I just recieved a Pact II electronic scale and have read the manual thoroughly but would like to know the tricks and pitfalls of these fast little machines.

Turn it on and let it warm up for 15-20 minutes before usage.

Calibrate it each time -- takes 2 minutes max.

Place it in an area protected from drafts.

When weighing charges and you dump one that weighs a bit light, when trickling up and dumping staright into the pan while it rests on the platten, the sensitivity isn't as good as a balance beam, but it will catch up in time. By that I mean as you trickle powder in, you'll be able to see powder drop in with your naked eye. What you won't see is the charge updating. It can take several tenths of powder to be dropped to get the window to register the new weight.

I have found that in time you can almost guestimate the amount of powder in tenths trickled into the pan just by sight. What I do is remove the pan from the platten, trickle the powder, and then place the pan back on the platten. You'll get a good reading in 3-4 seconds that way. Otherwise, leave the pan on the platten, trickle up to within 1 to 2 tenths under, remove the pan and then replace it. You should find that the resultant weight will be within plus/minus .1g of your target, and in my experience that is plenty good enough.

Lastly, if you throw a charge that is .4g light or more, just dump the powder back in the hopper, recharge the case, and weigh again. When you are that far off your target, it seems you can save time by recharging rather than trickling a little, re-weighing, trickling some more, weighing again and then maybe trying to dump one/two tenths back into the hopper.

While this may sound complicated, really it's not. I find electric much quicker than balance beam and I think you'll be pleased with your purchase. BTW, if you are weighing bullets/brass, none of the above applies except for warming up and calibration. Best of luck.

Martindog

I've got a Pact, and I've found its reading is very sensitive to how level the base is. The way I found out was that the scale was on a bench on a section of floor that flexed a bit when I would lean toward the scale to pick up or sit down the weighing dish.

I could also stand a couple of steps away, and the reading would be rock stable. When I'd step toward the bench, the reading would jump up or down by as much as 1.6 grains.

I'm sure this wasn't air currents. I'm a chemist, and I know how to control and test for air currents around a sensitive analytical balance. The Pact scale is no analytical balance.

The solution was to put the scale on my other bench where the floor doesn't flex.

Problem solved.

H. C.

This is the kind of hands on information I am looking for,thanks HenryC and Martindog. any one else ,I am still listening.

let it warm up 20 min. what for mine works well by just turnning it on and using it after calabrating it

I've never had a single problem with mine.

Remember the weight of your pan after calibrating. It then becomes a "check weight". While I calibrate every time I use mine, it's really unnecessary. At least mine holds it pan weight consistently every time I turn it on. Warm up, as instructed, is the secret.