RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 2, 2024 22:56:06 GMT -5
Purchased the RayTech-10 on 6/28/23 and here it is 7/2/24 and the basement seemed awfully quiet this evening as I went down to check on day 2 of stage 3 and make sure there was enough water to make it safely thru the night.
Question is ... what do I look for to possibly see why the machine is dead ?
Are these machines repairable?
Warranty expired 4 days ago ...natch !!! and <<sigh>> !
All seemed fine other than rock movement this afternoon seemed a little more sluggish than it had in stage 2 and first day of stage 3.
Careful about not overloading - just short of 8 pounds including ceramics and water.
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Post by chris1956 on Jul 3, 2024 7:56:36 GMT -5
At 4 days past the warranty, I would call where you purchased it and see if they will still replace/repair it.
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 3, 2024 13:34:17 GMT -5
At 4 days past the warranty, I would call where you purchased it and see if they will still replace/repair it. Thanks for the reply, Chris. Kingsley North's site says that Warranty problems have to be dealt with by RayTech and RayTech says "one year from date of purchase " ... not delivery...purchase ! Latest news (of the good variety) is that the machine is working again this morning. Plugged in at the same location. Only difference is that the rocks were rinsed and Boraxed. Have started stage 4 and for the moment all seems well. |
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Post by chris1956 on Jul 3, 2024 15:23:05 GMT -5
Certainly not an endorsement for RayTech. Purchase, not delivery. Wow.
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 3, 2024 16:38:33 GMT -5
At 4 days past the warranty, I would call where you purchased it and see if they will still replace/repair it. Thanks for the reply, Chris. Kingsley North's site says that Warranty problems have to be dealt with by RayTech and RayTech says "one year from date of purchase " ... not delivery...purchase ! Latest news (of the good variety) is that the machine is working again this morning. Plugged in at the same location. Only difference is that the rocks were rinsed and Boraxed. Have started stage 4 and for the moment all seems well. Update ... It's my own fault. I tempted fate ! I wrote here that it was working again so of course it stopped ! again !!! I have rinsed off the rocks that had gone on to polish stage and they are sitting in a tub of clean water awaiting further developments. Am researching replacement parts etc. Raytech has a base and motor if it comes to that. OR could get a whole new unit which would give me an extra bowl for polish stage. OR it could decide to work again tomorrow. (for a while) OR I could go back to doing all stages in the Harbor Freight tumbler. <whimper> Will try contacting RayTech and ask to talk to a "boss" type. |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 3, 2024 16:40:37 GMT -5
Certainly not an endorsement for RayTech. Purchase, not delivery. Wow. What it says on the site is "one year from date of purchase". In the past, when I was looking into buying one of their units, I had a question for them and they never answered my e-mail. Perhaps a phone call is in the offing. |
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Warzy Raptor
starting to shine!
microcrystalline silicates my beloved <3
Member since April 2024
Posts: 36
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Post by Warzy Raptor on Jul 3, 2024 21:39:04 GMT -5
Update ... It's my own fault. I tempted fate ! I wrote here that it was working again so of course it stopped ! again !!! I have rinsed off the rocks that had gone on to polish stage and they are sitting in a tub of clean water awaiting further developments. Am researching replacement parts etc. Raytech has a base and motor if it comes to that. OR could get a whole new unit which would give me an extra bowl for polish stage. OR it could decide to work again tomorrow. (for a while) OR I could go back to doing all stages in the Harbor Freight tumbler. <whimper> Will try contacting RayTech and ask to talk to a "boss" type. Soooooo I don’t wanna be THAT guy buutttttt….. does Harbor Freight carry a knock-off? Because I have their knock-off of the 5lb RayTech tumbler running with the actual RayTech barrel, and doing it that way saved me about $200. (Not that I don’t WANT to support them, I just don’t have RayTech money lol.) And it works fantastically to boot! Just something to keep in your back pocket as a last resort. |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 3, 2024 22:05:47 GMT -5
Soooooo I don’t wanna be THAT guy buutttttt….. does Harbor Freight carry a knock-off? Because I have their knock-off of the 5lb RayTech tumbler running with the actual RayTech barrel, and doing it that way saved me about $200. (Not that I don’t WANT to support them, I just don’t have RayTech money lol.) And it works fantastically to boot! Just something to keep in your back pocket as a last resort. Thanks ... Warzy Raptor will keep that in mind and do some research before buying another RayTech. At least at HF you can get an extended warranty. EDIT: Looked on line and They have an 18 pound machine for "cleaning and polishing metal" BUT : The one that costs less than the RayRech is an in store clearance item only and The bowl is not for rock tumbling and it's not that much cheaper than the Ray Tech which would give me an extra bowl to use for Polish Only ! (which I need) Good idea tho' ... thanks again! |
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Warzy Raptor
starting to shine!
