Dillon 550 shell plate off-center

[cs101]

Any way to adjust this on a 550? Primer cup seats without issue, primer bar slides w/o issue.

[bohoki]

i dont think so its a spring ball index system do you have the proper amount of play in your shellplate(easy to flip back and forth)

ask dillon they should help if there is a problem

[cs101]

i dont think so its a spring ball index system do you have the proper amount of play in your shellplate(easy to flip back and forth)

ask dillon they should help if there is a problem

Yes it moves freely and is tight enough so that the cases don't wobble around too much.

It's just not aligned for some reason with the primer spot.

Seems likes its either an out-of-spec shell plate or base plate.

[Sheldon]

No adjustment for that from what I know of that press. Looks like you are correct in the macining is off...hopefully on the shellplate index holes and not the location of the detent ball.....have a different shellplate that does index right?? Either way Dillon will take care of it.

[Bill Steele]

No adjustment for that from what I know of that press. Looks like you are correct in the macining is off...hopefully on the shellplate index holes and not the location of the detent ball.....have a different shellplate that does index right?? Either way Dillon will take care of it.

I agree, no adjustment.

Does the shellpate sit firmly in that spot or does it wiggle back and forth?

If it wiggles, then it could be the detent ball not springing all the way back into the hole in the shellplate. Have you taken the plate off and cleaned the well the spring and ball sit in? It can gum up from powder and primer crap and keep the ball from coming all the way back up, fully engaging the shellplate, thus allowing the shellplate to wiggle back and forth.

If it isn't the above, almost for sure a call to Dillon is in your future. The CNC machine might have had a bad day when your shellplate was made.

[ChrisGarrett]

Yes it moves freely and is tight enough so that the cases don't wobble around too much.

It's just not aligned for some reason with the primer spot.

Seems likes its either an out-of-spec shell plate or base plate.

Could it be that the top plate that bolts to your ram is out of alignment?

There are two bolts that you loosen and then tighten back up.

Dillon will send you a special rod that one uses to align that top plate so that the primer hole is in a straight line with the primer cup, when it moves forward to prime a case.

You take a powder die and put it in station 1. You take the rod and place it in the powder die. You loosen the two bolts and wiggle the top plate in such a way that when you raise the ram, that rod moves smoothly through the primer hole without binding or touching the sides of the hole, proper. You then carefully tighten the bolts.

When you can raise and lower the ram without that rod moving, or jiggling, you've aligned that top plate properly.

Call Dillon and ask them for the rod and they'll send it to you. While you're at it, ask them to send you the big nail so you can pound out the linkage bolts for the time that you field strip your press and lube it all back up.

Chris

[Taildraggerdave]

Any way to adjust this on a 550?

Have you tried a different shell plate?
Did you just get this press?

Either way a call to Dillon should have you up soon.
Their warranty is outstanding.

Otherwise post #6 above sounds like the next thing to check.
Dave

[Bill Steele]

Could it be that the top plate that bolts to your ram is out of alignment?

There are two bolts that you loosen and then tighten back up.

Dillon will send you a special rod that one uses to align that top plate so that the primer hole is in a straight line with the primer cup, when it moves forward to prime a case.

You take a powder die and put it in station 1. You take the rod and place it in the powder die. You loosen the two bolts and wiggle the top plate in such a way that when you raise the ram, that rod moves smoothly through the primer hole without binding or touching the sides of the hole, proper. You then carefully tighten the bolts.

When you can raise and lower the ram without that rod moving, or jiggling, you've aligned that top plate properly.

Call Dillon and ask them for the rod and they'll send it to you. While you're at it, ask them to send you the big nail so you can pound out the linkage bolts for the time that you field strip your press and lub it all back up.

Chris

I had forgotten about that, good point.

FWIW, I went down and looked a little closer at my 550B and with everything setup properly, I can nudge the star enough to have the shell plate sit as off center than in the OP's picture. A little nudge the other way and it will slide back to center or slightly off center a little the other way. If your detent ball spring is weak at all or the well the ball and spring sit in gunked up at all, the amount your shellplate is off center would be really easy to duplicate.

In any case, again, Dillon tech support will sqaure it away in no time for you.

[ChrisGarrett]

I had forgotten about that, good point.

FWIW, I went down and looked a little closer at my 550B and with everything setup properly, I can nudge the star enough to have the shell plate sit as off center than in the OP's picture. A little nudge the other way and it will slide back to center or slightly off center a little the other way. If your detent ball spring is weak at all or the well the ball and spring sit in gunked up at all, the amount your shellplate is off center would be really easy to duplicate.

In any case, again, Dillon tech support will sqaure it away in no time for you.

I didn't notice the picture, but just looked at it.

Ruling things out, one variable at a time I'd ask the OP if another shellplate works fine and if so, then it's probably not an alignment issue.

Also, is it just one cutout that is off center, or are all four of them off center? That might indicate a milling issue.

If multiple shellplates have the issue, it could be what I suggest, but if the primer cup is properly entering the primer hole, it's probably not that issue, unless the primer bar assembly is binding, or not aligned itself. There is a little bit of slop/wiggle room when installing primer bars on the press itself, from my experience.

One might be able to rotate that top plate just a little bit, but still allow the primer cup to fit, with a little bit of primer housing/bar adjustment.

Chris

[Bill Steele]

I didn't notice the picture, but just looked at it.

Ruling things out, one variable at a time I'd ask the OP if another shellplate works fine and if so, then it's probably not an alignment issue.

Also, is it just one cutout that is off center, or are all four of them off center? That might indicate a milling issue.

If multiple shellplates have the issue, it could be what I suggest, but if the primer cup is properly entering the primer hole, it's probably not that issue, unless the primer bar assembly is binding, or not aligned itself. There is a little bit of slop/wiggle room when installing primer bars on the press itself, from my experience.

One might be able to rotate that top plate just a little bit, but still allow the primer cup to fit, with a little bit of primer housing/bar adjustment.

Chris

Spot on.

There is enough "wiggle room" in the mounting of the primer assembly to allow it to align so the cup would center in the base plate and still have the base plate "off" with regard to indexing the shellplate by where it mounts with the hold down bolts. For sure, it is possible the indexing on the CNC where it drills the indexing holes in the shell plate could have been off, or the milling of the shellholder part of the shellplate could have had an exdexing problem, but both of those are a longer shot than other possibilities. In any case, another shellplate will tell the tale.

For sure, everything the OP needs is in Chris' two last posts, or of course, just call Dillon and they can walk you through the same steps.

Good luck, have fun.

[cs101]

Tried another shell plate, same result. Removed, cleaned, and adjusted the base plate and piston, same result.

I'm leaning towards an OOS index ball hole in base plate; as shown in the pic, with the index ball/spring in place and the shell plate centered with the primer hole, the main shaft hole is off-centered with the shell plate.

[GeoffLinder]

I am going with Chris in post #6. Take shell plate off and loosen the bolts Chris mentioned and see if you can wiggle shell plate base in the direction you want it to go in, then tighten them back up and see if it stays there after bolts are tight. Once hole is centered, adjust primer system slop to center it back in hole and you should be good to go. I think this is just tolerance slop in initial assembly all stacking in one direction and some fiddling will get it fixed.