rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 17, 2023 19:54:33 GMT -5
Had my first moment with the mini sonic today. We must have lost power sometime today because when I got home and checked on the mini it was dry as a bone and rocks not moving at all. Pretty sure it was an outage because the nat geo was not rolling and was showing day 1 when I'd just reset to 7 yesterday - clean out day. I'm thinking I'll wait until I free up a rotary barrel, run them through stage one again for a few days and then try again in the mini. Sad to say there are cracks in some and of course dried grit elsewhere. An ivory soap bath cleaned them up fairly well, but not enough to keep moving them along in 220...I don't think. Do you think a few days will be enough to remove any dried in grit? Or should I run the full week? Other than a battery back up, any way to avoid this from happening? I'm guessing no....it's a 'coprolite happens' kind of thing Thanks!
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 927
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Post by ashley on Aug 17, 2023 20:28:35 GMT -5
I have had that happen, and I just keep on running. Wet the rocks again and just let it go for a few minutes, after a little while it will be like it was before. Sometimes I have to dump the rocks out and I’ll pour a little water over top of them and then just throw it back in.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 17, 2023 21:09:01 GMT -5
I have had that happen, and I just keep on running. Wet the rocks again and just let it go for a few minutes, after a little while it will be like it was before. Sometimes I have to dump the rocks out and I’ll pour a little water over top of them and then just throw it back in. Ok! I was worried it wouldn't be enough to work out any hardened grit. I will carry on then. I only started it yesterday so not even 24 hrs. They've got 2 days minimum in 120/220 still... Thank you!!
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 927
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Post by ashley on Aug 17, 2023 21:11:23 GMT -5
How long do you do your 120/220 round?
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 17, 2023 21:42:41 GMT -5
My post is only about power outages. My electrical utility has paid out billions of dollars as a result of their equipment starting huge wildfires in Northern California. Their approach for dealing with a possible fire hazard where I live was to trim trees next to power lines. Recently, they have changed their approach to make their equipment more sensitive and shut down the power in the area that could only be slightly at risk. They save money on tree trimming and the customer has more outages. I've had eight in less than a month. So when I feel like doing a little rock grinding in the morning, I have been unable. This situation is not going to go away. In December, I had solar installed, but didn't add a battery backup because they are expensive and limited. I can't run my a/c for very long. With all these outages, I decided to get a battery that will support all my 110v so when the power is out, the lights will be on and I can make a pot of coffee and grind rocks.
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skmcconnell361
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 125
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Post by skmcconnell361 on Aug 17, 2023 21:52:19 GMT -5
I would think a few days should be fine, or burnishing them in borax should work also. I had my first Nat Geo Hobby Tumbler error last week and could not get it going again at the time. I ended up Rinsing everything off and starting step 4 over again putting the Nat Geo 1 lb barrel on the Harbor Freight tumbler I had just got.
After contacting Nat Geo about the hobby tumbler they sent me a replacement. They got back to me really fast, I emailed them Wed. night and had a response Thurs. morning, the replacement arrived that Saturday. WOW! At the time I did not know what was wrong or what to look for. But I found a thread on this forum talking about the lights flashing and what that meant, turns out to be an easy fix. I found a burr on both of the pulleys that had worn the belt to the point it was slipping causing the error. So a little TLC should restore the defective tumbler.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 18, 2023 6:10:36 GMT -5
How long do you do your 120/220 round? This is only my second round in the mini, but last time I did 4 days. i was going to do another 2-3 once I get them going again. I'll wait until tonight - that way I can watch all weekend.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 18, 2023 6:29:56 GMT -5
My post is only about power outages. My electrical utility has paid out billions of dollars as a result of their equipment starting huge wildfires in Northern California. Their approach for dealing with a possible fire hazard where I live was to trim trees next to power lines. Recently, they have changed their approach to make their equipment more sensitive and shut down the power in the area that could only be slightly at risk. They save money on tree trimming and the customer has more outages. I've had eight in less than a month. So when I feel like doing a little rock grinding in the morning, I have been unable. This situation is not going to go away. In December, I had solar installed, but didn't add a battery backup because they are expensive and limited. I can't run my a/c for very long. With all these outages, I decided to get a battery that will support all my 110v so when the power is out, the lights will be on and I can make a pot of coffee and grind rocks. Omgosh - that's highly frustrating! Electrical outages are no joke - thinking they need to pony up the tree trimming so THEIR CUSTOMERS don't lose $300 worth of groceries they just bought lol...I wish there was a way that the mini wouldn't turn back on with the power - at least then I'm only dealing with coated rocks, not chipped/cracked/coated rocks ha! I'd love to look into solar - but don't think NEOhio has enough sunny days - maybe 50/50. May need to look into a 'cheap' back up though - we do have generators, which are great when we're home, but this all happened while I was at work.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 18, 2023 6:33:56 GMT -5
