[strat81]

My Frankford Arsenal tumbler died. It was humming along and then just stopped.

Any ideas what I should check before I chuck it? I was thinking the switch is dead or possibly where the cord connects to the motor.

Of course, it's two months out of warranty.

[janobles14]

call them anyway...they might just surprise you!

[rondog]

Check the line switch in the cord first, before you do anything else (well, unplug it first, THEN check the switch). If it's OK, then I'd open it up and look inside for anything that may have shaken loose.

[Otto]

Welcome to the club...

[MutinousDoug]

One of the connections in the motor has let go as a result of the vibration that gets your brass all shiney. Good luck finding a replacement motor with out an attached bowl . My Midway 1292 died about a year ago after 15 years of steady service. I bought a Frankfort arsenal Quick-n-Easy tumbler because the warranty partial replacement offered by Midway has been reviewed as being garbage. The motors on the two units are identical and I had spare bowls for the 1292 so I just switched motors.
Vibratory units are more prone to failure than tumblers by the very fact that they have more aggressive actions.

[Prof. A. Wickwire]

Strat81,

The same thing happened to me. My case cleaner was humming and then nothing. After unplugging, I lubricated the shaft running through the electric motor (I used Kroil). The shaft has a weighted blade on it to cause the vibrations. Apparently the factory lubricant had finally worn off. After lubing the motor shaft, my cleaner has been trouble free for (so far) another year and a half.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Prof. A. Wickwire

[Afy]

What switch and what shaft? I do not see either on mine...

[scrat]

same thing mine failed a year ago. i had to give it a dumpster burial

[lgbloader]

My Midway 1292 has seen it's better days but the darn thing keeps going. It looks beat as hell, too. I almost bought the Frankford as a play mate for the Midway but I think I may save my pennies for somthing else... Maybe the RCBS or the big Dillon.

[Prof. A. Wickwire]

Afy wrote:
What switch and what shaft? I do not see either on mine...

The switch should be on the power cord.

To find the shaft you will need to turn the tumbler upside down and remove the base plate. Inside the base you should see the electric motor with it's weighted shaft. Needless to say, this should only be done with the unit unplugged.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Prof. A. Wickwire

[fatelk]

My Midway 1288 is humming away out in the garage right now. The darn thing has to be about 18 years old. Some years back it quit and I just replaced the little in-line switch like others have described. Other than that it's just like the Energizer bunny...

[lgbloader]

Same as my 1292. I'm tumbling 50 pcs of 300 WBY Mag Brass right now.

[James in NC]

I sure would like to have the bowls off those that have died ;)
So far mine is still shaking.

[HiWayMan]

Happened to me too. Took off the base plate and found one of the wires had worn through at a connection. Stripped the wires and nutted them up. Good to go.

[strat81]

FIXED!

One of the wires from the power cord to the motor came loose (looked like it was soldered by some drunk monkey from Century Arms).

A wee bit of solder and I'm back in business.

Thanks guys!

[Farnorthdan]

Unplug it, take the bottom off and check the connections from the power cord. Mine did the same thing and the wire had come loose from the plug end. i got a new plug end and crimped it on and it fired right back up. Of course this only lasted a couple days before the other plug went. I eventually bought a whole new tumbler. I guess you only get so much for $40.

[lgbloader]

Good to hear Strat.

[GaryL]

The same thing happened to me. My case cleaner was humming and then nothing. After unplugging, I lubricated the shaft running through the electric motor (I used Kroil). The shaft has a weighted blade on it to cause the vibrations. Apparently the factory lubricant had finally worn off. After lubing the motor shaft, my cleaner has been trouble free for (so far) another year and a half.
That's a pretty common problem with small motors. A couple nights ago I took apart the small fan motor in my garage frig because it had frozen up (and not because it was cold - it was pretty darn hot actually). A little lube (I like to mix a little synthetic oil into some synthetic grease to make a light grease for stuff like that) on the shaft and in the bearings and now it runs great. Freezer works better too.

[Hey_Allen]

I learned to use automatic transmission fluid for motor bushings, while working on older Mercedes cars.
A couple of drops wick into the bushing nicely, and seem to lubricate well.

I'll see how many rounds my re-purposed rock tumbler puts up with, before I'm forced to foot the bill for a "real" case tumbler!