bbrooker88
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2022
Posts: 15
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Post by bbrooker88 on Nov 30, 2022 17:03:42 GMT -5
Been having some bad Lot-O luck lately. Unit was only a year old when the frame broke at the motor mount (not a noise you want to hear). Bought another frame $47 including shipping that lasted no more than 10 days before the same thing happened in the same place. And yes, adhered to cement block, full load etc... Bought yet another frame (another $47) and so far is ok, BUT the motor has started making an increasingly louder noise to the point that I don't want to run it overnight. It's loud and annoying, plus I don't want it to wreck yet another frame. When the first frame broke, the company (Tom) had me check the bearing on the cord side. Seemed ok, only the slightest wiggle. But now there seems to be a little more play when I try to wiggle the shaft--maybe 1mm worth.
I'm pretty certain that a new $5 bearing and a couple special tools would do the trick. Certainly would be worth attempting before buying a $150+ replacement motor, and that's IF I could find one. At that point may as well go all the way and get a whole new unit. Problem is the FASCO motors have these metal housing clips that seemed designed for the sole purpose of discouraging anyone from trying to open the motor up and repair it.
I have to believe some tool exists somewhere to pop these clips out. Anyone have any idea what that would be?
I love my Lot-O but for all of you who've had one running for years trouble free, I envy you.
Thanks!
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Nov 30, 2022 17:55:48 GMT -5
You can use a screwdriver to pop it out, but it probably won't help you. I'm on mobile at the moment but your motor is probably failing and there's nothing you can really do about it.
If you do decide to take it apart, you'll probably find a broken spring washer.
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Nov 30, 2022 18:59:02 GMT -5
Ut-Oh! I just ordered a new Lot-o when they become available. Hate to hear of problems!
Jim
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bbrooker88
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2022
Posts: 15
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Post by bbrooker88 on Dec 1, 2022 0:14:58 GMT -5
Jim,
Sorry to have dampened your excitement. The good news is that your new Lot-O should work perfectly for a while, and more than likely a good long time beyond that. The beauty of the thing is how fast you can get get polished rocks. After shaping in rotary tumblers, I usually do 3 days of 220 grit in the Lot-O and then 3 days of 500 aluminum oxide. Although I continue on with 1200 AO polish, I can barely tell the difference sometimes between the post 500 stage and the polish. In fact polish sometimes seems to make things worse, but I'll chalk that up more to my own inexperience.
Keep the fan weights aligned as that may have jacked up both my frame and initiated the noise of my motor--I really don't know but I may have fiddled with the alignment at some point.
Bill
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Dec 1, 2022 10:47:32 GMT -5
You motivated me to finally get around to typing out my whole experience with my Lot-O motor failing. Check out this post I just made. Is the noise on any of these videos the same noise yours is making?
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bbrooker88
off to a rocking start
Member since January 2022
Posts: 15
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Post by bbrooker88 on Dec 1, 2022 15:45:53 GMT -5
Wow, I read your post and great documentation of your experience. The noise I initially heard I think may have been from the frame cracking. Oddly enough I figured I'd try to get one last load out of it and it's sounding ok so far, but my fans also had some black dusting so I'm not going to be surprised if I don't make it all the way through this load. I hate to disparage someone everyone in the rock community calls "Uncle Tom", but I didn't get any warm fuzzies dealing with him either. It took two unresponded to emails and finally a phone call (the lady who answers the phone is nice and helpful) before I got anywhere with the frame. While I get sticking to the 90 day warranty, sounds like he could have been way more sympathetic and to say that 4 months of use is "a good amount of use" is ridiculous. Sounds like he's tired of dealing with the operation of his company. I have replaced two motors on my Nat Geo rotary tumblers and added RPM controllers for maybe $20 total... definitely appreciate the Amazon link you posted with that different motor. Hell, I barely need to modify the motor mount since I have two broken frames halfway there!
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 3,035
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Post by rockbrain on Dec 1, 2022 15:56:45 GMT -5
It sucks that you're having so much trouble. I'm glad I read about all the motor failures before I bought a vibrating tumbler. My Mini Sonic has a lifetime guarantee on the motor and I can operate it on a folding plastic table.
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waterboysh
spending too much on rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 386
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Post by waterboysh on Dec 5, 2022 13:14:39 GMT -5
My Mini Sonic has a lifetime guarantee on the motor and I can operate it on a folding plastic table. I find the Mini Sonic pretty fascinating and probably would have went with it had I known about the QA issues the Lot-O seems to have in recent years. It seems like everyone that bought a Lot-O years ago has had great experiences with it. But there is literally no information on the MT-4 anywhere for some reason. There's only like 2 Youtube videos on the whole Internet that feature it. Pretty crazy considering it's been around for a long time. If you try and Google reviews for the MT-4 all you can find is people asking about it.
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