dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Feb 10, 2023 14:34:25 GMT -5
Anyone have experience with power outages while tumbling?
Our utility company announced an 8am-2pm scheduled power outage tomorrow, Saturday.
Anything I should be concerned about with rotary tumblers and a Lot O running?
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Feb 10, 2023 15:17:33 GMT -5
nah just add the time its out back on the other end and should be fine. May need to give the lot a spray of water if they start to dry out tho.
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Feb 10, 2023 15:33:28 GMT -5
I know when off, the lot-0 will dry out the rocks.any cracks etc with be difficult to clean, if not impossible.
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dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Feb 10, 2023 17:56:10 GMT -5
I know when off, the lot-0 will dry out the rocks.any cracks etc with be difficult to clean, if not impossible. Perhaps putting the barrel in a plastic bag will prevent that.
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Feb 10, 2023 18:19:58 GMT -5
Why not fill it with water and when the power comes back on, drain the water and add about 1/4 teaspoon of grit or polish and start up again.
Jim
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jimmie
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2021
Posts: 233
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Post by jimmie on Feb 11, 2023 6:59:58 GMT -5
When we get hurricane warnings, which means power outages. I shut everything down and do a clean up. Better safe then concrete!
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Feb 12, 2023 11:14:07 GMT -5
Just check that the machines restart upon power up. I broke a few belts when my machines would not spin (overloaded barrels) on start up. Check the water level of the Lot o.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 12, 2023 11:22:20 GMT -5
If you won't be there to monitor I would be tempted to at least take the loto off line while it's happening, if somehow the motor fries that would be a real problem. Submerging the rocks in water, then restarting later, sounds like the best plan to me. The rotary shouldn't be a problem at all if you haven't had issues with it before.
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CLErocks
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2021
Posts: 342
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Post by CLErocks on Feb 12, 2023 12:10:29 GMT -5
Anyone have experience with power outages while tumbling? Our utility company announced an 8am-2pm scheduled power outage tomorrow, Saturday. Anything I should be concerned about with rotary tumblers and a Lot O running? A little late...as usual...but from experience I would definitely not leave the rotary running. And consider getting an auto stop in case you ever experience an unexpected outage. Since the outage could be long, I would consider what everyone else has said, and either fill with water and restart when you get home. You are not likely to destroy the Lot-O motor, but the rotary is a different animal.
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Post by Starguy on Feb 12, 2023 13:02:16 GMT -5
I would take the rotary barrel off during the outage. A little bit of hand agitation before putting the barrel back on should keep things rolling.
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dirtsifter
Cave Dweller
Co to za kamyczek?
Member since September 2022
Posts: 402
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Post by dirtsifter on Feb 12, 2023 14:01:03 GMT -5
The power outage lasted 4.5 hours. Fortunately I was home during it.
I manually rotated the barrels a few times during the outage and picked up the Lot O barrel, rotated through 360 a few times ensuring it was not drying out.
I did have to nudge the barrels to get them turning
Thanks all for your input.
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Post by oregon on Feb 12, 2023 14:30:32 GMT -5
Restarting always seems to cause the most problems. I put things behind a GFCI with a Manual reset. Nothing will *try* to restart without being there.
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Post by Bob on Feb 18, 2023 18:15:59 GMT -5
I would take the rotary barrel off during the outage. A little bit of hand agitation before putting the barrel back on should keep things rolling. Totally agree.
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Post by Bob on Feb 20, 2023 12:17:16 GMT -5
Something I was doing last night reminded me of this thread. I was sanding with very rough 40 grit sandpaper the sides of my 12lb rubber barrels as well as the shaft roller covers. I scratch deep and hard--longitudinally only not crosswise. This helps the shafts and the barrels have a grip. Seems this has to be done about once/yr. But still both get polished hard and shiny after some time.
If the power goes out when shiny, they almost never start up normally again. Like someone else said, a hand push is usually all it takes when turning the power on to get it rolling again. I install inline power switches on my tumbler motor cords so that I don't have to plug/unplug them. My suspicion is that the main problem of restarting is if the load has settled in the barrel. This is because I don't see that problem happening if I've just recharged a barrel and put in on the shafts. But if the power goes out AND the barrel/shafts are shiny, then that is the worst problem.
I work about 7 miles from my home, and no longer leave my tumblers going when I leave to go anywhere overnight. Used to, but no longer. Problems are not only messy, but dangerous.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 20, 2023 12:50:47 GMT -5
Something I was doing last night reminded me of this thread. I was sanding with very rough 40 grit sandpaper the sides of my 12lb rubber barrels as well as the shaft roller covers. I scratch deep and hard--longitudinally only not crosswise. This helps the shafts and the barrels have a grip. Seems this has to be done about once/yr. But still both get polished hard and shiny after some time. If the power goes out when shiny, they almost never start up normally again. Like someone else said, a hand push is usually all it takes when turning the power on to get it rolling again. I install inline power switches on my tumbler motor cords so that I don't have to plug/unplug them. My suspicion is that the main problem of restarting is if the load has settled in the barrel. This is because I don't see that problem happening if I've just recharged a barrel and put in on the shafts. But if the power goes out AND the barrel/shafts are shiny, then that is the worst problem. I work about 7 miles from my home, and no longer leave my tumblers going when I leave to go anywhere overnight. Used to, but no longer. Problems are not only messy, but dangerous. I would just add a breaker inline that requires a manual reset if power is lost. jamesp or one of our members with a better memory for terminology could probably help with the proper search term for it. The plug for my pressure washer works that way. Tumbler barrels are no doubt made from some kind of SBR (Styrene Butadiene aka shi**y black rubber) blend like a tread stock. A wash with a bleach water like you use to sanitize may add a little tack, it's what we used to use to get sticky tires for drag racing on our hot rods. My concern with sanding is you may end up with a larger diameter at the cap and barrels that like to wander and climb.
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