machine worked better than it did from the factory. In fact it had the wrong spring in it rom the factory. Whiz has been thru all of this 100 times. You will be glad you called. My loader was always stiff and not a smooth operation. Now it is like butter. It works so easy it is scary
 
#11 ·
The Cheddites don't feed down the trough very well, at times. They can hang up. When this happens, the primer only inserts part way into primer feed, because it lost it's back pressure. The snapping is when the primer finishes slipping in, and then the primer feed snaps forward. When the Cheddite hangs up, you have to work backwards, rotating each primer in the chute (to right it) until you find the "offending" primer, causing the jamb-up. When you find it, and correct it. the rest of the primers lurch forward.

The primer feed does require near perfect alignment with the primer feed mechanism, which you can adjust by repositioning after loosening the screw.

I visually inspect all primer feeds and drops to assure continuous operation without malfunction.
 
#12 ·
I seem to recall Whiz was clear in his instructions to not goober up the primer assembly with oily/sticky lubes.

I believe powdered graphite was the lube of choice, similar to what you would put in a door lock? I seem to recall that at least.

Its been a bit of time since I had my 800+, but once dialed in, the primer assembly was not an issue on my unit. It came from the factory with a ram that had been cut poorly, and once Whiz sent me some new ones he had made or hardened, life was great again.
 
#13 ·
Rich 219. Know that I have had my $$ refunded I will tell you about my P/W 800 Plus experience. I have been loading all 4 guages on MECs and was tired of cranking. I decided to buy a P/W 800 plus with the die sets and electric drive. $2355 w/shipping for everything. I was so excited to get this machine. When it came by UPS I thought it Christmas day. I went to put the auto drive on and it was not adjusted proper so I called P/W and talked to Bruce. After 50 minutes on the phone I thought we had it adjusted right. All the sudden the index pad broke. P/W sent a new one. After guidence from Pam we got this adjusted. Guess what, it broke again. P/W sent me a new updated pad index. After taling to Pam to get it adjusted, it broke again. I am thing WTF, I just spent $2355 for this POS. I called P/W again and requested them to next day air the part. It came and I called P/W for guidence to adjust it so it does not break. Some other guy help me adjust and it jammed again. Now I am really pissed off. I called Raven Gunsmith (who is a P/W sales rep.) and reqested my $$ back. He did refund my $$ less shipping but it still cost me $170 for shipping both ways. This sucks but I understand. The biggest mistake I made was selling my old MECs.I went back to MECs and will never change. This was a good lesson that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Mike
 
#14 ·
Mike gave the proper primer adjustment procedures. He is spot on. If you get to a point that you know it is not bent ( which I doubt) then do Mikes adjustment routine. The primer feed rail must not be in a bind to be able to attach it. If it is it will cause your assy to not function correctly, just a little stress will do it
 
#15 ·
First, as you say, your wad guide goes out. This is a $2.49 item and takes, what, 25 seconds to replace? So a broken wad guide is the beginning of all your serious troubles. I question your grandstanding here.

How in the hell can you break TWO Index Pads? You did not either adjust them correctly, or you have messed with the Index Pad's orientation.

I have owned probably 25 PW reloaders for the last 35 years and in all that time I broke one, BECAUSE I messed with its rotational alignment. They break due to operator error, and the newer pads are much better materials.

To call the P/W a POS simply bespeaks your manner in which you handled the situation. I told you how to install it, and how to set its orientation. It is a machine and you simply can't just force it to work. you are breakng pads becuse the machine is being forced when something is out of time.

I used to sell computers to folks. It got to the point that I wanted to tell them to save all their boxes. I always wanted to tell some folks who could not operate them to just put it back in the box and I'd pick it up.

I think you talked to Tanya, not Pam. You also talked to me for assistance. "Raven Gunsmith" is not a dealer for P/W; there are 15 dealers & distirbutors and Raven is not one of their listed folks. Consequently, they probably have little knowldge in how to assist you.

When I sell a complete setup such as one like this, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you do NOT jump right into the electric drive. Spolar even states this in their manuals. You need to get a feel for the reloading operation, so if something is amiss, you can stop in your tracks.

Sounds like you power-stroked your machine into submission and it won. Kinda like when the car isn't running right, you simply floor it.

I object to your calling the machine a POS. YOU are the culprit, not the machine. Best of all, be thankful you got your money back, and now you can go back to the Mecs that you can operate, and look at all the money you've saved.

Whiz White
 
#16 ·
Whiz, not to start a pissing match but the machine I had was a POS. This machine was purchased brand new and so was the auto drive. The reason I 1st called P/W was the auto drive was not adjusted correctly and I wanted it to be correct so I do not screw it up. Bruce guided me for 50 minutes but the linkage was way out of line. So we kept on making small adjustments. The problem with the index pad was the slot would dent and create a bump on the inner part of the tube and the pad would jam. The reason I contacted them was to make sure it was done correct!. I am not the only person having this problem.I have been reloading for 20 plus years and never had problems like this, especially since this machine was brand new. Mike
 
#20 ·
I think your best bet would be to call me while you are by your machine and we can "Walk" through your troubles one at a time and clear it up. I've been a dealer for P/W for 35 years and there isn't much that I can't troubleshoot over the phone. Call between 6 & 9 PM EST tomorrow as I will be traveling to a shoot earlier, any time this weekend.
Jim Cunningham
 
#24 ·
Thank goodness we have some real knowledgeable individuals on here for their PW expertise. I've owned a few that tested my patience over the years. Also, I'm not afraid to recommend the purchase of an 800-Plus-being a dealer over 25 years as they are a fine machine.

That said, if I hadn't purchased several Spolars on distress sales-cheap-I'd still be using a PW. Both Spolars I own were also a bit screwed up by their previous owners. They are simply the very best and require little tweaking!!
 
#25 ·
Note on the P/W Auto Drive: The first thing in the instructions SHOULD be to adjust the slip clutch. This will prevent the Auto Drive from destroying something. My slip clutch was way too tight when the unit arrived.

Jim Skeel
 
#26 ·
The timing is now working perfectly but the primers are still a problem. The primer assembly is still sticking, maybe it is a bent rod. I'll give Whiz a call on Monday but I'm wondering if it could be due to my primer tray being bent. I linked to a video of the popping and of my primer tray. Could the primer tray be causing torque on the primer assembly?

Here's the vid of the primer assembly popping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wm-n2h8Idk
 
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