old 1292 lives again.

[twc1964]

Well, after several months of having no brass tumbler, im up and running again. As a rule, im not too handy with electrical stuff but thought id give it a try. My 1292, which ive had since 95 finally stopped running after many months of intermittant hesitation and just sounding like an engine running out of gas. After cutting the tape covering the windings, i found that a small wire attatched to a tiny metal electical doo-dad had broken off. Well using my less than stellar soldering skills, i re-attatched it and put a blob of silicone under the connection to sort of cushion the area from vibration and re wrapped the windings with friction tape. This morning i assembled the tumbler and im on my 4th load of tumbling 2k of 9mm brass i bought on this board. It sounds better than it has in years. Sure beats paying for a new one in these days of our so called improving economy. Guess i will be trying more repairs like these. A while back, i would have just tossed it in the trash and bought a new one. The money i saved will buy a couple pounds of powder i sure could use. Ok, im done tooting my horn now, just thought this may get others to give things like this a try.

[VHoward]

Yes, people should try to fix things. Shouldn't be a throw away society, but that's what the manufacturers want.

Good job.

[SSGOldfart]

Good job,more items could be saved if people would just try again!!!!!
Congrats

[twc1964]

Thanks fellas, i usually try on most thing not electrical but this seemed a bit safer than some other stuff i might run into. You learn something new every day, or should i guess. These days, with wages stagnant and everything going up in price, fixing things is becoming a necessity for me and others i expect.

[Yodogsandman]

BTW, just in case...that Midway 1292 should've had a lifetime warranty, both mine do.

[VHoward]

It doesn't now that he has done it himself. I didn't know it had a liftime warranty. He probably didn't either. But they would probably just sent him a new one and threw the old one in the landfill.

[twc1964]

I called midway twice. They said that they no longer honor the lifetime warrantees on the 1292's. Ive had a lot of trouble with them in the last 6 months or so. Im going to start shopping elsewhere from now on. If they give a lifetime warrantee, they should honor it reguardless. Its working now but that doesnt negate their responsibility. Just my opinion.

[AFK]

Great job on the handyman skills. I am a huge proponent of fixing things myself. It saves me money and I gain the knowledge needed to do it again. Certainly a win-win. When my girls break a toy or something they always say "give it to Daddy, he can fix anything." Always makes me smile.

[msp2640]

Congrats on your repair - I have the same model and have used it for years, but I'm not particularly worried about how my brass looks, as long as its cleaned up, not so worried about how shiney it is. I did send it in years ago for the recall, when the motors were supposedly overheating, mine never had a problem. I made the grave error of starting it up a year or so ago and the cooling fan got a hold of the plastic bag the tumbler was sitting on (I know, I wasn't paying attention at the time) and I left the room. An hour or so later, I returned to find the tumbler not running and the motor was still warm. Shut it off and found the bag all wrapped up in the cooling fan. I cleared it off and restarted it, after it had cooled down, and it sounded like the motor was going to rattle loose. I tightened both wing nuts to no avail, still loud as hell. I thought this was my sign to get into SS wet tumbling, but like most of us here I had to dig into it further. I found that the 3 small hex nuts holding the motor to the base (not sure if there is suppose to be a 4th) were all slightly loose, retightened them and the machine runs like new. I thought I had ruined the machine for good, but luck was on my side for a change and wet tumbling will have to wait - Again nice work getting it repaired - Bill in MA

[r1kk1]

I have one of these from the 80s. Still works well for small jobs.

take care

r1kk1

[GP100man]

I bought the kit in the late 80s & still going strong !!

I have 3 tumblers(all different brands) & find the trouble is the vibration, but as you tend to repair em & continue on !

Society doesn't have time to fix stuff , too busy chasing the dollar !! BUT not me ! every time I get in a hurry it costs extra !!!

Good on you twc1964!!!!

GP

[twc1964]

Thanks all for the kudos. Im sue other fixes will pop up from tme to time. At least now i will try fixing it before trashing it.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I fixed my 1292 the first time with reparing a broken wire. Second time, motor gave out and bam, no warranty from midway/frankford arsenal. I located the company that sold them the original USA made motor and they were kind enough to send me two samples. I fixed mine and gave the other one to a buddy who's 1292 had a bad motor as well.

I then sold the 1292 and bought another brand. I seldom buy anything put out by midwayusa/frankford arsenal (same company) and I don't believe them when they talk about warranty. If I get another tube primer fed progressive (unlikely) I may buy vibra primes to fill tubes with, but I'll buy four or five and consider them disposable.

My experience with that warranty service means I've seldom bought anything from them in probably the last 15 years or so.