Left case cleaner on ALL NIGHT

[skeettx]

Well started the two vibrators at about 6:30 last night, forgot, went to the Pistol Club meeting this morning.
Remembered at the meeting, came home and YUP, they were still working and the brass looked very clean.

The only casualty was the quick nut on one vibrator and have now replaced that with the standard wing nut.

Appears, no harm, no fowl.

Cool

Mike

[leadman]

You must use corn cob. I know from experience that walnut tends to make them very dull if left on too long.

[runfiverun]

I bet the brass was well polished.

[Springfield]

I sometimes leave mine on for hours as I shoot BP, seems the longer it runs the shinier it gets.

[Hooker53]

Mike. Mine has been running almost 24/7 since last Oct. ha. I do change out the brass everyday or when they are clean enough. For the last few hours a add some old liquid car wax/polish. Very shinny.

Roy
Hooker53

[RKJ]

I leave mine on overnight most of the time.

[rockshooter]

I just use a cheap timer on mine.
Loren

[Bullwolf]

I use one of those inexpensive plug in light timers, that people like to use when on vacation to help make it look like someone is home.



http://www.amazon.com/Woods-50006-In...in+light+timer

Plug the timer into the tumbler cord, set it and forget it.

I also make a point of not to set my vibratory tumbler directly down on the carpet.

If your loading room floor happens to be carpet, put a flat sheet of wood or something similar underneath it so the tumbler motor can get some airflow along the bottom. The extra airflow helps keep the motor from overheating. Not leaving the tumbler running all day and night, tends to make them run much cooler as well.

Both tricks will help keep a vibratory tumbler in service a bit longer.



- Bullwolf

[NC_JEFF]

I've noticed that cleaning time gets longer as the media gets older anyway. I don't see where your could have hurt your brass at all with that much time in the vibratory cleaner. Mi is always in there for hours.

[dragon813gt]

I've let mine run for a few days. It's out in the garage which is 50' from the house. If I walk out there and don't hear it running I know I didn't forget.

[country gent]

Chances are good the only thing really hurt by the extended run time is your electric bill and that wont be much. The big BPCR cases normally run overnight in corn cops and Iosso case polish. Cases come out looking like new inside and out for me.

[dubber123]

I left an inexpensive Midway brand vibratory cleaner running for a WEEK. It was in the basement, and I totally forgot it. Cases were exceptionally shiny, and that cleaner is still going strong. I thought that was a good testimonial.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I run my tumbler for 24 hours usually and always have. It is a Thumler's Ultra Vibe 10 and I have a bigger one, an Ultra Vibe 45. I run a bigger tumbler in my shop polishing and deburring parts and sometimes run it for days.

I use Walnut hulls and Dillon Case Polish or Nu Finish.

A friend gave me this tumbler when I first went into business in1985 it has 30 years on it..

My biggest tumbler which is 30" in dia. is older than that and came out of a deburring shop where it ran continuously for years.. I replaced the motor about 10 years ago.

Good Quality Vibrating Tumblers can run continuously for years and not be harmed. It is a motor with a flyweight on it, and it does no harm whatsoever to run them for long periods.

Your brass will be spotless when done running for 24 hours, and your ammo will look better and you'll shoot better because of it.

Randy

[lightman]

I run my Dillons in 12 hour shifts. Pretty much always have. Yours will be fine, but a timer is a good idea.

[Bullwolf]

I run my tumbler for 24 hours usually and always have. It is a Thumler's Ultra Vibe 10 and I have a bigger one, an Ultra Vibe 45. I run a bigger tumbler in my shop polishing and deburring parts and sometimes run it for days.

I use Walnut hulls and Dillon Case Polish or Nu Finish.

A friend gave me this tumbler when I first went into business in1985 it has 30 years on it..

My biggest tumbler which is 30" in dia. is older than that and came out of a deburring shop where it ran continuously for years.. I replaced the motor about 10 years ago.

Good Quality Vibrating Tumblers can run continuously for years and not be harmed. It is a motor with a flyweight on it, and it does no harm whatsoever to run them for long periods.

Your brass will be spotless when done running for 24 hours, and your ammo will look better and you'll shoot better because of it.

