[smokemeister25]

OK... so this isn't my first post about this reloader. i bought a brand new 9000 with the automate. it came, i put it together, cycled it without any shells, no primers, no powder or shot... just wanted to see how it cycled. it didn't... went down, made a terrible noise that's never supposed to come out of a reloader, stuck at the bottom and blew the fuse. the rod in the first stage came out through the hole and jammed it and the arm underneath came off. it also blew the fuse. i disassembled it and put it all back together, tried it again. same thing. i tried a couple of once fired remington hulls and it totally crushed them. called mec back. guy told me everything to check and i did and it was all good. told me to try it again. i put the phone next to the reloader and let it do it's thing. the guy says "man, that sounds horrible. somethings definitely wrong. send it back" so i did, it was gone for a couple of weeks. got it back and put it back together. tried cycling it with no shells or anythng in it... and it does the same damn thing. jams violently every cycle, blows the fuse each time (i've now gone through 5 years worth of fuses, and they're the good ones) called mec, they said it worked perfectly before it left there (yea right) and now they want me to send the whole thing back again. so now i've owned this turkey for a month, it's never loaded one shell or even proved it will cycle an empty shell through, i've had to take it apart probably 30 times trying what they want me to do, and they want to fix it and then send it back to me... the first time i only sent the reloader and that cost me about 17 bucks in freight, and now with send the automate back too it'll probably cost me 35 or 50 more.

so here's the ultimate question... should i bail on this thing now and tell them i don't want it and either want a brand new one or i just want my money back and i'll go out and but a ponsness warren or hornady or rcbs or whatever? i'm to the point i hate to think i'm gonna shoot shells that this thing through my 5k trapgun and blow it up and/or my hand with it....

do these things REALLY work or are they super tempermental and i'd be better just asking for a refund and buying something different. and if people think i should do that, give me some reccomendations. i would like an electric or hydraulic and don't really want to buy a spolar for 1500 or 2000 bucks or whatever they cost, and i hear they sometimes have their problems. many people tell me to get a pw

thanks for the advice. i already know what i think i should do but would like to give them the courtesy of hearing from owners of the same machine other brands oron what they reccomend.

thanks

 

[hmb]

Is there someone nearby that has one all set up and running? If so you could compare the two machines and see what is wrong. HMB

 

[chiefjon]

I sent my 9000g back to MEC for cleaning and up dating. I gave them my components and told them to set it up with a new automate. When I got it back it worked great. Later it began making an terrible noise. The resizing mechanism needed greasing. It has worked fine since then.

JON

 

[dverna]

You have already decided to get rid of the MEC. Just do it and move on. Every time a little thing goes wrong you will regret keeping it.

I have A PW 800+ with Electric and a hydraulic Spolar. Both good machines but nothing is perfect. If only loading 12 ga, the PW electric will be about $1000 less than a Spolar with Hydraulic if purchased new.

I am not aware of any other loaders expect for the RCBS Grand that are powdered.

It is unrealistic to expect a MEC to perform at the same level as machines that cost significantly more. The MEC's work but may need more tweaking.

Don Verna

 

[Baber]

Been there... Went through the same problem about 18 months ago. Sent the reloader back twice but finally got it fixed. Something is out of adjustment. What it is I don't know. I blew so many fuses that I finally gave up and increased the fuse value to stop the problem. Crushed and slit so many hulls that I had to buy a shell disembler to cut them up to salvage the components. I would go through the hassel of sending the complete package back to MEC and have them adjust it and return it to you. Mine finally started to work properly. The primer feeder still sucks with about 2-5% failure to drop properly. The real issue is there anything better for the money. I don't know. There are problems with all of them.

Tb

 

[kfbagt]

Remove the depriming tube from the resizer and see if the machine will cycle. The mec is a great machine and is easy to use. When my 9000h pops or makes a noise it's usually because some shot pellets have fallen into the resizer. Nothing else on the reloader itself should provide any friction or resistance if you're not putting shells in the machine. Try removing the indexing link also and put them back together one at a time until you isolate the issue.