I would think a few days should be fine, or burnishing them in borax should work also. I had my first Nat Geo Hobby Tumbler error last week and could not get it going again at the time. I ended up Rinsing everything off and starting step 4 over again putting the Nat Geo 1 lb barrel on the Harbor Freight tumbler I had just got. After contacting Nat Geo about the hobby tumbler they sent me a replacement. They got back to me really fast, I emailed them Wed. night and had a response Thurs. morning, the replacement arrived that Saturday. WOW! At the time I did not know what was wrong or what to look for. But I found a thread on this forum talking about the lights flashing and what that meant, turns out to be an easy fix. I found a burr on both of the pulleys that had worn the belt to the point it was slipping causing the error. So a little TLC should restore the defective tumbler. Thank you!! I did an ivory soap run for about an hour which really helped a lot. But I'm still seeing some minor issues. I have a Nat Geo professional tumbler and for as much grief as they get mine has really done a great job for me - I never use it higher than speed 1 though. Thankfully I've never had to contact customer service, but I hear great things about their responsiveness and willingness to make wrongs right.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 18, 2023 13:58:03 GMT -5
My post is only about power outages. My electrical utility has paid out billions of dollars as a result of their equipment starting huge wildfires in Northern California. Their approach for dealing with a possible fire hazard where I live was to trim trees next to power lines. Recently, they have changed their approach to make their equipment more sensitive and shut down the power in the area that could only be slightly at risk. They save money on tree trimming and the customer has more outages. I've had eight in less than a month. So when I feel like doing a little rock grinding in the morning, I have been unable. This situation is not going to go away. In December, I had solar installed, but didn't add a battery backup because they are expensive and limited. I can't run my a/c for very long. With all these outages, I decided to get a battery that will support all my 110v so when the power is out, the lights will be on and I can make a pot of coffee and grind rocks. Omgosh - that's highly frustrating! Electrical outages are no joke - thinking they need to pony up the tree trimming so THEIR CUSTOMERS don't lose $300 worth of groceries they just bought lol...I wish there was a way that the mini wouldn't turn back on with the power - at least then I'm only dealing with coated rocks, not chipped/cracked/coated rocks ha! I'd love to look into solar - but don't think NEOhio has enough sunny days - maybe 50/50. May need to look into a 'cheap' back up though - we do have generators, which are great when we're home, but this all happened while I was at work. I run all my saws and vibes through gfi's and they seem to always trip when we have a power outage, and hence no start up when power is restored. You might try this.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 18, 2023 14:32:55 GMT -5
Omgosh - that's highly frustrating! Electrical outages are no joke - thinking they need to pony up the tree trimming so THEIR CUSTOMERS don't lose $300 worth of groceries they just bought lol...I wish there was a way that the mini wouldn't turn back on with the power - at least then I'm only dealing with coated rocks, not chipped/cracked/coated rocks ha! I'd love to look into solar - but don't think NEOhio has enough sunny days - maybe 50/50. May need to look into a 'cheap' back up though - we do have generators, which are great when we're home, but this all happened while I was at work. I run all my saws and vibes through gfi's and they seem to always trip when we have a power outage, and hence no start up when power is restored. You might try this. Ahh! Thank you!! I might have to look into this. I know the cabking came with a plug that will trip, but I didn't have that for the others. They are all grounded, but I don't seem to have enough outlets so the rotaries/mini sonic are all plugged into a surge protector - but it doesn't sound like that's enough. If I can find one of those GFI plugs I wonder if I can plug the surge protector into that and then the GFI plug into the wall. I'll do some research on that. Last thing I need is to blow all my expensive equipment lol...thank you!!
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Post by Peruano on Aug 19, 2023 6:14:32 GMT -5
The big box hardware stores sell a short pig tail cord with a double receptacle on one end and a gfi on the other.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,071
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Post by dshanpnw on Aug 20, 2023 10:25:23 GMT -5
My post is only about power outages. My electrical utility has paid out billions of dollars as a result of their equipment starting huge wildfires in Northern California. Their approach for dealing with a possible fire hazard where I live was to trim trees next to power lines. Recently, they have changed their approach to make their equipment more sensitive and shut down the power in the area that could only be slightly at risk. They save money on tree trimming and the customer has more outages. I've had eight in less than a month. So when I feel like doing a little rock grinding in the morning, I have been unable. This situation is not going to go away. In December, I had solar installed, but didn't add a battery backup because they are expensive and limited. I can't run my a/c for very long. With all these outages, I decided to get a battery that will support all my 110v so when the power is out, the lights will be on and I can make a pot of coffee and grind rocks. Wow, a very serious power outage situation to say the least. Thanks for letting us know about that.
