Tumbler Saga

[El Chivo]

I thought I'd post about my latest problem, one of the ones that's holding up my reloading process.

My Lyman 2500 tumbler died after about 60 hours of use (not continuously, either). But it might have been my fault because I put a box over it to quell the noise.

I didn't save my receipt so a new motor would have been $55.00. But the truth is, I hated the thing so much because it was so loud, and obnoxious sounding. So I decided to take it apart and see what I could do with it.

The springs attach to the base with hot glue, and I used my handy heat gun to melt it. Once you take a look, you can see how it works. An electric motor hangs on the bottom of the bowl. The motor has a weight on its shaft that is slightly off center. As it spins, it tilts the bowl a little, in every direction (because the whole assembly is standing freely on the springs). Make that fast enough, and it comes out as vibrating action.

I took the dead motor off, and substituted a motor I got from an electric fan. I centered this motor as well as I could, drilled a couple of holes and bolted it on. Then I got some epoxy paste (like JB Weld) and formed up a plug for the shaft. I put two 170 grain lead bullets into the paste, off center. Then I let that dry.

Well, it runs like a champ. The new motor, from a $20.00 electric fan, seems to be superior to the Lyman motor. Time will tell. But it runs much quieter. All I can hear is the sound of the media and brass. Plus, I now have 3 speed settings, whereas the Lyman doesn't even have a switch.

The only problem right now is cooling. The fan motor can run all day, but it's used to having excellent air flow. I'm testing it to see how hot it gets, right now I have it set up with separate cooling fans. I have rigged up a base for the tumbler that has a fan in it, blowing straight up. Hopefully I can come up with a good combination so I don't burn it out like I did the original.

Cleaning action looks pretty decent, I think that's more of a function of the weight than the motor. I might have to run it a few more cycles to match the cleaning action, but I'm happy that I can run this tumbler without going crazy with the noise. Plus I did it with stuff I had around the house, rather than forking out big bucks. When/if this burns out, I'll probably just break up another fan.

[jbm1968]

Great do it yourself fix!

[jengel]

Good post. Thanks.

[MikeS.]

Sobenk said "But it might have been my fault because I put a box over it to quell the noise."

Yep, I read the Lyman instruction book last night and it specifically said not to cover it.

I had picked up a used Lyman 600 20 years ago but had never used it. I was reading to see what I needed to know.

[Big Bore 94]

Use caution. Monitor closely. Midway had a recall years ago on a tumbler that could overheat. I like the three speed quiet option. Patent time?

[Ysabel Kid]

Sounds like a good solution, but I'd watch it just to make sure it doesn't overheat and start a fire!

[El Chivo]

The previous one was on a timer while I was at work, and when it stopped it apparently got pretty hot. I don't know how many cycles it was like that, either. I would just check it every few days. The Lyman motor does have a big assembly on the side which I think is a thermal shutdown switch. But when I felt it, it was quite hot.

This one I'm afraid to put on the timer yet. I can set the timer for a half-hour cycle, but I want to watch how hot it gets. But since the noise is not so bad, I can run it while I'm home and keep an eye on it.

[brucew44guns]

You're the kind of guy that needs to be along on a very long trip in the back country when travelling in a beat up and very outdated old truck or SUV. Something breaks, and we would all be stranded, but---no, you're along, thankfully, to get a quick fix going using whatever parts and tools that are available. I admire that kind of being resourceful.

[DennisD]

Covering it with a box was definitely a no-no; you should feel

All Kidding aside, one of the first things I did to my Frankford was remove the metal cover off the bottom allowing more airflow from the built in fan that cools the motor. I just have to make sure not to set the unit where it will suck in dust and clog the motor.