Harbor Freight dual drum brass cleaner question

[oliversasha]

looked at inside if drum----I believe this is listed as a rock polisher----how would this work for cleaning brass with SS pins if there are no paddles on the inside of drum to lift and dump----wouldn't the mixture just stay at the bottom as the drum goes round and round

[Themoose]

I bought one about two months ago.. it works very well... the brass does tumble... it is not a large volume unit by any measure, but my brass gets clean inside and out...I've done about 500 with not issues... no broken belts as some have experienced... I give the drums a nudge to get them started when I flip the switch to take some strain of it..

[texassako]

It works just fine. I got mine about a month ago and it has run continuous since then with no hiccups or broken belts, and there was a big bag of those belts in the box. It does squeak a bit at times and really smoothed out after a couple of weeks tumbling rock in one drum and brass in the other. It is a rock tumbler after all; so I let my little girl pick out some rock to tumble in one barrel.

[mac60]

I've used one for 7 or 8 yrs. - no broken belts nor any other problems. I don't even use the ss pins. Cover the brass with hot tap water, a dash of lemishine and a squirt of dawn. It does a good job, but as mentioned it doesn't hold much brass.

[Bzcraig]

Buy with confidence, I've cleaned at least 8-10k the last several months without issue. I am however very careful to not over load them.

[RobsTV]

Works great with SS pins. Each drum holds about 3/4 of a quart or brass. Set it and forget it ((until your timer (not included) goes off 3 to 4 hours later)). Ultrasonic cleaner now just collects dust.

[VintageRifle]

Just remember, if the fan/ belt pulley breaks, they make no replacements. I had to rig up a pulley after my pulley melted. Belt got jammed and heated up the pulley melting it. Luckily, the fan portion was usable. Used a pulley from a sewing machine. Just enough clearance to squeeze the belt over the pulley between the housing and pulley.

I was told by Harbor freight that they don't make the belts anymore as a replacement and you will have to order them online from third parties. Not a big deal, they are cheap, but not available at Harbor freight.

I would look for a good used thumbler or lortone. They cost more new, but good used ones are out there. Parts are also available, unless it's a really old model.

I was good with the harbor freight tumbler, until that pulley melted and I found that they don't make that part as a spare.

I have read of one other person with this issue and I do not believe it is common for the pulley to melt/break. Just disappointed they make no spares.

[MrWolf]

I have used mine with no issues long enough to have worn out the covers on the rollers. Just used electrical tape. I purchased extra belts but have not needed any yet. As others said, small batches but works for what I want.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i have been thinking about getting one for a wile now how many pieces of 44 mag brass will it hold and how many pounds of SS pins will i need

[texassako]

Just remember, if the fan/ belt pulley breaks, they make no replacements. I had to rig up a pulley after my pulley melted. Belt got jammed and heated up the pulley melting it. Luckily, the fan portion was usable. Used a pulley from a sewing machine. Just enough clearance to squeeze the belt over the pulley between the housing and pulley.

I was told by Harbor freight that they don't make the belts anymore as a replacement and you will have to order them online from third parties. Not a big deal, they are cheap, but not available at Harbor freight.

I would look for a good used thumbler or lortone. They cost more new, but good used ones are out there. Parts are also available, unless it's a really old model.

I was good with the harbor freight tumbler, until that pulley melted and I found that they don't make that part as a spare.

I have read of one other person with this issue and I do not believe it is common for the pulley to melt/break. Just disappointed they make no spares.

Lortone parts can be used as replacements from what I have seen. A new metal Lortone pulley is about $3 and a metal fan blade is around $4. The belts are still available to orde on the HF website, but I would use an aftermarket oring when mine breaks anyway.

[VintageRifle]

I tried ordering belts 2 months ago, was told they did not have any. Might have changed now.

Will have to check the hole diameter on the lortone parts. Was looking at them, but thought the hf tumbler has a larger shaft. If they do fit, then hf tumbler works great.

[mdi]

Internal drum friction is enough to draw media/brass up high enough to "tumble" back down. I have used HF drum tumblers for mebbe twenty years total, and have never needed to replace anything (My first tumbler worked quite well for 12 years before I "improved" it, so I got a 2 drum unit about 8 years ago). I have used them wet and dry, using no media, just liquid, and hard ceramic media for parts cleaning, to "normal" cob blast media.

[bangerjim]

You don't need paddles to get tumbling to work!

[VintageRifle]

Should add that I use my dual drum hf tumbler for cleaning my brass. 9mm to 30-06. I also use thumler tumblers. They all work.

[1911KY]

I have been running my dual drum HF tumbler for about 11 months now with no issues. I would estimate I have cleaned 6,000 cases to date. I generally get 100 45 cases in each drum and I tumble for an hour. Mine came with 4 additional rubber belts.

[pretzelxx]

I got the single barrel one with my 20% coupon and done probably about 3000 cases of 9mm 45 and 223 with some large rifle tossed in the mix. They come out with clean flash holes and all. Don't forget the lemi shine!

[Bayou52]

If anyone has any issues with the belts breaking on HF tumblers, and are having issues getting replacement belts, you can consider substituting a same sized o-ring for the belt. I did just that with my Thumlers tumbler, and the o-ring substitute has outlasted the factory belt hands down.

Just an idea.......

Bayou52