Visible Warning Device

I have a new progressive reloading press (a Dillon XL650), which has an automatic alarm device to tell you when the powder hopper is getting low. It's basically a weighted piston that rides on top of the powder, and when it gets down far enough, a knob on top hits a switch & the alarm goes off. I'd like to store the thing in the hopper, but there's no off switch.

I can easily make a small block (~ 3/4" cube) with a notch cut in it that will hold the knob up high enough to miss the switch. However, I'd like to make it highly visible as a reminder to remove it before use. I could dangle a red tag off of it, but making it out of something like bright red or yellow plastic would work OK. The catch is that I don't have any eye catching colorful plastic in suitable blocks.

I checked McMaster Carr, and they have red Turcite in 1" rods ($$$, and I'm not sure how red it is), red acrylic in sheets only, and the yellow they have is Kevlar, which isn't a good screaming yellow, and could be nasty to machine.

There are lots of options, from cutting up a small red aerosol can cap, to paint or tape on any miscellaneous plastic. Paint or tape will probably chip or peel over time. I have red & yellow caplugs that I could make a solid core for, or I could find a piece of bright plastic to use as a "flag" on a more boring colored plug. Nothing I've come up with so far has set off my "tidy & effective solution" detector.

This is hardly a major project of any great import, but if anyone has any ideas they'd like to suggest, I'd be happy to add them to the options collection.

Thanks!

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White
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Paint it. Spray cans of bright safety colors are available and should last a while.

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Pete Keillor

I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable with the idea of anything that could change the free-fall of the powder. My biggest fear is no powder or a double load. I started drawing up a 7-hole press, I like a Lee Factory Crimp Die in the last station and have room for a powder check after the throw.

Reply to
Buerste

Make your block out of whatever is convenient. Visit a tackle shop or a website like

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to find some crappie jig paint in either dayglo chartreuse or flaming orange. Also check out the stick-on holograms used on salmon and musky lures.

Reply to
Don Foreman

Have a look at RBF-3 if you would please.

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3 bucks each. Laminated. 8" long. I like it in 'eye watering' yellow.

Custom wording available for minimum of 20 flags + $20 artwork charge.

I have no experience with this vendor but the flags look Kewl.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Wander through the Dollar Store and look at the tools and the handles of kitchen wares etc. I've found a lot of cheap brightly colored tools in such places, to stock the tool kits in vehicles and in the shed out back in the woods.

jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

On Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:13:55 -0700, the infamous Winston scrawled the following:

Yeah. What do they mean by "casual outdoor use"? Why dinna they say "occasional, brief, DRY outdoor use"? But at 0.4 pounds, they're prolly too heavy for powder hopper use.

I think a 120v feed to a set of points would do the trick without some silly old flag. When the fireworks start, it's time to put out the fire and reload the hopper. It was running low.

-- ...in order that a man may be happy, it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work. -- John Ruskin

Reply to
Larry Jaques

They are printed on laminated paper. The real ones are cloth webbing, this one appears to be cotton.

jsw

"REMOVE BEFORE FRIGHT"

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Make a clip to hold the switch off and attach a chunk of string or wire to it with another clip on the other end which you can clip to the handle or shell holder.

Reply to
Steve W.

How about a more physical lockout? Is this gizmo lever actuated? Could your block have a string on it, and could that string hold the lever such that you can't run the machine with the string in place?

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Tim Wescott wrote in news:3eOdnboHBtu7VkjWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@web-ster.com:

Here's a picture:

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The switch is a small black push button on top that the aluminum knob hits on its way down. A physical lockout is tricky, because before I fire up the press at all, I have to remove the whole alarm assembly to fill the powder hopper. I just want a block to disable the alarm for storage, but visible enough to remind me to remove it. It will also help me find it when I'm done so I can put it back.

If I want to get fancy, I could make it so it only stays put when the hopper is empty. As soon as the knob is lifted by a hopper full of powder, it could fall off (on a short cord).

It's getting better all the time...

Thanks again!

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White

Jim Wilkins wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@11g2000yqr.googlegroups.com:

Thanks to all for the many suggestions! I think this one is the winner. I probably have (and can certainly find cheap) a battered screw driver with a bright yellow/orange/red handle. I can cut a length out & machine it to fit around the middle bit on the alarm. I may even have some plastic handle stock in yellow already, except it's a wimpy clear yellow like Stanley screwdrivers.

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White

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