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Post by velodromed on Aug 8, 2023 15:40:28 GMT -5
I bought this a month ago off Amazon for 30 bucks. I need a tall 3lb barrel like this one has to tumble certain rocks. It’s been a trooper for 30 days. I’ve run it near 24/7 and overloaded it a good bit. But I finally killed it, or rather a large prairie agate did. So I did what I always do in these situations. Took it apart. The rollers have actual bearings. Seriously? Lipstick on a pig all day. Man I hate Phillips head screws. I’ll reassemble it with hex hardware. So it has a very cheap 540 brushed motor in it that I threw away fast as I got the pulley off. I have several 550 brushed motors left over from my RC cars, but finding them will be fun. They are probably in that bottom crate. Those crates are all full of rc car parts and stuff I’ve collected over the last few years. So I’ll be back after I find it.
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dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
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Post by dillonf on Aug 8, 2023 18:14:40 GMT -5
Love it! Check out my thread where I refurbished some old Thumlers - apparently us Texans just can't help ourselves - can't wait to see it rolling. Also, is that a 4lb barrel? looks like a similar size as a 45C if so that's real cool!!
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Post by velodromed on Aug 8, 2023 18:43:45 GMT -5
Yeah, we fix stuff huh! It was marketed as a 3lb barrel but seems really big for the size. Picking up my step daughter from the airport now. It’s been a way too quiet summer lol. Let the chaos begin!
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 9, 2023 9:14:35 GMT -5
Those danged Prairie Agates! LOL
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Post by velodromed on Aug 9, 2023 10:11:54 GMT -5
The kid is home thankfully. My wife is so happy (can you tell!?) and so am I! It’s always a tremendous relief when she comes home safe. I found my extra motors. This one should work, it’s a bit longer can so will run a bit cooler. Only thing is I can’t remember if I killed it in the last rc car it was in, or not. I think the motor also needs cooling since it is pretty much contained inside the base. I’ve got a 12V server fan that I will tie into the motor power and glue to the base. Should only be a 7.4 V power to the motor, but it’ll still give enough to the fan for it to work decent. I think. I knew nothing about electronics, soldering, or any of this stuff in 2020, when I picked up RC cars for my new hobby. I know more now than I would ever have believe…but I’m still self taught, so definitely not perfect. I ‘educated guess’ often. So I’m ‘guessing’ that this will work. Here we go! Of course I’ll be using my self-made soldering jig, The Octopus.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 9, 2023 14:55:21 GMT -5
Yeah I don’t know what I’m doing. I will fix it regardless though. I think.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 9, 2023 16:12:57 GMT -5
Failed again with the other motor. I’ll step back and think on it for awhile as I don’t know enough yet to continue. I think I need to measure the power coming from the lines and match it to a motor. Something that’s a bit beyond me still. But not for some of the guys on my RC forum, so I’ll reach out and do a little learning. They are all vastly amused by my ‘other hobby’ anyway lol.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 9, 2023 19:48:25 GMT -5
No luck even after directly hooking up to the DC power wire. Power supply issue perhaps? Next step is to start over and test the original motor. When I’m stumped I always go back to step one to figure out what step 2 should have been. Tomorrow though. It’s time to take the kid swimming!
