Tumbler dead

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scrat

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chicago tumbler. motor finally went out. so yep i guess im going to have to start shopping again.

So whats the current price on tumblers. i only have about 1000 rounds to tumble mostly rifle.
 
I suggest a Berry's Tumbler. Go to www.berrysmfg.com and look at the kits. You'll get the separator, tumbler and media. The price also includes shipping. I've bought several of them for friends and they've all been very satisfied with them. I've been running one for about 6 years and it's a good little tumbler. I also have two of the Thumbler UV-18's, but they're about three times as much money as the Berry's.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
scrat


chicago tumbler. motor finally went out. so yep i guess im going to have to start shopping again.

So whats the current price on tumblers. i only have about 1000 rounds to tumble mostly rifle.
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I was wondering how long you have had that tumbler and how many cases you have tumbled? I have one I bought from Harbor Freight about 8 months ago.
Rusty
 
i have had it about for about a year now. i think it was faulty when i bought it new as it was always making noise. now the motor is just dead. how many rounds have i cleaned my estimate is probably around 5000 or so rounds at about 3-5 hours a session. i would usually put in about 40-60 rifle rounds then let them go at it for about a few hours then check them. i guess i will probably just go to harbor freight and buy another one. as i already have the media and a seperator so it would do me no good to buy a kit.
 
Scrat, before you buy another one open the bottom and see if a wire didn't fall off. I heard this is a common problem with the Frankfort tumblers.
Rusty
 
nope not that its the bushings in the motor and probably the bearings too. the motor makes an awefull growling noise. then about 3-4 minutes later it starts to spin. Then it works great for about 30 minutes then just stops until it cools down then all of a sudden starts spinning again. I took the screen off the bottom and turned the motor by hand. its pretty stiff. I suppose i could take it apart and really check it out. But im sure trying to find the bushings and brushes will not be that easy. Usually the bearings are the same part number to most skate board bearings. However im not too sure about the bushings. Then the brushes. Back in the old days i would buy what ever brushes looked similar and then grind them down. Im not too sure i can even locate anyone that sells brushes anymore. Most auto parts stores have no idea what your talking about when you mention that. Part that scary is that if its heating up too. I could be the shellac around the windings. Now its been way too many years since i reshellaced a coil windings. Would not even know where to get the shellac.


so i think its just going to head to the dumpster.
 
The blue ones for me!

DSCN1874Small.jpg

Edited to add:

You get what you pay for! A whole lot of guys will not buy Dillon products because they cost so much. OK, Whatever.
 
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I have the same tumbler and it has had the same problem. The bottom bearing near the weight seems to be the problem. It get to the point it won't even start and then I flip it over and give it a shot of CLP break free on the shaft and let it run into the bearing and it's good for another 6 months....

It tore itself apart in the first week I had it, so I made and aluminum replacement plate where the bowl attaches and new struts that go to the head of the motor. It looks like Frankinstien's tumber by now, but it's tumbled 10's of thousands of rounds. I think I paid $24 for it. In fact it's running right this minute.
 
well thats some good information. looks like when i get home this weekend im going to take it apart and replace the bearings.
 
I just purchased a new Tumbler from MidwayUSA for $30.00. By the time you find bushings, bearings, etc., and gasoline driving around looking for things, you might have more than $30.00 invested in an old tumbler.
Or you might find a good deal on eBay, but I think that $30.00 is hard to beat.:D
 
Dillon warrants their tumblers for one year, and they're not cheap. The CV-2001 is $164.95 and the CV-500 is $99.95, plus shipping. For the money, I still think the Berry's is a good bargain, and for function in a premium tumbler, the Thumbler's UV-18 is hard to beat.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
While the Frankford Arsenal tumbler isn't much more than the HF tumbler, the quality is head and shoulders above the HF. I suggest you get yourself a Frankford Arsenal tumbler along with the rotary sifter. I've had mine for 7 troube free years and it's long since paid for itself. If it ever goes out, I'll put a new motor in it from the industrial supply store for 15 bucks and keep running it. It has a reference number on the motor so you can find a replacement motor. Might be an option for your HF. But if it were me, I'd go Frankford if my budget was tight.