Randy

I quoted what Randy wrote for my reply. Hope he doesn't mind too much as I do agree with him, and what I originally wrote could easily have been misinterpreted.

Notice the part I took the liberty of putting in bold. I believe a good quality vibrating tumbler will likely run continuously for years on end. I'm not so sure about some of the inexpensive bargain brand tumblers being sold today though.

I'd also like to mention that I'm a big fan of adding a cap full of automotive wax to the media with my vibratory tumblers. It helps brass stay untarnished longer, and I think it makes it cases somewhat easier to size as well.

I may have a smaller sample pool of experience using vibratory tumblers than many others here. I've used two Lyman tumblers since about the 80's. Both still are in use today, but I had to replace the first smaller Lyman tumbler motor once, and had to patch/repair the plastic base that the threaded shaft which holds the bolt is mounted to, on my original lyman tumbler.

To be fair my first Lyman tumbler saw a lot of rock polishing duty, and lived outside. It also used to get left on for days on end. My later model Lyman turbo 1200 tumbler with the extra bowls, I have been much kinder to, and it resides indoors.

I also worked for a small reloading company located inside an indoor range, that loaded pistol ammunition only. We had a row of the larger size Dillon tumblers that ran continuously all day during business hours, every day. They were used for processing ALL of the brass fired at the range. Even the brass that we scrapped was tumbled first. It's impressive just how many 55 gallon containers of brass an indoor range can move in a month.

In all the time I worked there, we only had one of the Dillon tumblers quit on us. I'm not sure just what broke on it however, as it was quickly replaced. I'm pretty sure that back then that Dillon still replaced tumblers if one broke. I believe they have some kind of different warranty now on electronic stuff like motors.

You would think that after this glowing testimony, I'd have bought a Dillon tumbler myself. Ironically since I started loading at home with a Lyman, I sort of got used to having the orange bowl around, and I stuck with it. It was cheaper too at the time than going blue.

The point I intended to make was that yes, a good quality tumbler will likely run just fine if left on continuously, but I believe that excess heat is what causes the most wear and tear on inexpensive tumblers, and electric motors.

I personally feel that if you keep the motor cooler by not leaving it on for days in a row, or setting it on carpet, that most tumblers will last even longer.

Since I have started using a timer with my tumbler, I've noticed a point of diminishing returns, at least with fresh media. Usually running my tumbler for 3-4 hours or even longer did not do anything special to my brass, compared to only running it for an hour.

I'm also not deburring sharp parts, or trying to graphite tumble shot, or tumble the sprue marks off of buckshot here either. Your mileage will likely vary, according to the condition of your brass, and media used. This of course is all just my opinion, based upon my limited experience cleaning cases.

I didn't mean that if y'all run a tumbler for 24 or 48 hours in a row it would blow up and die on you, or anything like that. I simply thought adding a timer was a neat idea for saving electricity, and wear and tear on the tumbler. Especially for those times when one forgets, and it gets left to run until noticed.

Thanks everyone, and carry on.


- Bullwolf

[Doggonekid]

I forgot about my tumbler one time. I have a RCBS and I left it on for about 5 or 6 days. When I saw it was still on and running I turned it off and it never worked again. I sent it back to RCBS and they gladly changed out my motor for free. THANKS RCBS. I don't run it for more than 8 to 12 hrs at a time.

[scottfire1957]

I leave mine on overnight most of the time.

Yep, frequently and on purpose.

[Newtire]

I have left mine on overnight on purpose most of the time. Only time I ever had a problem was when the casting around the lower bearing cracked. After awhile, the hose clamp around the housing stopped working and I had to put in a motor from a yard sale tumbler.
That tumbler ran for over 16 years before that happened. It was a Midway.

Does anyone know where to buy a replacement motor for these things? Can't seem to find one on a Google search....??!

[mdi]

Ya done ruint them cases! Ya cleaned all the gramnatic surface hardening/slicking up alloy off the brass. I did that once and had to dispose of the brass at a hazmat facility. So, I know how to get rid of them so send me a PM and I'll tell you where and how to send them to me...

[obssd1958]

If your looking for a thread on repair or replacement of these tumbler motors, use the search box above (NOT the advanced search option) and put in midway+tumbler+motor
Lots of good info from those that have "been there, done that, got the t-shirt!"