Dillon cv500 case tumbler crapped out

[bigjake]

I bought a used dillon cv500 case tumbler and before I could get one load of brass done it started going slow. it wouldnt shake enough to clean the soot off the cases. This tumbler is almost new, its in perfect shape. you can tell it was rarely used. The slow motion is obviously why the guy was selling it.

Has anyone had this problem with these machines? I thought Dillon's products were top notch. My junk harbor freight tumbler is miles better so far. I took it apart and the bearings are still good. I've never had a motor act like this.

Will Dillon do anything about this? Is there a motor that can be retrofitted to work?

Thanks

[jdfoxinc]

Dillon lifetime warranty?

[blackriver]

I had the same problem on 2 of them. Called Dillon, the replaced the motors at no charge.

[dragon813gt]

You bought a used unit that apparently had problems, which is why it was being sold, and you’re blaming Dillon? Just asking because I’d be mad at the guy a I bought it from more than the manufacturer. Call Dillon and see what they will do for you. It’s the only way you will find out.

[oldsman]

dillon has a limited warranty on electric powered devices now if they dont warranty it you may be able to buy a replacement motor from them , I have the large one and done many 5 gallon buckets of brass and still going strong

[wolfwing]

Dillon's NO BS warranty is BS on their tumblers. My motor quit on their big tumbler and it is $121 to replace it plus I have to send the old motor back. I switched to SS pins and Dillon's tumbler is still sitting

[bigjake]

I think Dillon should at least guarantee the motors for as long as the original manufacturer engineered them to last. I bet that most of the motors, at least the defective cv-500 ones broke way before dillon or the manufacturer thought they would.

[LUBEDUDE]

I have had good experiences with my Dillon tumblers. I have three.

One of my 500’s lasted around 20 years and I abused the fire out of it. I tumble in a shed away from the house and my reloading area. I would constantly forget about it for days. One time it ran for a week in the summer. It must have easily been 110 + degrees in that shed. It was still running when I went out there.

I was surprised how much it cost to replace the motor down the road. I had them put a 750 motor in it. I only remember that it was over $100. I’ve had no problems from the other two.

[dragon813gt]

Dillon's NO BS warranty is BS on their tumblers.
The tumblers and some other items don’t carry this warranty. Which isn’t surprising since motors are going to fail. The motor manufactures don’t usually offer warranties so I don’t see why Dillon would.

[MUSTANG]

Several Decades ago, I Bought the large Dillon Vibratory Tumbler (now model 2001) and used it for several years - literally tumbling 100,000's rifle/pistol cases. At the time I was in the military and it was put in storage when I was assigned overseas for two years. Came back and had my "Stuff" shipped to my new duty station; after a couple of months I completed unpacking and "SURPRISE" the Dillon Vibratory Tumbler, all my .44Mag, 38Spcl, and 30-06 reloading items had disappeared with my other reloading equipment still there (Selective Stealing). Anyway; by then when I bought a new Dillon Tumbler to replace the previous one; Dillon no longer offered their "NO BS" warranty on items. Two years later the Dillon Tumbler crapped out. Called Dillon; and the replacement motor was 60% of the cost of a new Tumbler. I decided to buy low end/less know brand names and throw them out when they broke. The Dillon broken tumbler sits on a shelf in a cabinet in the reloading shed unrepaired; I have gone through three lesser grade tumblers now; and am just about even on cost had I repaired the Dillon unit. I still have lots of Dillon products and they are of good quality; but prices can be high and a cost benefit analysis is sometimes worth doing on some items.

As an aside on the discussion; I had been told that one could use a "Bathroom Exhaust Fan Motor" as a replacement on Tumblers. Tried to find a comparable motor for the Dillon for months unsuccessfully; should someone know of a suitable replacement motor through other sources; share it with the group - Would be nice to pull that Dillon Unit out of the Storage Closet and put it back to work after all these years.

[retread]

I am the second owner of a Dillon 2000. I knew the previous owner and he ran many thousanda of cases through it before I bought it from his widow. I ran thousands of cases through it with no problems. It is sitting now that I have switched to a rotary and SS pins.