microcrystalline silicates my beloved <3
Member since April 2024
Posts: 36
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Post by Warzy Raptor on Jul 4, 2024 14:26:27 GMT -5
Soooooo I don’t wanna be THAT guy buutttttt….. does Harbor Freight carry a knock-off? Because I have their knock-off of the 5lb RayTech tumbler running with the actual RayTech barrel, and doing it that way saved me about $200. (Not that I don’t WANT to support them, I just don’t have RayTech money lol.) And it works fantastically to boot! Just something to keep in your back pocket as a last resort. Thanks ... Warzy Raptor will keep that in mind and do some research before buying another RayTech. At least at HF you can get an extended warranty. EDIT: Looked on line and They have an 18 pound machine for "cleaning and polishing metal" BUT : The one that costs less than the RayRech is an in store clearance item only and The bowl is not for rock tumbling and it's not that much cheaper than the Ray Tech which would give me an extra bowl to use for Polish Only ! (which I need) Good idea tho' ... thanks again! Yeah, their bowls are specifically meant for parts cleaning and not suitable for rocks. BUTTTT that’s why I got the actual RayTech bowl separately, it fits on there perfect! (I may actually modify the bowl that came with my HF tumbler to make it rock-friendly, OR make a mold of the RT bowl and then see if I can create a second one with resin. Just for the sake of seeing if I can, because that’s the kind of person I am haha!) I’ve seen a lot of videos on YouTube about repairing, building and modifying both rotary and vibratory tumblers; take a look and hopefully you can find some info there! Best of luck! |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 8, 2024 16:05:42 GMT -5
Got a reply from RayTech .. they asked for a copy of the original invoice and an address of where they could send a replacement base and motor ! <---  Also got a reply from Kingsley North asking what was wrong with the unit (I had told them that it had died suddenly) and they offered to contact RayTech for me. Soooo ... that's where it stands as of today. |
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markymark
Cave Dweller 
Member since November 2015
Posts: 404 
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Post by markymark on Jul 8, 2024 18:17:37 GMT -5
I had two raytech 5s similar issues to yours, after tinkering with them I decided to file them into the trash. Picked up the harbor freight 5lb vibe and put a raytech 10 bowl on it and so far so good after 10 tumbles, I did noticed that the HF did have a much larger motor and thicker springs than the raytech, is that good thing? Idk we shall see, I did replace the bowl bolt with a little thicker one in stainless.