Will the automate cycle without the loader attached to it? P/W and spolars are great if your pockets are deep but I bet you the reloads that come out of my old 9000h look as good as any you've ever seen. I say stick with the mec, you'll be glad you did.

Paul

 

[mrskeet410]

Is the shell carrier in the correct position?

 

[mikkeeh]

Go to www.shotgunworld.com and look on the reloading forum. Drop a PM to a guy called Curly-Nohair. Super guy, knows MEEC's inside and out. He'll probably have you give him a call and walk you through some diagnostics. My guess is the resizing collet thats causing the problem.....but if you're serious about getting it running....give him a try. Hope this helps.

 

[kfbagt]

Steve, in my opinion.... The only way the return spring in station 2 could stick is if their is some obstruction between primer dearer and the base of re turret. Maybe a piece of shot stuck in terr that you can't see. Think smokemeister has something stuck in the resizer. Pulling the depriming tube would more than likely dislodge whatever is there.

However, the fact that it worked when it left mec leads me to believe he has attached the loader incorrectly to the automate. If it were mine.... I would first try to cycle the automate without the loader attached. Then I would place the loader on the base with every possible unhooked. Attach the stations one by one until the problem is isolated. When all else fails, ask a buddy to come over who owns a mec and look at it for you. They aren't complicated but like anything else you need to use it for a while before you fully understand how it all works.

Paul

 

[kfbagt]

Sorry my typing is bad, trying to use my iPhone and my fingers are too big! Lol

Try lubing the machine with a dry lubricant. This may help your binding problem. Also, if your detent ball isn't being pushed down on with enough pressure by the detent spring the machine may not stop in the exact right spot after indexing. It seems like a small thing but can cause all kinds of problems. You should hear an audible click as your machine indexes around the stations.

 

[njuliano]

smokemeister - Maybe you checked this already but, I bought a MEC 9000E 6 month ago and it did the same thing and blow the fuse as well. When MEC ships the 9000 they send it with the SHELL CARRIER in mid position. What I mean by mid position is that it is not lined up center of where the it should be. It needs to be centered over the shell position. Not sure why they ship it this way. It is listed in the directions to adjust this at setup but you can easily miss it. Especially if you excited to get reloading. The SHELL CARRIER is that round carved-out plate that moves the shells around the base. What happens is if it is not lined up center, the components above will hit the BASE PLATE instead of the center of the shell position when they come down. This cause a loud noise and blow the fuse.

Once I got this figured out it ran fine without any issues. I find it to be a very good, fast reloader. I have talked to other shooters with the different reloader's and it seems they all have their issues to iron out and maintain.

Hope this helps ... Nick

 

[AveragEd]

I'm sorry I can't offer any help but I can tell you that the 9000 loader and an AutoMate work very well together. A buddy of mine and I have them and neither has offered a minute's trouble unless the resizer needs cleaned. Nick's suggestion sounds very plausible, however.

Ed

 

[wireguy]

You need to break this into doable segments. First, remove the Mec from the Automate, leaving the rod on the Automate. Holding the rod at the top, have someone push the buttons. The rod should cycle quietly to the exact bottom of the wheel underneath, then return to it's starting position. If it fails to get there or goes too far, adjust the nut and bolt position in the slotted wheel until the rod goes to exact bottom, stops and returns to it's starting position. If you get the noise while doing this you know the problem is in the Automate. If Mec has your loader properly set up, logically the problem is in the Automate. If the Automate is cycling way past the bottom center you are probably binding parts, or the wheel may be attempting to return to it's starting point by going full circle instead of stopping and reversing.

