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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 5, 2004 0:24:27 GMT -5
dang we're having thunder and lightning. if it knocks the power out will that hurt my tumblers. how long could they be idle?
kim
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Pdwight
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2003
Posts: 619
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Post by Pdwight on Feb 5, 2004 0:41:38 GMT -5
Hi Kim , I have a pretty good background in Electronics and I wanted to address your question. If you are having blackouts it will not hurt your tumblers at all, the danger comes in the form of a "Brown out" or when the line voltage drops 10-60% this can cause some problems with electric motors..the type that have the most problems are the Brush type motors. Your QT66s have a Fasco non brush type motor that will tolarate a lot of abuse from an electrical standpoint. Now if your power were off for days you might have a problem with the "pancake batter" or the grit slurry setting up like concrete..but a couple of hours should do no damage.
Dwight P
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 5, 2004 1:52:23 GMT -5
pdwight thanks for that info. i'm feeling better about the tumblers now. of course the alarm going off gave me something else to worry about. cats did something but i can't figure out what yet. it's always their fault. yep - they knocked shrek down out of the barbie house. broke his foot off he landed so hard. better shrek than my rocks!
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shorty
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 392
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Post by shorty on Feb 5, 2004 10:57:28 GMT -5
hi all rockeyracoon i will gladley trade you a lot of snow for some rain. how many feet do you want.. we have about 7 feet to spare.. wont hafe to worry about power outs just heat.. shorty
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Trylobyte
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by Trylobyte on Feb 5, 2004 12:08:48 GMT -5
Had an outage couple of weeks ago, and fortunately I got home within a few hours.
The rough grind tumbler was pretty well seized up inside. All the grit and rocks had just turned into a lump of concrete, with the water sitting on top. And this caused the tumbler to refuse to restart rolling when power came back on. The motor just couldn't seem to turn the lopsided lump from a standing start. I was concerned that this could ruin the motor, but it didn't seem overheated. It did start turning with help, but spent the next several hours thunking along until the whole mess loosened up.
The sanding and prepolish suffered the same problem, but didn't seem to seize up as tight as the rough grind.
I'm seriously considering building a circuit that will detect a power out condition, and disconnet the power until I am able to sort things out. Haven't got that far yet though. Anybody done this?
I'm more concerned with the motors than the load...
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Post by rockyraccoon on Feb 5, 2004 13:25:18 GMT -5
so if you had been home would you have shaken the barrel frequently, hand-stirred the load, or empty the load and recharge when the electricity came back on? how long before it starts to set up like concrete?
kim
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llanago
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2004
Posts: 1,714
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Post by llanago on Feb 5, 2004 14:25:52 GMT -5
how long before it starts to set up like concrete?
I'd be interested in knowing this also.
Also, when the slurry does set up, is it as strong as concrete? If so, I am planning to recycle it into stepping stones that I can do a mosaic with my polished stones.
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Trylobyte
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by Trylobyte on Feb 5, 2004 16:58:16 GMT -5
My barrels sat for about 6 hours, and they weren't really like concrete, rather like real stiff clay mud. If there wasn't much water in there, it could be ugly...
Everything did loosen up after several hours of rolling.
If I had been there, I would've just sat it out. Not much else to do. I'm very much more concerned with the barrels not restarting when the power comes on, and having the motors melt down.
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SilverHeights
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2003
Posts: 101
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Post by SilverHeights on Feb 5, 2004 18:44:46 GMT -5
I live in an area where power failures are a fact of life in winter. I have a back up generator for the important things.. like my tumblers, a coffee pot and some heat and lights and usually in that order too. Anything else can wait until the power comes back on. Dorothy
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