one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Apr 15, 2007 23:38:31 GMT -5
Hey folks, a bit of a dilemma for you.
Yesterday I went to run a second barrel on my Lortone 33b and as soon as I put the second barrel on the whole thing froze up. I took it off and it the single barrel started again.
I thought the barrels may be too heavy, so I took some rocks out of both and kept trying. Same result. I got them both down to 2/3 full each and still it won't work.
I have run it before with 2 barrels with no problems.
Any ideas?
Is there anything that I should check or that might need replacing?
Thanks from one very frustrated rockhound.
Mike
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yogibear
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2006
Posts: 100
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Post by yogibear on Apr 15, 2007 23:56:39 GMT -5
Check the belt and see if it aligned correctly and not to tight or loose. The belt on my 33b tends to stretch and finaly can't be adjusted tighter. New belt time.
yogibear
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Apr 16, 2007 1:23:43 GMT -5
I had a long run of this kind of problem, tried lighter loads, adjusted motors for belt tension and nothing seemed to help- until I took the belt off and scrubbed it in hot soapy water, then let it dry, apparently the belt had become sort of glazed over and just wasn't pulling with the tourque it should have.
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Post by LCARS on Apr 16, 2007 2:15:30 GMT -5
Note if the motor pulley stops turning when the barrels stop. If it does then don't tighten the belt tension. If it does keep turning then your belt tension is too loose and needs to be tightened. Overtightening the belt when you have a dry seizing up bushing only makes the problem worse. Unplug it, pop the cover off and slide the belt off the motor pulley, now try to spin each roller shaft by hand and see how easy they both turn. If either does not turn very freely by hand you need to grease the head and back bushings on each end of each roller shaft. I use a mix of vaseline, motor oil & Duralube additive because that's what I happened to have lying around the day my roller bushings decided to seize up on me. It's been working pretty good so far. Heavy axle grease will workif you cut it down with some 30w or it will likely gum up on you before too long. Oh-ya, if you can get a drop of motor oil into each of the motor shaft bearings that will help keep the motor running smoothly too. The motor in the 33b is not really as powerful as it should be for the load it ends up running so every thing you can do to help maintain the lowest friction and misallignment possible will help. If you see alot of greasy black chode splattered in a line inside the motor housing, chances are you have a lateral misallignment between the motor and drive pulleys or a wobble in the drive roller pulley causing your belt to "shed" excessively. Getting that in check saves you a premature belt change. Let us know what you find out next time you mess with it...
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Post by connrock on Apr 16, 2007 4:24:40 GMT -5
Sometimes the barrels themselves will get slippery and the rollers as well.They get kind of a "glaze" on them and need to be roughed up a little with some fine emery cloth.
A little preventative maintenance is the key to trouble free tumbling.
I'm not familiar with the 33B but it is probably just like other tumblers that need a little TLC every so often.
The pulleys can get dirty and need to be cleaned.
Take off the belt and remove the drive roller and pulley.
Wash the big pulley with a little alcohol on a rag and make sure it is very clean.
Do the same with the motor pulley but with this pulley you can turn on the motor and CAREFULLY hold the alcohol rag in the pulley as it turns.
As has been mentioned,wash the belt.
Clean each friction bearing free of that black gunk and re-lube the 4 bearings.
A drop of oil in each motor bearing every 2 weeks of running is a good idea.
Keep the motor free of dirt and dust as it will run cooler with good air circulation.
A single drop of oil in the wrong place (belt,rollers,pulleys,etc) will cause you a lot of problems.
It's a little work but it saves a lot of aggravation down the line.
connrock
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one80mike
freely admits to licking rocks
@(-_-)@ Princess Leia!
Member since February 2007
Posts: 908
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Post by one80mike on Apr 16, 2007 18:43:01 GMT -5
Thanks so much folks.
I took off the cover and had a bit of a look. The drive belt looked pretty loose. I tightened it up...problem solved!
I'm such a novice!
Thanks again for your prompt and helpful replies. You guys rock!
Mike
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