Dillon 550B plastic powder tube dirty

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kestak

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Greetings,

I am sure someone found the solution for this problem:

My Dillon 550B plastic powder tube (The tube you pour the powder in) is dirty. The powder left a residue on the interior of the tube and it is hard to see the powder now. I tryed to scratch it with my finger nail, it goes away, but it is quite hard, tedious and it is impossible to reach all the tube.

I dissasembled the plastic tube, put it into the dishwasher and the dirt stayed there. I tried with dish soap and a tooth brush and it stayed there. I tried with dentifrice and tooth brush and it stayed there.

If no one found a solution, I am about to try with alcohol or Hoppes #9 with a patch, but before I try maybe someone solved this issue already.

Thank you
 
I have two Dillon 550B's with six heads all of which have mounted powder measures. The discoloration(crud) is from the graphite that all smokeless powders are coated. The only way to remove this discoloration is with several strong chemicals that are not available over the counter and could possibly dissolve your plastic cylinder. I can offer you two interim solutions; A mild abrasive like cleanser and water will remove some of that crud or two, simply buy a new cylinder from Dillon for four or five dollars. BTW, if you don't store powder in your measure, you will get less buildup. I strongly believe there is a mild chemical reaction between the ether in the powder and the polycarbonate of the measure cylinder. :)
 
Greetings,

It is not the effect of the tube being dirty that is a concern but not beeing able to see through it. :)

The tube being cheap like that makes the cleaning almost worthless because of the time spent. But I thought maybe there was an easy way to clean it...

Thank you
 
BTW: Dillon does make a "Low Powder Sensor" if the dirty plastic powder contaner bothers you. It's movable from measure to measure and just replaces the cap. I borrow mine from my son's SL900 whenever I have a large volume of ammo to reload. :)
 
The dirty tubes aren't worth worrying about and here' s why:

1. The staining agent is graphite which is a lubricate placed on most powders to aid in their flow through automated reloading machinery such as your Dillon. The graphite is non reactive and will have no affect when changing powders.

2. Typically, the stain will not get bad enough you can't see at all through the tube, but if it does, replacement of the tube will be inexpensive and it will take a good long time or many rounds to reach that point.

3. You will quickly realize how many primers the tubes hold and this will affect when you fill the powder measure. Why do I mention the primers? Because in most reloading operations, it is the primers, not the powder measure that is the limiting factor. When you add primers, add powder and the staining of the powder container tube quickly becomes a non issue.

I hope this helps,

Dave
 
I read on one of these forums that orange oil based pumice type hand cleaner will do a decent job of clearing up the yellowed plastic tube. Haven't tried it yet myself though.
 
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