[bigjake]

I tried to call Dillon. I was on hold for over 30 mins. I gave up for now.
Does anyone know the rpm of the motor? If I can find one that has the same or close rpm, diameter shaft and will physically fit underneath, I will fabricate and weld up a mount so I can use a regular type motor, not that toy looking junk motor that it has. I want to re-use the original offset weight that is shaped like a fan blade to circulate air to cool the motor.

[bigjake]

You bought a used unit that apparently had problems, which is why it was being sold, and you’re blaming Dillon? Just asking because I’d be mad at the guy a I bought it from more than the manufacturer. Call Dillon and see what they will do for you. It’s the only way you will find out.

The guy i bought it from didnt use it himself, he said he plugged it in and it worked, In which it did for me also, just slowly. The guy wouldnt have paid attention to the rpm, it vibrated thats all he was concerned with.

So I should be mad at him? But not upset with the premier reloading products manufacturer of the world? Who at one time claimed a no BS guarantee?
I'm sure AO Smith assured or guaranteed that their motors would work for a long time or Dillon wouldn't have went with them.
Since there was such a problem with the AO smith motors on the CV-500 why didn't Dillon go after them?
You dont need to stick up for Dillon, the are big enough to stand on their own.

[bigjake]

I'm totally glad that those of you that had good luck with their tumblers are happy. LUBEDUDE, thats crazy how that CV-500 lasted for a week in the summer heat!
I sure hope that Dillon is straight up with their other equipments warranties.

[MUSTANG]

I tried to call Dillon. I was on hold for over 30 mins. I gave up for now.
Does anyone know the rpm of the motor? If I can find one that has the same or close rpm, diameter shaft and will physically fit underneath, I will fabricate and weld up a mount so I can use a regular type motor, not that toy looking junk motor that it has. I want to replace the original offset weight that is shaped like a fan blade to circulate air to cool the motor.

Bigjake;

Not trying to be "Know It All"; but that offset weight is required to cause the tumbler to vibrate. It's designed to cause an imbalance on the shaft and that is what makes the Tumbler vibrate to cause the media to move and abrade the trash and corrosion off the brass.

[dragon813gt]

Dillon does not offer the No BS warranty on every product. The 1050 being the most well known of these. They do have multi year warranties on these products. So like I said, call them and see what they will do for you. I can’t tell you how many motors I’ve replaced in my trade over the years. What I can tell you is that they quality gets worse every day. The smaller the motor the less the manufacturer cares because they consider them disposable.

[Walks]

I've been running a Lyman 1200 for 38yrs.
A Thumblers Ultra-Vibe 10 for 32yrs.
The lining on the Thumblers "tub" died after 3yrs. $65 + shipping for a new one. Screw that.
Bought a Lyman 2200 "tub" for $25 shipping included.
Everything is working great.

[edp2k]

Commercial reloaders were abusing Dillon's no BS warrantee by continuously using (24x7x365xmany-years)
Dillon products with electronics until they failed, then calling Dillon and getting yet another replacement, ad-infinitum.

As a result, Dillon put a limited warrantee on their products that contained electronics (i.e. vibrating tumblers, electronic scales, etc.).
Note that, if you can somehow document that the broken electronic product you have was purchased before Dillon
changed their policy, Dillon will replace that product. You may have to remind them of that fact :)

Also note, this is Dillon's policy, not mine, so if you don't agree with it then don't complain to me about it.

[trebor44]

I have a bowl case cleaner and have done a few "repairs" to it over the last 30 years. Clean up the motor if you have the mechanical skills, get a better or bigger motor or just send it back to Dillon. The motor is somewhat generic and uses a weight on the shaft to help create the 'good vibrations'. They are simple devices designed to shortcut the box of cases with media in the pickup bed driven down a bumpy road!

[Static line]

I think my CV500 is about 10 or so years old, heck, maybe even 15 and it still runs like a top. My RCBS tumbler went south on me. My Berry is pretty good for the money too.