 

[smokemeister25]

i've tried everything that's been suggested except cleaning powder and shot out because it's never had any powder or shot in it.... it a brand new machine. when i say it won't cycle i'm saying that without the primet feed setup, with no powder or shot ever being put in it, without even having any empty hulls in it, it won't cycle through one complete push of the buttons without jamming VIOLENTLY through even one cycle... it get almost to the bottom or the cycle and jams and tries to right itself and shakes to death and then blows the fuse each and every time. i've blown all the fuses mec sent, plus probably 3 packs of bus brand as well as some radio shack brand that i'm now told blow to easily. but it doesn't matter what brand are in it, it never makes it through not even one complete cycle without jamming HARD... the only way to free it is to disconnect everyting and reconnect it all back up. so i'm very very very experienced in setting this thing up now. have done it with mec on the phone and each time we try it the tech can hear it trying to self destruct and says "man... that sounds horrible... that's not right..." so i send back just the reloader as they requested and when it gets back two weeks later works worse than when i sent it in... so now they want the whole thing back. i was gonna make a video of it not working but the last time it blew the fuse it must have soldered the old one inside the fuse holder and now you can't get it out or put a new one in. so on top of having mechanical problems it now has electrical problems.... i'm trying to get the dealer to just refund my money. after not being able to reload one shell or even cycle through one half of one full cycle since i've had it and now having to pay for 3... yes three shippings trying to get it to work, i'm done. i bought this machine the 5th of december and i think 2 full months is long enough to wait to be able to load one single shell. so, either the dealer will play nice and refund my money or we'll see about having him refund it in a different way. but i'd never trust shooting shells this thing tried to make through my 5000 buck trapgun wondering when it would double charge or whatever and blow it up and possibly my hand with it... no thanks.

how do people feel about PW's or the rcbs grand? i like rcbs stuff and have had lots of it for decades. my little rockchucker works as well today as it did 30 years ago. and how can you top their lifetime warranty which i used and know they really do back their stuff up... i know other guys have automates and like them, but this thing just doesn't work. when i bought it mec said they were having problems with getting parts for the automate and maybe that's the problem. they've been having problems with the automate units. but that's not my fault and i don't want stuck with a lemon...

will update on how well they take care of their customers with problems. so far i can attest that they don't return phone calls asking someone to call and help they too well....

 

[smokemeister25]

i've tried everything that's been suggested except cleaning powder and shot out because it's never had any powder or shot in it.... it a brand new machine. when i say it won't cycle i'm saying that without the primet feed setup, with no powder or shot ever being put in it, without even having any empty hulls in it, it won't cycle through one complete push of the buttons without jamming VIOLENTLY through even one cycle... it get almost to the bottom or the cycle and jams and tries to right itself and shakes to death and then blows the fuse each and every time. i've blown all the fuses mec sent, plus probably 3 packs of bus brand as well as some radio shack brand that i'm now told blow to easily. but it doesn't matter what brand are in it, it never makes it through not even one complete cycle without jamming HARD... the only way to free it is to disconnect everyting and reconnect it all back up. so i'm very very very experienced in setting this thing up now. have done it with mec on the phone and each time we try it the tech can hear it trying to self destruct and says "man... that sounds horrible... that's not right..." so i send back just the reloader as they requested and when it gets back two weeks later works worse than when i sent it in... so now they want the whole thing back. i was gonna make a video of it not working but the last time it blew the fuse it must have soldered the old one inside the fuse holder and now you can't get it out or put a new one in. so on top of having mechanical problems it now has electrical problems.... i'm trying to get the dealer to just refund my money. after not being able to reload one shell or even cycle through one half of one full cycle since i've had it and now having to pay for 3... yes three shippings trying to get it to work, i'm done. i bought this machine the 5th of december and i think 2 full months is long enough to wait to be able to load one single shell. so, either the dealer will play nice and refund my money or we'll see about having him refund it in a different way. but i'd never trust shooting shells this thing tried to make through my 5000 buck trapgun wondering when it would double charge or whatever and blow it up and possibly my hand with it... no thanks.

how do people feel about PW's or the rcbs grand? i like rcbs stuff and have had lots of it for decades. my little rockchucker works as well today as it did 30 years ago. and how can you top their lifetime warranty which i used and know they really do back their stuff up... i know other guys have automates and like them, but this thing just doesn't work. when i bought it mec said they were having problems with getting parts for the automate and maybe that's the problem. they've been having problems with the automate units. but that's not my fault and i don't want stuck with a lemon...

will update on how well they take care of their customers with problems. so far i can attest that they don't return phone calls asking someone to call and help they too well....