Fixing the sludge at the bottom?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. The tumbler is new & I've been running it for over a week. Yesterday, I took some rocks from my first grind that weren't done yet & reloaded two barrels with 60-90. When I checked today, one of the barrels had the thick sludge at the bottom with the rocks wedged in. I took everything out & stirred to get the (mostly grit) layer off the bottom, but what else should I be doing?

It is a puzzle. A poor mix could let grit fall to bottom, but it should not cement as long as the barrel is truning and there is water. If the barrel stops, and the water leaks, it would cement onthe side.

For sludge on the bottom, it had to settle after the barrel was set upright - but it still would need too little or way too much water.

Any more info?

Thanks! It's a rotary, & I think that I probably don't have enough small pieces left in the mix. I'll throw in some ceramics & see if that helps.

I think the problem may have been at the beginning, actually.

I was prepping two barrels at the same time. I checked the levels & adjusted the rocks, then I added the grit to each, then the water, & only then did I put the barrels on the tumbler. I think that this slight delay kept the first barrel sitting too long so that the grit stuck itself to the bottom. Next time I have more than one barrel, I'll finish the first & put it on the tumbler before adding the grit & water to the 2nd.

Does it make a difference if you add the grit last?

Hi
I put it all in together water/ first then grit/ paste granuals / soap flakes /a bit of powdered rock dust of the grinder (stage One),

If it all falls to the bottom 1/2 a revolution and it will be on top !!? it dosent matter at all just get the barrel rolling !!!

Jack
Yorkshire uk

Sludge happens, it's normal.

Just reseal the barrel, turn it end over end for about a minute or two by hand and then set it back on the rollers. The sludge will work itself loose and go back into suspension (slurry) just as it's supposed to.

I had that problem in my vibe, but it was my own fault; I was running stuff that I knew would erode fairly quickly. Never had an issue in the rotary, tho, even when I broke a belt and it didn't rotate for a day.
I found that the turbo setting on the nozzle on the hose cleaned it all out pretty darn quick, haha!
K

If your load is of the right size rocks you should never have to shake the barrel.
Remember.....AT LEAST 1/3 of the load MUST be small rocks in order to have the proper action in the barrel as it rotates.

We all get a little "greedy" at times and want to put all the "good" stuff in but that's wrong!

If your barrel(s) are loaded properly you can listen to them talk to you as they rotate.

A "happy" barrel will sound as if you were pouring pebbles from one hand to the other. "Hey man,,,,this is one smooooooth ride" ;D

An"un-happy" barrel will holler out at you with a clunkity clunk voice just to let you know it's not "comfortable"."HEY,,,,,I'm gettin all banged up in here"!

The 1-1/2 lb barrels can be a bit "testy" to load as they are small and won't take many bigger rocks.

The larger barrels are much more forgiving.

Listen to your barrels and once you can understand their "lingo" you will know EXACTLY what is going on inside without having to open them.

Too much "woosh"= too much water

Clunkity clunk = not enough water.

Try a test load with the correct load and no grit.Another with too many big rocks and listen to both of them.

The "happy" one will sound just about the same after you add the grit!

connrock

I'm glad someone brought up the concrete problem. I've been too embarrassed to ask about it. I have yet to have a successful tumble with my vibe. I was using a spraybottle to dampen the rocks after I dumped in the grit. Think makes a heckuva ruckus. Next day it was darned quiet and turned out to be half filled with concrete (reminded me of when the kids were little and I knew there was trouble if things got quiet...). I was tumbling a load of mostly milky quartz. I put in a ton of water, which loosened up the sludge and then tumbled with a wee bit more water. Now they're in polish with extra water again. But, just enough to keep the rocks coated. I just don't know what to do. I've been so darned frustrated with this thing. Fortunately, my Lortone barrels keep on tumbling..never a complaint or problem.