[bigjake]

Does anyone know the approx rpm of the motor? any case tumbler motors rpm would get me in the ballpark.

[Mr_Sheesh]

You could look for a video on YouTube or Dillon's web site and try to guess the RPMs from the sound of the tumbler, I think my tumblers have been on the order of 5-10 Rotations per Second roughly? But this is under load, not unloaded. Should be a data plate on the motor telling all or at least the motor's maker and specs?

[remy3424]

I don't have a Dillon cleaner, but when my well abused (well over a decade, maybe 2 now) FA unit started slowing down and struggling to start, as a last ditch effort before purchasing a new one, I put a drop of oil on the motor shaft, spun it by hand, let it sit a while then spun it again. It has it has maybe a few days (2 hours per use) worth of use on it since and seems like new again. When I was younger I was a brass rat, now I have my supply and am not "that guy" any more, so my cleaner use is a fraction of what it was. I don't think any company I have dealt with has the same warrarany on eletronic items as non-powered things....even HF, but we won't start on their electric tools.

[GBertolet]

I have a CV-500 tumbler. The motor burned out after a few years. I returned the tumbler to Dillon, and they replaced the motor for $35. A year and a half later, the motor burned out again. I had retired, and was using the tumbler much more. I contacted Dillon again, and they responded, that that motor is no longer made, and Dillon used up the existing stock they had, replacing all the burned out motors in the CV-500 tumblers. It was a proprietary motor that they used, and you would not find a replacement elsewhere. I was informed by them, that they discovered the original A.O. Smith motor they used, was not up to the job of powering the tumbler.

Dillon then went to the same motor that they use in the CV-1000. The cost would be $105 for the new motor, and the required different mounting hardware. They renamed the upgraded tumbler the CV-750. At first I wasn't going to pay that, and purchased a Lyman 1200 tumbler for $50. That was 10 years ago, and the Lyman is still running great. Anyhow I got tired of looking at the disabled Dillon tumbler, and broke down, and sent the tumbler, and a check for $105 to Dillon, just to have a spare tumbler. It came back with the upgraded motor, and looking like new. It's still sitting in the box, on the shelf, waiting for the Lyman tumbler to die. It may be quite a wait.

[Mr_Sheesh]

If you lube a motor shaft I'd suggest sewing machine oil or the like instead of heavy grease, particularly multiweight grease; Why do I say this? Because multiweight oil gets thicker as it gets hot and when I put some on my fan shaft, the fan would spin up to full speed, then as it heated up it would slow down to far too slow a speed. I degreased it and used sewing machine oil and it worked properly from then on.

[salpal48]

Buy a Lortone

[David2011]

My CV-500 died as well. I had purchased it new. When it died I was running it day and night so heat was probably a contributing factor. Dillon sent a new motor at a reasonable price. It didn’t last long. They made a reasonable offer to put a CV-750 motor on it but I had to ship it to them. Not a direct swap. Bigger motor is a regular motor instead of an open frame fan motor like the original. There’s a huge difference in power. I don’t regret having it repaired.

I also had a CV-2000 but it was very big, heavy and hard to handle due to a permanent injury in my arm. It was at chest level. At normal counter top height it wouldn’t have been as cumbersome.

[bigjake]

My CV-500 died as well. I had purchased it new. When it died I was running it day and night so heat was probably a contributing factor. Dillon sent a new motor at a reasonable price. It didn’t last long. They made a reasonable offer to put a CV-750 motor on it but I had to ship it to them. Not a direct swap. Bigger motor is a regular motor instead of an open frame fan motor like the original. There’s a huge difference in power. I don’t regret having it repaired.

I also had a CV-2000 but it was very big, heavy and hard to handle due to a permanent injury in my arm. It was at chest level. At normal counter top height it wouldn’t have been as cumbersome.

Can you post a picture of the motor and how it is mounted?

[David2011]

Unfortunately I can’t right now. Everything is in storage for a few more weeks. I’ll try to remember to post a photo when I move into my new shop.