Tumbler getting hot

[pepperbelly]

I tumbled some brass tonight. When I dumped it in the seperator I noticed the motor area of the tumbler was hot- I didn't touch the motor itself but it was pretty hot.
It's a Dillon CV500 tumbler. It sits on my garage concrete floor so it gete good air flow.

Is it normal for them to get hot? I never noticed this before.

Jim

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

Well, any electric motor working under a load will get hot. Question is, how hot is still normal? That's not so clear.

Most small electric motors have cheap bronze sleeve bearings with oil lubricant. Oil is a liquid, liquids evaporate. Dry oil leaves a thick gummy residue that inhibits freedom of movement and that increases the heat, heat speeds the rate of evaporation and gumming. Eventually the motor shaft will seize and the motor winding will burn out.

NO tumbler maker I know of suggests it but we can easily extend the life of tumbler motors by applying a few drops of light, non-gumming oil to both bearings every year or so. I prefer Automatic Transmission Fluid from Walmart. (WD-40 is perhaps the worst, it dries and turns gummy pretty quickly.)

 

[Chiller]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

How long were you running it? How heavy of a load were you tumbling?

 

[jrpilot]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

My Dillon gets warm.

 

[pepperbelly]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

The last time it ran was only a couple of hours. When I dumped the brass and media in the seperator the bottom of the bowl was hot. I just got this after dad died so I have no idea if it got hot before. I have an RCBS that has ran overnight and I never noticed it getting hot.
I will see if I can oil the Dillon.
Jim

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pepperbelly</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I tumbled some brass tonight. When I dumped it in the seperator I noticed the motor area of the tumbler was hot- I didn't touch the motor itself but it was pretty hot.
It's a Dillon CV500 tumbler. It sits on my garage concrete floor so it gete good air flow.

Is it normal for them to get hot? I never noticed this before.

Jim </div></div>

I've had my CV-500 since 1995 and I'll tumble for 60-90 minutes and then call it a day. The motor gets hot where you wouldn't want to leave your finger on it for too long.

If you tumble for more than 90 minutes, you're doing something wrong, IMO. Add polish and rotate fresh media in every 10-15 cycles, is how I do it.

Chris

 

[pepperbelly]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

Thanks Chris. That is good to know. Mine had ran for about 90 minutes and it did get uncomfortably hot. I will limit the sessions to an hour. That is long enough to clean the brass.
I will take some time this weekend and see if I can figure out why the RCBS seems to run cooler. I will also use it for longer sessions if necessary like range pickups.

Jim

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: pepperbelly</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks Chris. That is good to know. Mine had ran for about 90 minutes and it did get uncomfortably hot. I will limit the sessions to an hour. That is long enough to clean the brass.
I will take some time this weekend and see if I can figure out why the RCBS seems to run cooler. I will also use it for longer sessions if necessary like range pickups.

Jim </div></div>

Back in the day, when I got mine, Dillon was using a good 'beer can' motor by Emmerson out of St. Louis. I've heard that they've since gone to China for their motors and have had 'longevity' issues. It's a good size motor, the same one used in the CV-2000 and I think it's the same for the CV-2001 and now CV-750. It's a big motor and will no doubt, get hot.

One of my pet peeves here is seeing how long people tumble their brass...4, 6, 8 hours and even overnight. This is just cutting down on the life of one's motor and is totally unnecessary if you ask me.

Polish helps...walnut for dirty brass and corn for fairly clean brass. It's not an operating room table and brass doesn't need to be spotless.

I pretty much use walnut all of the time, with Dillon or Flitz polish. My stuff comes out pimpy.

Chris

 

[pepperbelly]

Re: Tumbler getting hot

I really don't care if my brass is shiny. I just want clean so it doesn't scratch my dies or chamber. I haven't looked yet but I think my RCBS tumbler's motor is open. The Dillon has a skirted cover around the motor. If that's the case I will try a fan blowing under the Dillon.
I use corn cob media in the Dillon and have walnut in the RCBS. I had thought about using blue to clean and green to polish but I end up skipping polishing. I may just use corn cob in both if I have a lot of brass.
I use a little Lyman polish in them to help clean the brass.

Jim