Post by herb on Jul 11, 2023 18:49:47 GMT -5
We have a rotary tumbler that up until now my girlfriend only used for cleaning or work hardening wire wrapped pendants and rings so it has only run for 1 or 2 hours at a time.
I've been collecting little bits of trim saw and slab saw scraps for a couple of years with the intent to eventually polish them. I was going to do most of the tumbling with a Lot-O vibratory tumbler, but for the initial shaping to round off the sharp corners I wanted to use the rotary tumbler.
The tumbler uses barrels that are about 10 inches in diameter, 9 inches tall, with the hexagon shaped interior about 7.5 inches wide. I guess these a 10 or 12 LB barrels.
I have already run 1 batch thru the course grind. It started at about 7 LB of rocks. Three days ago I cleaned off the rocks, separated out what was done, added some new rocks and started the process again. This morning I went to check on the tumbler and found it wasn't running. The motor wasn't hot and it wasn't making any noise at all. I flipped the power switch on and off but no go. Then I took the barrel off, turned it on and the motor ran fine. When I put the barrel back on, I had to help it start but then it ran although it sounded like the motor was struggling a bit.
I weighed the barrel and it was 19 LB. I weighed an empty barrel and it was about 7 LB, so there was 12 LB or rocks, grit, and water in the barrel, so I guess I might have over loaded it a bit. I was just going to take a few pounds out and continue on, but when I had just the empty barrel running, I noticed that the motor was making squeaking noises. Sometimes they were fairly constant and sometimes they would be intermittent for a bit before becoming more constant again so I am wondering if the motor is on its way out.
I thought I remembered someone on this site saying gear motors were pretty easy to fix, or at least easy to get a stuck one to run again. I also noticed 2 small holes on the motor. Are these oil points? I've never done anything to the motor in all the years we've had it, so if they are oil points, it could certainly use lube. What to use? Would 3-in-1 be acceptable? Should I try opening the motor up to see if anything is worn, or am I asking for trouble messing with it?
The other odd thing I noticed is that the label on the motor says its 50 RPM. When I measured it running with no barrel the motor shaft was turning at 70 RPM. With the empty barrel or the loaded barrel, it turned at 50 RPM. I am surprised a gear motor changes speed so much. The barrel itself turns at about 10 RPM.
Here are some pics:
20230711_155047 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
20230711_160251 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
20230711_155109 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
I've been collecting little bits of trim saw and slab saw scraps for a couple of years with the intent to eventually polish them. I was going to do most of the tumbling with a Lot-O vibratory tumbler, but for the initial shaping to round off the sharp corners I wanted to use the rotary tumbler.
The tumbler uses barrels that are about 10 inches in diameter, 9 inches tall, with the hexagon shaped interior about 7.5 inches wide. I guess these a 10 or 12 LB barrels.
I have already run 1 batch thru the course grind. It started at about 7 LB of rocks. Three days ago I cleaned off the rocks, separated out what was done, added some new rocks and started the process again. This morning I went to check on the tumbler and found it wasn't running. The motor wasn't hot and it wasn't making any noise at all. I flipped the power switch on and off but no go. Then I took the barrel off, turned it on and the motor ran fine. When I put the barrel back on, I had to help it start but then it ran although it sounded like the motor was struggling a bit.
I weighed the barrel and it was 19 LB. I weighed an empty barrel and it was about 7 LB, so there was 12 LB or rocks, grit, and water in the barrel, so I guess I might have over loaded it a bit. I was just going to take a few pounds out and continue on, but when I had just the empty barrel running, I noticed that the motor was making squeaking noises. Sometimes they were fairly constant and sometimes they would be intermittent for a bit before becoming more constant again so I am wondering if the motor is on its way out.
I thought I remembered someone on this site saying gear motors were pretty easy to fix, or at least easy to get a stuck one to run again. I also noticed 2 small holes on the motor. Are these oil points? I've never done anything to the motor in all the years we've had it, so if they are oil points, it could certainly use lube. What to use? Would 3-in-1 be acceptable? Should I try opening the motor up to see if anything is worn, or am I asking for trouble messing with it?
The other odd thing I noticed is that the label on the motor says its 50 RPM. When I measured it running with no barrel the motor shaft was turning at 70 RPM. With the empty barrel or the loaded barrel, it turned at 50 RPM. I am surprised a gear motor changes speed so much. The barrel itself turns at about 10 RPM.
Here are some pics:
20230711_155047 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
20230711_160251 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
20230711_155109 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr