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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Oct 11, 2004 11:11:34 GMT -5
Hello everyone, Oh, woe is me! My tumbler died! I returned home from a trip to Garden City, Kansas (70miles one way from my home) to find that my tumbler was not running . I had checked it just six hours earlier (nothing appeared to be wrong), good action, good moisture, nothing sounded irregular, etc. When I opened the door to my rock shop, I definitely knew something was terribly wrong . The motor was locked up and smoking something fierce ... I shut the switch off and unplugged the electrical cord. I took everything apart and tried to run the motor with no load on it ... no luck at all . So, I am in the market for a new motor The worst part about it was, I was going to go into polish when I got back home ... I have about 71/2 to 8 pounds of Laguna Agates, Botswana Agates, Petrified Woods, Tiger Eyes, Petrified Dinosaur Bone, Turtilla Agate and a few other goodies ... and now I have to wait to find a new motor! I do have another tumbler ... it's a 3 pounder ... but the lids to both bowls are shot and need to be replaced. It's been a barn burner around here ... there is just not enough time in the day! Well, wish me luck ... I can definitely use it ;D John
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 11, 2004 14:32:54 GMT -5
sounds like you already had a little luck in the fact that the darn thing didn't burn your rock shop down! what kind of tumbler was it? what kind of motor do you need to replace?
sounds like you have a list of things that need replacing! and now WE have to wait to see your latest batch TOO!!!
get on the phone, dust that credit card off.....bite the bullet.
KD
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 11, 2004 14:58:21 GMT -5
Hey Bear, send me those Laguna Agates and I will take care of them for you! ;D Pits about the tumbler. Good thing you got home when you did or the whole house might have gone up in smoke. Easy to get a new motor and or lids - just pick up the phone and make that call! llana
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Post by cookie3rocks on Oct 11, 2004 18:43:18 GMT -5
And do it NOW!!! Oh, uh, sorry ;D Must feed the addiction...
cookie
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Post by rockyraccoon on Oct 11, 2004 22:43:47 GMT -5
how awful john - what kind of tumbler is it? glad you caught it in time.
kim
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Post by Cher on Oct 11, 2004 23:03:30 GMT -5
Awww John, I'm sorry but very glad that it didn't start something on fire. Hope you get a new motor quickly, like Cookie said, need to feed the addiction!!!
Cher
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Post by stoner on Oct 12, 2004 0:16:56 GMT -5
I thought the motors on those tumblers were thermally protected(Thumlers and Lortones). Kinda makes ya wonder just how much protection they actually have.
Ed
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deepsouth
fully equipped rock polisher
He who rocks last rocks best
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,256
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Post by deepsouth on Oct 12, 2004 5:31:45 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about the burnt motor John, hope you can get another soon. Always love your pictures so hurry hurry please Jack
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Oct 12, 2004 6:11:08 GMT -5
Is this actually a threat? I sleep and go to work, and there is no one else here. Should I worry about fires, or was this a fluke like a meteor hitting you?
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 12, 2004 6:36:12 GMT -5
Maz, I think it is more of a fluke than a threat. I wouldn't worry about it. I haven't ever heard of this type of thing happening to anyone else. Of course, that doesn't mean it hasn't happened - just that I've never heard about it.
I run a QT66, three 33B's and a vibe 24/7 in my RV and never even think about something like that happening. I worry more about my little electric heaters. Can't count the times I have gotten halfway to work then come back home to make sure I turned them off.
llana
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Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355
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Post by Mazanec on Oct 12, 2004 7:17:04 GMT -5
I would not use an electric heater. I have enough trouble remembering to take my meds, I would DEFINITELY leave the heater on at least several times a winter.