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dshanpnw
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2020
Posts: 1,071
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Post by dshanpnw on Aug 20, 2023 10:27:12 GMT -5
Ashley has a good answer, that's what I would do.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 21, 2023 7:40:59 GMT -5
The big box hardware stores sell a short pig tail cord with a double receptacle on one end and a gfi on the other. Great to know!! Thank you for that.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on Aug 23, 2023 8:33:00 GMT -5
The cheapest ultrasonic cleaner on amazon works really well cleaning out slurry for me. I've had slurry in a shallow, broad pit on an agate that persisted even after 12 hours of burnishing with ivory. Slurry was in all the finer cracks too but I was really surprised the most open cavity was not completely cleaned in burnish. I was just being lazy, could have toothbrushed it. But the ultrasonic cleaner dislodged everything from every crack in about 5 minutes. Necessary tool imo. Do you put just certain rocks in there? Or your entire batch. I'm picturing a metal 'tub' (small) that we'd put surgery instruments in for cleaning when I worked for my vet - some use for jewelry cleaning - is that what you are referring to? I might consider...not sure i have the room for another piece of equipment though . Also thinking of a water pic - I have a hand held one that I could use, but might not work well on tight cracks, only open vugs. So far (KNOCKING ON WOOD!!) my second stage 2 batch in the mini is going much much better lol...
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Post by Rockoonz on Aug 23, 2023 12:45:13 GMT -5
My post is only about power outages. My electrical utility has paid out billions of dollars as a result of their equipment starting huge wildfires in Northern California. Their approach for dealing with a possible fire hazard where I live was to trim trees next to power lines. Recently, they have changed their approach to make their equipment more sensitive and shut down the power in the area that could only be slightly at risk. They save money on tree trimming and the customer has more outages. I've had eight in less than a month. So when I feel like doing a little rock grinding in the morning, I have been unable. This situation is not going to go away. In December, I had solar installed, but didn't add a battery backup because they are expensive and limited. I can't run my a/c for very long. With all these outages, I decided to get a battery that will support all my 110v so when the power is out, the lights will be on and I can make a pot of coffee and grind rocks. Is it one of those "solar generators" that you have to plug into, or a real backup? I want to set up batteries as a backup with our solar. The utility also has us on a peak use program that adds a factor based on our largest hour of "peak time" use and adds a fee, and very low rated for off peak use. A good program there is to run off batteries during those weekday peak hours to make the factor zero, but batteries, charge controllers and inverters are quite expensive. A gas or diesel generator is far more cost effective, or run it off propane or LNG along with kitchen and hot water in places like Cali with their extreme priced electricity. For general info, if anyone with limited electrical knowledge and DIY tendencies reads this, if setting up any kind of backup power you MUST have disconnects that completely remove you from the grid when backup power is on, most lineman injuries and death is from people running home brewed backups and sending power onto the grid during power interruptions.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2023 13:01:55 GMT -5
In my state, all generated electricity goes into the grid. The battery will be connected to my main electrical panel. I don't have the details about where the electricity that charges the battery comes from. It is confusing. The rate paid for electricity generated changed so new solar buyers need to have batteries to maximize what they are paid. I'm under the old reimbursement plan. I'm considering the battery for the 30% tax credit, increase in resale value of my home and peace of mind.
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Post by Rockoonz on Aug 23, 2023 21:36:26 GMT -5
In my state, all generated electricity goes into the grid. The battery will be connected to my main electrical panel. I don't have the details about where the electricity that charges the battery comes from. It is confusing. The rate paid for electricity generated changed so new solar buyers need to have batteries to maximize what they are paid. I'm under the old reimbursement plan. I'm considering the battery for the 30% tax credit, increase in resale value of my home and peace of mind. Is your solar leased or owned? I bought mine. My system is grid tied too, it is connected to the grid, and everything generated over and above the consumption goes onto the grid, but that is only the overage. All grid tied systems work that way. As for the battery my utility offered to rebate some of the battery cost in exchange for using the backup during peak use hours, sounds like the same thing you have more or less. With peak pricing it is the way to go. At this time I never pay a power bill and get a check in January of my excess credit from generating more than I use. In the program here if the power goes down it is a backup too.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 23, 2023 21:57:20 GMT -5
I had multiple presentations before picking a contractor. I own it. One proposal was for having panels installed but I wouldn't own them. It was a 20+ year contract for a guaranteed rate. It might make sense for someone who couldn't afford to buy. For me, it was an excellent investment. My understanding is that I get my electricity from the grid and contribute to the grid with the January reconciliation. I get reports and my system is producing what it was designed to. The battery is just to keep the lights on. With the new reimbursement plan a battery becomes essential to sell power during high demand. I'm on the previous plan where a battery is not needed.
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