So far so good
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 8, 2024 22:22:14 GMT -5
I had two raytech 5s similar issues to yours, after tinkering with them I decided to file them into the trash. Picked up the harbor freight 5lb vibe and put a raytech 10 bowl on it and so far so good after 10 tumbles, I did noticed that the HF did have a much larger motor and thicker springs than the raytech, is that good thing? Idk we shall see, I did replace the bowl bolt with a little thicker one in stainless. So far so good Thanks for the reply. I see that HF has the 5 lb vibe for like $70. Will put that idea on the backburner for a possible replacement IF the one RayTech said they will send also bites the dust. A whole new one (including a bowl) goes for $170 direct from RT. I do wonder about putting a 10 lb bowl on a machine rated as a 5 pounder. I fill the bowl to the recommended 8 pounds including rocks,media and water. |
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markymark
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2015
Posts: 404
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Post by markymark on Jul 9, 2024 2:00:22 GMT -5
I had two raytech 5s similar issues to yours, after tinkering with them I decided to file them into the trash. Picked up the harbor freight 5lb vibe and put a raytech 10 bowl on it and so far so good after 10 tumbles, I did noticed that the HF did have a much larger motor and thicker springs than the raytech, is that good thing? Idk we shall see, I did replace the bowl bolt with a little thicker one in stainless. So far so good Thanks for the reply. I see that HF has the 5 lb vibe for like $70. Will put that idea on the backburner for a possible replacement IF the one RayTech said they will send also bites the dust. A whole new one (including a bowl) goes for $170 direct from RT. I do wonder about putting a 10 lb bowl on a machine rated as a 5 pounder. I fill the bowl to the recommended 8 pounds including rocks,media and water. . Yes true the reason I'm trying the 10lb bowl is because the hf and v10 are pretty much the size bowl, the hf bowl will only last maybe two tumbles before failure. I believe that the rt 5 and 10 are the same base just different bowl size, and the hf base seems to be built stronger, we shall see 🤞 |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Jul 9, 2024 6:55:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply. I see that HF has the 5 lb vibe for like $70. Will put that idea on the backburner for a possible replacement IF the one RayTech said they will send also bites the dust. A whole new one (including a bowl) goes for $170 direct from RT. I do wonder about putting a 10 lb bowl on a machine rated as a 5 pounder. I fill the bowl to the recommended 8 pounds including rocks,media and water. . Yes true the reason I'm trying the 10lb bowl is because the hf and v10 are pretty much the size bowl, the hf bowl will only last maybe two tumbles before failure. I believe that the rt 5 and 10 are the same base just different bowl size, and the hf base seems to be built stronger, we shall see 🤞 Good luck with the test run of the Frankenstein HF machine. The HF site does say that their bowl is not for rocks or ceramic media. Gotta wonder why they don't just make a better bowl ! If it's ok, I will check back with you if / when the need arises because the RT failed again. Unless you have posted before that about how the experiment is progressing. |
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docharber
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2008
Posts: 716
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Post by docharber on Jul 22, 2024 17:27:06 GMT -5
I've had a TV5 for years and love it. I wonder if the belt is stretching and slipping which would make the motor run unloaded. Intermittent failure could be from thermal protection on the motor which could be due to contamination getting into the motor housing. A bad bearing could be an issue, too. You might try to get into the housing and check these issues out before chucking it.
Mark H.
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Sept 13, 2024 13:47:02 GMT -5
RayTech was kind enough to send me a FREE  replacement base and so far .... fingers crossed... it is working fine. |
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Post by time2rollsomerock on Sept 14, 2024 19:05:34 GMT -5
RayTech was kind enough to send me a FREE replacement base and so far .... fingers crossed... it is working fine. Good to hear. I also thought your other one might have had symptoms of overheating. You might want to keep that in mind. My TV5 gets pretty warm but I'm running it in the cool barn. |
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Sept 14, 2024 19:15:07 GMT -5
RayTech was kind enough to send me a FREE replacement base and so far .... fingers crossed... it is working fine. Good to hear. I also thought your other one might have had symptoms of overheating. You might want to keep that in mind. My TV5 gets pretty warm but I'm running it in the cool barn. What would be the "symptoms of overheating" and what would cause the machine to overheat? What do I need to watch for ? The unit is on the cement floor in the basement and there is a fan running there 24/7 in the summer to combat humidity. |
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chaosdsm
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since April 2024
Posts: 162
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Post by chaosdsm on Sept 14, 2024 20:31:06 GMT -5
Running any motor will cause heat. If you're running for more than 12 hours straight in a room over 60F, then typically you need at least some airflow directed at the base.
My vibe tumbler is on a shelf with a 200mm hole cut into the shelf, and a 200mm race car radiator fan mounted in the hole to blow air directly on the motor. This is because I may run it continuously for up to 72 hours before checking on it.
A few potential signs of too much heat in a motor:
> it may seize up completely
> it may slow down over time
> it may start running erratically
> it may run intermittently i.e. stop when its hot, and run when its cool
> it may start squealing or making other odd noises
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RockyBeach
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 342
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Post by RockyBeach on Sept 14, 2024 22:32:57 GMT -5
chaosdsmThanks for the info. It was running fine until that day it died and nothing had changed with what I was running or conditions in where it was running. Will never know what caused the failure. I check the unit several times a day and have never noticed anything that was not remedied by adding a little more water to get things moving better.
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replacement base and so far .... fingers crossed... it is working fine. 
