Do Dillon Casefeed Motors/Switches Wear Out?

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Gearhead Jim

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Electric motors and switches tend to wear out more rapidly if they start and stop frequently.

I've been leaving my casefeed motor switch in the Slow position, which is still way faster than I need for loading the short-cased 9mm & .380 rounds. Longer cases like .223 or .30-06 can't "store" as many cases in the plastic tube. With each stroke of the handle, the motor starts for a second or two to drop another case into the tube, then shuts off for a couple of seconds while I work the handle, then starts again...

So far, the motor and switch are working just fine, and I haven't heard of many problems with them from other folks. But I could cut way down on the start-stop cycles if I let the tube fill up and then shut off the switch for 10 strokes, then turned it on again to refill, etc.

Since I've not heard of anyone doing this, or any problems with the parts, I'm guessing that it's unnecessary. Anyone with problems or experience?
 
I normally load what is in the tube, run the feeder to fill it, turn off, load some more.
Not for concern over the health of the equipment but so I don't have to listen to it run off and on.
 
If properly maintained that motor should last a lifetime even being turned on and off frequently. While I haven't a clue what Dillon uses, switches are rated in life cycles. A correctly selected switch for a given application can typically yield 100,000 cycles or more. So a correctly selected motor and switch for a given application will generally have a long and healthy life and you starting and stopping it will likely have little to no effect on life expectancy.

Just My Take....
Ron
 
No problem with the motor,but I have had to replace the switch years
ago. Dillon sent me 2 replacements just in case one was defective.
Took maybe 10 minutes to remove,replace and reassemble.
 
I haven't had many problems out of the collators I have, on/off all day. Not unlike the blower in my home during the summer or winter or say an elevator in a building, the convenience is worth any trouble down the road.
 
Dillon Casefeed

All of the Dillon products I have are built of high quality parts, no worry there.

I also turn the feeder off when loading and turn it on when the tube is almost empty.

Gary
 
Your shouldn't have any trouble with the start stop, ReloadRon said it all, if a switch or motor fails, Dillon will fix it for you.

I'm using a Hornady and I don't turn off my case feeder until I don't hear anymore rattling in the collator. It almost sounds comical with the one case for every stroke of the handle.

I've been doing Industrial electricity and controls for going on 40 years now, the only thing that will hurt them is when they jam and start pulling higher amperage. That will age them quickly if you don't get it cleared right away.

I keep the clutch on my Hornady a little on the loose side to keep the thermal from tripping it out when it jams. Short of that I have almost 20k on mine and it's still going strong, the different brands are pretty much all the same in that respect.
 
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