Regards,

Dave
 
Then the brushes. Back in the old days i would buy what ever brushes looked similar and then grind them down. Im not too sure i can even locate anyone that sells brushes anymore.
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I'm almost certain there's no brushes in that motor. It's a simple AC motor, that runs off ONLY AC. If it were made to run off AC/DC, it would have brushes.

Most of the cheap motors like that have bronze oilite bushings for the shaft bearings. I may be wrong, because in it's operation it swings and off-center weight to get it's vibration. The work end may have a ball/roller bearing in it.

I'll go take a look at my midway/FA tumbler to see how that motor is built; Well, it looks from the bottom to be a ball bearing on the bottom, where the off center bar is, then the small fan that cools the motor. Also no brushes are used.

I just finished taking it all apart,(the motor that is), it has permanently lubricated, sealed, ball bearings top and bottom.
 
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i bought a lyman 1200 from gander mountain about 4 months ago. I'm very satisfied with it. I'm wanting to say it was 60ish bucks (open box discount)

Justin
 
Folks, not to bad mouth Harbor Freight, but I just tried (4) of their tumblers, and none of them worked more than 1 hour before stopping due to over heating. I finally got their tech support on the phone, and they admitted that they thought they had fixed the problem with overheating, but they have not. The tumblers would stop after ~ 1 hour of tumbling, then once the motor cooled off, they would come on again. Not worth fooling with!
 
My Lyman 1200 just won't quit. I've had it over 20 years and got it used. I routinely run it overnight or while I am at work during the day. I put a Frankford bowl on it about 3 years ago for added capacity and it works fine. I have eyeballed the Berry's, the Thumblers, and the Dillon, but mine won't quit on me. :)
 
Scrat, did you purchase your Chicago Tumbler at Harbor Freight and if so was it marked as Chicago Tools? If it was you might try contacting Chicago Tools, as it is my understanding they have a lifetime warranty on their products, but don’t exactly go out of their way to publicize it. Now all of the tools at Harbor Freight that used to be marked as Chicago Tools are marked Central Machinery. I’ve got one of their tumblers myself, but don’t expect much of a service life out of it, I’ll replace it when it die’s with one from Berry’s.

creekwalker
 
Matt Dillon Folks, not to bad mouth Harbor Freight, but I just tried (4) of their tumblers, and none of them worked more than 1 hour before stopping due to over heating. I finally got their tech support on the phone, and they admitted that they thought they had fixed the problem with overheating, but they have not. The tumblers would stop after ~ 1 hour of tumbling, then once the motor cooled off, they would come on again. Not worth fooling with!
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Wow, good information Matt. I hope I am one of the lucky ones. I agree that Harbor Freight seems to be a low end tool store. Nothing wrong with that. I did buy my caliper there also and it is a great caliper at a good price. I bought my tumbler there because it was on sale and in my budget. I have had it for eight months and cleaned thousands of cases. I run it for two hours at a time and haven't had any trouble yet. Knowing what I know now when I have to buy a new one it will be a different brand. I would also like to have one that holds more than the small tumblers. This is what mine looks like. Is it the same one you all are talking about?
Rusty
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I'm afraid it is. Let me tell you, I love Harbor Freight. I have half a shop full of their tools, and had a good tumbler from them. It had an orange bowl, and worked as well as any other tumbler, for the last year or so. Then something happened, and the threaded shaft kind of stripped, and wouldn't hold the wing nut on sufficiently, so the bowl turned and came completely loose. I took it back, and at that time the only tumblers they had were like yours, with the blue bowl. I went through 4 of them, before I finally got ahold of their technical support folks, who told me that they were aware of the problem, and thought their supplier had fixed the issue. Perhaps you are one of the extremely fortunate ones that has a solid model, but all 4 that I got had the same problem. They would only tumble for ~ 1 hour, then they would shut down because their motors overheated. Once they cooled down, they would start back up again.
If you can tumble for 2-3 hours without any issue, then you probably have a good one. I just got tired of going through the local store's inventory, and decided to get a refund. I purchased a Frankford Arsenal unit on MidwayUSA for $30.00, and have been very happy with it.
By the way, if it costs more than $20.00 at Harbor Freight, you may be better off purchasing an extended warranty. It came in very handy in my case.
 
I bought a rcbs side winder tumbler in 1983, don't recall the price but it's tumblin' away as I type......... lot of hours on it and lots of shooting behind it.
Now I've bragged and it'll blow tomorrow
 
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