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Post by velodromed on Aug 9, 2023 21:27:23 GMT -5
I don't know exactly how it's supposed to look with those motors but the solder joint in the last picture of your first post looks a little odd to me. I've only got a couple amateur soldering projects under my belt so I may not know anything. I've never tried to solder a wire to a motor like that but when joining two wires together, a video I watched seem to suggest that a large bead of solder like that could result in a 'cold' solder that doesn't transmit current effectively. Maybe a reason power wasn't passing thru to the fan or getting the motor turning, but idk. Should be able to test the motors and fans without soldering first to confirm if they work just by touching the wires to the terminals or maybe using a clothespin or something temporarily. Hopefully the RC forum can help you out. I'm guessing those RC motors run on DC battery power normally, and I assume the tumbler is 110v AC. The chip in there must be for converting the AC power to DC, besides the timer and speed controls. Not sure how you could determine the correct motor replacement from this, maybe looking up info on the chip or motor will yield some power parameters, or measuring directly with a multimeter like you said. Yup! You’re absolutely right, these are not good solder joints. Just quick ones as I’m testing since I’m doing so many of them. Once I get it figured out I will do a proper solder job. With some friends help we just figured out the original motor is fine, it was the circuitboard that fried. Some thing about my making assumptions comes to mind here. So I’m wiring it directly to the power supply and next will work on hooking up a fan. Then I’ll drill 1/2” holes all the way around and under the plastic housing to allow air to circulate. I don’t know right now what speed the motor/barrel will spin at without the circuit board variable speed settings, though. I’ll figure that out tomorrow. This has been fun, I absolutely love troubleshooting crap like this.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 11, 2023 12:34:26 GMT -5
It is up and running! I drilled holes all around the base to allow for some ventilation. I wired it so I can hook up a server fan if needed. It’s only running in the mid 90s though so far. I’ll see what happens when the afternoon heat hits. It runs too fast for polishing unfortunately, but it’ll be great for breaking down rough rocks we find. I’ll continue researching and learning about brushed motors/electrical wiring and eventually I’ll get get a proper set up installed. I need to learn all this crap anyway for when I build a rock tumbler this winter.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 11, 2023 18:09:08 GMT -5
I couldn’t resist. I see a tiny motor and I feel like it needs a tiny fan to keep it cool. It works and keeps it 10 degrees cooler. Totally not needed but fun to figure out how to do. Now I just need to collect the parts, build a base big enough for several barrels and supersize the electrics.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on Aug 11, 2023 18:14:14 GMT -5
If I may make a suggestion:
Has done wonders for my Dan & Darci.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 11, 2023 18:37:33 GMT -5
If I may make a suggestion: Has done wonders for my Dan & Darci. Interesting and makes sense. I have that same tumbler actually lol. It’s still chugging along after 2 years constant use. Now I have to go raid the misc cable and crap drawer and see if I have something that’ll work. Thanks!!
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Post by velodromed on Aug 11, 2023 20:24:19 GMT -5
If I may make a suggestion: Has done wonders for my Dan & Darci. It’s freakin’ brilliant actually. I found a 6v, 12a power supply and it’s a bit weak for this tumbler, but does work. I’ll try it on the DandD one I have, it may be perfect on it. I’m sure I have a 7v around somewhere for this bigger one, or an 8-9V would do even better actually... Anyway, excellent idea bud. Much appreciated!
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on Aug 11, 2023 20:34:25 GMT -5
You're welcome! Now the normal speed and small barrel can finally be an advantage for some more fragile things. And longevity.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 12, 2023 0:12:28 GMT -5
You're welcome! Now the normal speed and small barrel can finally be an advantage for some more fragile things. And longevity. I found a 7.5v, 1a on Amazon for $7 that’ll be here Sunday. It should be just about right.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 19, 2023 8:56:27 GMT -5
You're welcome! Now the normal speed and small barrel can finally be an advantage for some more fragile things. And longevity. I found a 7.5v, 1a on Amazon for $7 that’ll be here Sunday. It should be just about right. The 7.5v power supply is rather weak for this tumbler, so I have ordered a 9V. Meanwhile, it is continuing to tumble rough local rock at higher speed. I see a lot of people on here that have these multi speed tumblers die and then the company warrantees them by sending a new one. So I know there’s quite a few people that have a broken entry level tumbler sitting around. Whether they are National Geographic, Dan and Dani or an off brand like this one I have, they are all basically set up the same. Power supply, small brushed DC motor and a circuit board. I have a feeling that it’s the circuit board that typically dies and not the motor burning out. After the initial struggle with trying to figure out what to do, it was extremely easy to fix by simply bypassing the circuit board and wiring the motor directly to the power supply wire.That in itself may seem daunting, but it’s really not. I use scissors to cut the wire, my finger nails to strip a quarter inch off the ends, and then you can either twist the wires together and tape with electrical tape, or use shrink wrap. Soldering is not required with these low-voltage connections. So if anyone with one of these broken tumblers wants to try to fix it, I’m happy to try to help guide them. Just reach out to me.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on Aug 19, 2023 9:20:25 GMT -5
Why not turn up the speed to 2 or 3?
Also they do have variable voltage adapters. Example: [blocked Amazon short link]3sibupp
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Post by velodromed on Aug 19, 2023 12:10:51 GMT -5
Why not turn up the speed to 2 or 3? Also they do have variable voltage adapters. Example: [blocked Amazon short link]3sibupp It no longer has speeds once the control board died and I bypassed it. It’s simply operates at the highest setting.
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