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Oct 12, 2004 7:34:20 GMT -5
I would rather use the furnace in the RV, but it runs on propane and the propane goes FAST when I run the furnace all the time. Electricity is free here at the park, so I don't use the furnace much. Gotta save $$ on propane so I can buy more rocks and stuff, ya' know! Of course, I probably use so much electrity running these tumblers, the grinder, the miter saw, sander, drill, dremel and all my other tools I use for my crafts projects, I wouldn't be surprised if they started charging me extra for electricity. llana
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Post by Cher on Oct 12, 2004 7:40:41 GMT -5
Llana, you must have one HUGE RV to have all that stuff in. Where do you sleep? Man, that would be the way to go eh? Take all your rock stuff and drive to where the rocks are. pages.prodigy.net/bestsmileys1/signs/RockOn.gif [/img] ~ Cher ~
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Oct 12, 2004 10:36:24 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
It was a Gy-Rock 10 pounder. I have this tumbler on a surge bar as well as a GFI (Ground Fault Interupter) and I still can not figure out why it did not trip the circuit and shut it off?
My rock shop is made from concrete and brick ... so the only thing that would have burned was the bench and my plastic coffee containers.
It's hard to tell how long it was like that ... we were gone for a total of 9 1/2 hours ... and it was only smoking (badly) and extremely hot to the touch. So, I feel pretty lucky!
I tried to stack the two 3# bowls (I found a couple of lids that would have worked) and try tumbling some that way ... and the #*!?@*! belt broke on my three pounder as well. The model B (3 pounder from Gy-Rock) can stack bowls on top of eact other and have up to three phases going at one time (so they claim ...). So, I am back at square one.
Hope your week is better than mine has started out ;D
Enjoy,
John
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Post by krazydiamond on Oct 12, 2004 10:49:34 GMT -5
i have a few tumblers that are dying a slow death....i keep replacing belts (they are both CE's) and the little plastic fan thingmon, but they just don't seem to be turning fast enough to be effective. i think they are destined to bite the dust soon.....i suppose i'll just keep them for spare parts for the other two that are still hanging in there, meanwhile the two 3# Lortones are quietly tumbling happily....
just put a load of "scrap" that has been running FOREVER into polish and i have a batch of obsidian in SISA.....
i need extra supplies of patience this week! KD
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WilliamC
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2003
Posts: 416
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Post by WilliamC on Oct 12, 2004 14:44:08 GMT -5
Greetings All, I haven't been participating much lately (well not at all since July), I just sort of let the rocks lay for a while. But I finally started up the tumblers again last weekend so I figure I can legitimately post to the boards again I had one of my Lortone QT12's seize up when the power went off to our house, apparently when the power came back on the roller shaft "stuck" and the barrel didn't start turning again. When I noticed it the motor was very hot, so I unplugged it and let it cool and it wouldn't start again. I called FASCO the manufacturer, and apparently they make the motors especially for Lortone and so don't give any information on it to anyone else. I called Lortone and they don't have a repair kit or anything for it, I was thinking maybe if the brushes burned out I could try replacing those. I even took it into the electronics shop where I work and asked if anyone there tinkered with such in their spare time, alas no one does. So I decided to plug it in one more time...and it worked again. I suppose there is a temperature sensing switch or something and I just hadn't let it cool down enough the first time I tried it. Anyway it now works and is running, so I'm happy. But I did find out that there is really no way to repair the motors, unless you are know enough about electronics to figure out what parts to buy and do it yourself without any help. For what it's worth there are several QT12's on Ebay right now for pretty cheap, I'm bidding on them but please if anyone wants to pay more go for it. WilliamC
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Post by connrock on Oct 12, 2004 19:52:58 GMT -5
Hi John, Sorry about your motor. I'm not familiar with the Gy-Rock's motor but one of the main causes for motor failure is lack of lubricating the bearings.Some of these motors cost over $40.00 and all they need is a couple of drops of oil to make them last. I could never figure out why the 3000 rpm motors have sealed bearings and the 1500 rpm don't.It would be great if the slower motors were worry free as the faster models are. Good luck with your repair and tumbling. Tom
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