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Just finished setting up a used SDB that I bought a few weeks ago. It's set up for 9mm and I like it a lot. It's quite the upgrade from the Lee presses.

The one thing I noticed was that when I'm cranking out rounds, the charged case spills a small amount of powder every time the shell plate rotates. Even when I pull up the lever as softly as possible, the shell plate still rotates snap-ish enough that some powder puffs up & spills out a bit. To be clear, this is when the case is going from station 2 to station 3.

I am using 4.0 grains of Titegroup for 9mm. And so it's not like I'm filling the case to near the top. When I measure the amount of powder left in the case after it rotates & has spilled some powder, I'm usually down to 3.7 or 3.8 grains as opposed to the original 4.0 grains. And so without this being fixed, I'll have to put in 4.2 or 4.3 grains to account for the spilled powder; not to mention the mess that it creates. This doesn't seem right for such a high reputation machine.

And so two questions: has any other SDB owner experienced this? If so, does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it? I called Dillon & the guy said there is nothing they can do about it & how that amount of spill is not a big deal. I was surprised by how much this guy didn't seem to care enough to think that this was a real problem; maybe he doesn't care but it is a real problem. So much for that supposed awesome Dillon customer service.

Anyways, thanks in advance for all your answers.
 
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Take the shell plate off and see if there is something under it grit or a spent primer or some other garbage. Check the gear that advances the plate and see if it's intact. If that's not the trouble then call Dillon for help.
Good luck
 
Two solutions:
1) Put your finger or a bullet over the case as it indexes from powder charge to bullet seat step.
2) Don't know about the SDB, but for most progressives, you apply a little grease to the bottom of the shell plate (I find that marine prop grease works best), tighten shell plastic until it doesn't move, and then loosen in increments until it move smoothly.
Other options are to ignore the kernel or two that bounces out or go to a denser powder that doesn't fill the case quite so much.
 
it's not a problem unique to the Square B.

it's happened on my presses too that are the cheap Red. Lube and finding the offending part while running it countless cycles dry to get the parts mated up and slicked together helped. I can't recall the last time mine did it.
 
OK for once, I actually found the answer and I can hopefully help those who may have this problem.

What makes the shell plate go "snap" or "kick", such that the press spills the powder, is what's happening underneath the shell plate. If you unscrew the shell plate, you'll notice that there is a stainless steel ball present under the shell plate. This steel ball is resting in a hole with a spring under the steel ball. This spring is what's pushing and pressuring the steel ball against the bottom of the shell plate. Coinciding with each station where you place the cartridge casing, there are four half-circle groove under the shell plate. As the shell plate rotates, it is the spring that pushes the steel ball into the groove. As the ball pushes and snaps into the groove, that creates the crisp "snap" or "kick" of the shell plate as it rotates.

And so basically, the spring is too strong. Dillon needs to use a spring with less tension that pushes the steel ball into each groove in order to eliminate the "snap" or the "kick." I don't know why a quality company like Dillon does not do that.

Anyways, the answer is to cut a small piece of the spring off. This will result in a weaker spring that will eliminate the "snap" or the "kick." The following three videos shows this, although all three videos involve the Dillon 650 rather than the SDB, the principle is exactly the same.




Apparently there are also kits with a lighter ball and a less tension spring that you could buy.



550/650/900 Shellplate Bearing Kit

However these all seem pretty expensive and they are listed for the Dillon 650. I would think that they would fit the SDB since the hole size under the shell plate should be the same but who knows. I think the cutting of the spring would be easier and cheaper than buying one of these kits.

The other simple solution is of course to cover the powder filled casing with the bullet early before the casing rotates from station 2 to station 3. Thus the bullet acts as a cap and prevents the powder from spilling. Someone earlier suggested that we use our finger to cover the top of the casing. I think using a bullet would be more efficient.

As for me, I have ordered a few springs (Detent spring, part number 13739) from the Dillon website and will try to cut the spring. I prefer that the press run smoothly and not snap or kick rather than cap the casing early with a bullet. That's one more thing to pay attention to that I would like to eliminate and I want this thing running smoothly. I will update you on my attempt to cut the spring. Hope that helps someone. Any comment regarding this welcome and appreciated. Thanks everyone.
 
Last Edited:
OK for once, I actually found the answer and I can hopefully help those who may have this problem.

What makes the shell plate go "snap" or "kick", such that the press spills the powder, is what's happening underneath the shell plate. If you unscrew the shell plate, you'll notice that there is a stainless steel ball present under the shell plate. This steel ball is resting in a hole with a spring under the steel ball. This spring is what's pushing and pressuring the steel ball against the bottom of the shell plate. Coinciding with each station where you place the cartridge casing, there is are four half-circle groove under the shell plate. As the shell plate rotates, it is the spring that pushes the steel ball into the groove. As the ball pushes or snaps into the groove, that creates the crisp "snap" or "kick" of the shell plate as it rotates.

And so basically, the spring is too strong. Dillon needs to use a spring with less tension that pushes the steel ball into each groove in order to eliminate the "snap" or the "kick." I don't know why a quality company like Dillon does not do that.

Anyways, the answer is to cut a small piece of the spring off. This will result in a weaker spring that will eliminate the "snap" or the "kick." The following three videos shows this, although all three videos involve the Dillon 650 rather than the SDB. but the principle is exactly the same.




Apparently there are also kits with a lighter ball and a less tension spring that you could buy.



550/650/900 Shellplate Bearing Kit

However these seems pretty expensive and they are listed for the Dillon 650. I would think that they would fit the SDB since the hole size under the shell plate would be the same but who knows. I think cutting of the spring would be easier.

The other simple solution is of course to cover the powder filled casing with the bullet early before the casing rotates from station 2 to station 3. Thus the bullet acts as a cap and prevents the powder from spilling. Someone earlier suggested that we use our finger. I think seating the bullet would be more efficient.

However I have ordered a few springs (Detent spring, part number 13739) from the Dillon website and will try to cut the spring. I still prefer that rather than cap the casing early. That's one more thing to pay attention to and I want this thing running smoothly. I will update you on my attempt. Hope that helps someone. Any comment regarding this welcome and appreciated. Thanks everyone.
Very cool! Tagging these videos for later! I haven't had a spillage problem yet on the 650, but the powder charge doesn't come up to the top in the 9mm either.
 
OK, I finally was able to get around to trying this fix and I'm happy to say that it worked. I received my extra spring from Dillon that I ordered. And I cut almost the full circle portion of the first spring as the YouTube videos recommended. And it works beautifully and smoothly.

IMG_1503.jpg

Above is how much I cut off. Thankfully this was my first and only time I had to cut the spring. I highly recommend this for those Dillon users who is experiencing this powder spillage.

I also I noticed a couple of the YouTube videos that I linked in my post above doesn't show up. I don't know if anyone else has that problem. But in case that is true, you can just type "Dillon powder spill" into the search box of YouTube and all the videos should pop up. I'm happy to contribute for once and hope this can help.
 

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