Hey guys,

I was changing out the powder of my lyman digital measure, and found that some of it was sticking very tightly to the bottom of the hopper. I thought some degreaser would work to get it loosened, but found out that it made some sort of a paste, that is now dried and stuck to the bottom of the hopper. Do any of you know how to get this out, w/ out hurting the plastic?

thanks,

vanbuzen9

I have never seen the Lyman dispencer but I would imagine hot water on a rag would work. Wring the rag out. i would have the water so hot the damp rag was hard to hold.

My RCBS electric dispencer will give me a problem with some powders during the change out and clean up phase. Hodgdon 'Lil Gun is one of the powders that clings to everything in the hopper. This can be a problem around the dispencer tubes. Hard to clean all of the powder out from around them. Sometimes 800X will do the same thing. .A. No. 2 will do this the first time I use a new bottle. After that it seems to fall out of the hopper and tube area just fine.

I would not use alcohol or anything volatile on the measure as you do not know what the plastic is made of.

Many degreasers consist of solvents which will disolve smokeless powders which are nothing more or less than a nitrate form of plastic. What you did, in effect, is varnish the inside of the housing. It is probably now a permanent part of the hopper. Try chipping at the edge of the deposit, if it doesn't peel, don't worry about it.

As William Iorg said, never use a solvent in the hopper of any powder dispensng device, or, for that matter, in anything made of plastics. Solvents can do damage which will not show up formonths or years, but will usually result in ultimate cracking of the plastic.

In the future, a stiff bristled brush is best to dislodge powder granules sticking to plastic. A type of brush known as an "acid" brush is ideal, especially if the bristles are trimmed short which makes them even stiffer. Tese brushes are made with horsehair and will cause no damage to even soft plastics. These can be obtained at your hardware store, they are used for applying soldering flux, hence the name.

Use one of the anti-static sheets you throw in the dryer with your clothes. It wipes out the powder and leaves a nonsticky dry surface on the plastic.

Smokeless powder contains residual solvent that will dissolve the inside surface of powder measures a bit, and cause the sticking. Nitroglycerine in double-base powder will also attack the plastic. There are other plasticizers that are used to make the nitrocellulose form into flakes or grains that will also attack the plastic.

Alk8944 is right, you've lacquered the inside of the plastic. Also, don't try to use solvents to cean it off. If you use the wrong solvent, you can make the plastic shatter like tempered glass - a classic polymer class demo.

I just scraped mine off a bit with a pocket knife. Not crystal clear, but it works.

Bottom line - you must empty your powder reservoir after each use. Don't leave it full.

Sounda like you might have ruined your powder measure. :(

When it comes to getting everything nice and clean, I use a can of compressed air to get everything out...and if I do use any kind of spray cleaner, I use electronics grade that is safe on plastics and that evaporates with no residue. LPS makes somthing called CFC Free. I get it from up here at work...as well as my canned air. :)

I am unfamiliar with the Lyman 1200 DPS but my Lyman mechanical powder throw is an all-metal body with only a plastic hopper for the powder.

Hope your DPS turns out okay.

D

If/when you get the measure cleaned out and functional again, you can do faucettb's trick with the dryer sheet as well as run powdered graphite through the measure. Both of these things will help keep powder from sticking in the future.

Good luck!