Dillon's 'New' Case Feeder...

[JeepHammer]

Dillon went to the dark side on this one.

'Universal Power Supply', which means 110vac power transformer to DC current.
That means a brush type DC motor, brushes wear out and the motors damage/smoke entirely when the rotor jams.
Variable Speed means a variable resistor speed controller, which also burns/smokes over time.
'3rd Generation Bowl' means the old first generation, all plastic bowl that's not nearly as easy to adapt or upgrade as the 2nd Gen bowl was with the metal side.

AND...
They went from $249.95 to $299.95 don't 'cha know....

https://www.dillonprecision.com/xl-650-casefeeder-110-220-volt_8_121_25550.html

 

[Hohn]

Cost reduction strikes again.... New isn't necessarily improved for you as a customer. "Improved" in terms of profitability, almost always.

 

[JHB]

This may be a test for there no BS warranty.

 

[JeepHammer]

This may be a test for there no BS warranty.

Electronics only have a 90 day to 1 year warranty.
I found a place to get the motors on eBay for $13 from china, but it might take 90 days to get here, so I ordered a dozen, I have like half dozen Dillon case feeders, so the money won't be wasted.

*IF* they use a PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) for the speed controller, it *Might* survive a little longer than a voltage restricting variable resistor.
The power supply is way too small and plastic cased, so it's not a transformer that will be around 20 years from now...
All common DC motors have brushes & commutator that burn during normal use, and when you limit speed they erode even faster.

When they told me the price I freaked, they directed me to the web site to see "The NEW & IMPROVED!" Version, and I passed.

A $15 motor off eBay, a funnel from the auto parts store, a rotor made of plastic on a router and a $10 metal pan from the farm store and it's easy enough to make your own.
A 50¢ diode and $2 switch gives you 2 speeds just like Dillon has had forever...

I was upset enough about the last price hike and the all plastic bowl design, but I'm NOT going to pay another $50 for parts I KNOW aren't going to live under heavy use...

The last case feeder I bought came out of the box and got modified before it dropped the first case...
So keep in mind I do keep up on changes and I know the difference between motors, speed & switching systems, etc.

 

[BE Mike]

Electronics only have a 90 day to 1 year warranty.

Interestingly enough, I recently found that my beeper for the Dillon Powder Check had gone TU. I hadn't used my 650 in a while and found that I had left the batteries in and they corroded. I called Dillon customer service and they sent me a new beeper for no charge, even when I said that it was my fault for not checking the batteries in a long time.