Ive had my LnL AP now for about about 8 years and in that time Ive run a few hundred thousand pieces of brass through it, prepping and loading. It has always had its issues, but lately its been struggling with feeding rifle cases with more than 50 cases in it. So I just recently 3d printed a new bullet feeder, and did a bunch of looking at motors for that, and started looking at motors for my case feeder.
I did some measuring and looking at model numbers and specs trying to figure out what the stock motor is but came up with pretty much nothing. I know that the Dillon motor is basically the same thing and found that the Dillon stock motor has about 12 in/lbs of torque. And because manufacturers arent likely to try and reinvent the wheel, I figured Hornady has be right around the same value. Those of you that dont know, Hornady and Dillon case feed plates are interchangeable between the feeders.
This is the link for the motor: https://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-DC-Gearmotor-12V-DC-52JE51
It has 40 in/lbs of torque at 12 RPM which is considerably more, but is a DC motor so you need this...
Power supply is a cheap laptop power brick: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RGHBLGC
Good enough and has the connector you can wire up easily.
Speed controller is: https://www.amazon.com/RioRandTM-Upgraded-6V-90V-Motor-Controller/dp/B00F839VNQ
I wanted speed control so I can fine tune the feed rate slightly to help the feeder not be the Jam-O-Matic 1000 that it is sometimes. Just about any 12v speed controller will work, I just happened to have this one.
Other hardware needed: 4 1.5" 10/24 machine screws and nuts. 1 1/8x3/4 roll pin for the shaft to drive the plates. I got mine at the hardware store.
Here is the stock vs the Dayton motor. The footprint is identical. Only difference is the Dayton has studs on it that have to be removed and then you drill out the holes to accept a 10/24 machine screw so you can bolt it in.
You do have to drill the motor both for the 1/8 roll pin thru the shaft, and them open the body holes up a hair to allow the 10/24 bolts to slip in. I could have measured the roll pin location, but I just eyeballed it and punched it. We arent building a church here!
Wiring is pretty simple. I re-used most of the factory stuff. Added a few jumper wires in that were needed, bolted down the speed controller, drilled a hole in the back for the power plug, and put a hole in the front for the knob. I just brought the positive from the PSU (blue wire) to the factory on/off switch, and then ran a longer jumper from the momentary switch to the speed controller + in terminal. Negative (white wire) comes off the PSU straight to the controller. Motor is just red/black wired into the appropriate locations on the controller. I could have used more appropriate colors, but I have alot of blue and white.
A few other improvements:
I made this ramp shortly after I got the case feeder. It helps prevent stackups and jamming.
I made this video 5 years ago when a few people asked me about it.
You can 3d print this part as well: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3173334
I havent printed it because my old one I made works just fine.
On my case feeder the loading gate wouldnt open all the way causing issues at times. I just cut the outside corner off at a 45 so it will open that last 1/4" on mine. You mileage may vary on this on as Hornady might have fixed it.
I have run into issues where I wasnt getting quite enough time for 308 length cases wouldnt drop in time because the opening in the collator bowl was too small. I can see this effecting 30-06 length cases even more. I opened the opening up slightly with the Dremel. Gives me a little more adjustability and reduces jams.
And all done. Did it help? Well I can put 200 pieces of 308 into the feeder and it doesnt just sit there and angrily hum at you anymore. The Dayton motor has WAY more power, but it might be a little noisier. So I am happy with that. I have found that changing the speed on the feeder does reduce jams, especially with rifle cases, so there is a sweet spot. Total cost was probably $100 and 2 hours of my time.
For you Dillon guys, Im about 95% sure this would work in your feeders as well, and not cost you the $200 that Dillon charges for this upgrade. You may have to drill new holes to align the motor in your collator though as I think the hole pattern is different from the Hornady. Might even work better in the Dillon feeder because I can openly admit the Hornady feeder isnt nearly as nice.
I did some measuring and looking at model numbers and specs trying to figure out what the stock motor is but came up with pretty much nothing. I know that the Dillon motor is basically the same thing and found that the Dillon stock motor has about 12 in/lbs of torque. And because manufacturers arent likely to try and reinvent the wheel, I figured Hornady has be right around the same value. Those of you that dont know, Hornady and Dillon case feed plates are interchangeable between the feeders.
This is the link for the motor: https://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-DC-Gearmotor-12V-DC-52JE51
It has 40 in/lbs of torque at 12 RPM which is considerably more, but is a DC motor so you need this...
Power supply is a cheap laptop power brick: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RGHBLGC
Good enough and has the connector you can wire up easily.
Speed controller is: https://www.amazon.com/RioRandTM-Upgraded-6V-90V-Motor-Controller/dp/B00F839VNQ
I wanted speed control so I can fine tune the feed rate slightly to help the feeder not be the Jam-O-Matic 1000 that it is sometimes. Just about any 12v speed controller will work, I just happened to have this one.
Other hardware needed: 4 1.5" 10/24 machine screws and nuts. 1 1/8x3/4 roll pin for the shaft to drive the plates. I got mine at the hardware store.
Here is the stock vs the Dayton motor. The footprint is identical. Only difference is the Dayton has studs on it that have to be removed and then you drill out the holes to accept a 10/24 machine screw so you can bolt it in.
You do have to drill the motor both for the 1/8 roll pin thru the shaft, and them open the body holes up a hair to allow the 10/24 bolts to slip in. I could have measured the roll pin location, but I just eyeballed it and punched it. We arent building a church here!
Wiring is pretty simple. I re-used most of the factory stuff. Added a few jumper wires in that were needed, bolted down the speed controller, drilled a hole in the back for the power plug, and put a hole in the front for the knob. I just brought the positive from the PSU (blue wire) to the factory on/off switch, and then ran a longer jumper from the momentary switch to the speed controller + in terminal. Negative (white wire) comes off the PSU straight to the controller. Motor is just red/black wired into the appropriate locations on the controller. I could have used more appropriate colors, but I have alot of blue and white.
A few other improvements:
I made this ramp shortly after I got the case feeder. It helps prevent stackups and jamming.
I made this video 5 years ago when a few people asked me about it.
You can 3d print this part as well: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3173334
I havent printed it because my old one I made works just fine.
On my case feeder the loading gate wouldnt open all the way causing issues at times. I just cut the outside corner off at a 45 so it will open that last 1/4" on mine. You mileage may vary on this on as Hornady might have fixed it.
I have run into issues where I wasnt getting quite enough time for 308 length cases wouldnt drop in time because the opening in the collator bowl was too small. I can see this effecting 30-06 length cases even more. I opened the opening up slightly with the Dremel. Gives me a little more adjustability and reduces jams.
And all done. Did it help? Well I can put 200 pieces of 308 into the feeder and it doesnt just sit there and angrily hum at you anymore. The Dayton motor has WAY more power, but it might be a little noisier. So I am happy with that. I have found that changing the speed on the feeder does reduce jams, especially with rifle cases, so there is a sweet spot. Total cost was probably $100 and 2 hours of my time.
For you Dillon guys, Im about 95% sure this would work in your feeders as well, and not cost you the $200 that Dillon charges for this upgrade. You may have to drill new holes to align the motor in your collator though as I think the hole pattern is different from the Hornady. Might even work better in the Dillon feeder because I can openly admit the Hornady feeder isnt nearly as nice.
