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Post by superioragates on Dec 17, 2009 14:16:38 GMT -5
I have a 3 lb thumlers rotary tumbler that keeps dieing. It will run for a few hours, and then the tumbler stops turning. The motor still runs and all, but the barrel just stops turning. I have tried everything. I cleaned it really good, got any oil or debris off the barrel, and the shafts, checked the motor out, and still it will stop after only a few hours. When it stops it smells like something is burning, so I am afraid to leave it run all night. I unplug it at night, then when I go in to start it back up in the morning, it won't start up, like the shafts are frozen or something. Take the barrel off, and manually make it "go", let it run for a little while without the barrel on it, or it will not start up. After about an hour of running by itself, I can put the barrel back on it, and it will run for a few hours at a time.
Someone PLEASE tell me the motor is not going bad?! This tumbler will just have to sit idle until I can afford a new motor if it is. UGGGHHH! Lord only knows how long that might be!
Thanks for any advice you might have!
Marie
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montezuma
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2009
Posts: 21
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Post by montezuma on Dec 17, 2009 14:44:55 GMT -5
Is the belt cracked or worn?
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Post by Toad on Dec 17, 2009 14:47:32 GMT -5
The motor should be started without the barrel on it. Causes a lot of strain otherwise. Is your barrel too heavy? I've found that loading my barrel to recommended height would put me over the weight limit.
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Post by superioragates on Dec 17, 2009 14:59:16 GMT -5
The belt is brand new, maybe a month old. And I am very careful about filling my barrels, I learned the hard way about too many rocks never getting to "move on" to the next stage.
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Post by 150FromFundy on Dec 17, 2009 15:03:22 GMT -5
(1) Check your weights. The barrel, water, grit, and rocks combined can not exceed 3 lbs. Many people believe the load capacity is 3 lbs, which could overload the motor.
(2) Make sure your shafts are rotating freely. Clean and oil them.
(3) Replace the belt. It is a $3 part. The belt when cold is small and tight and will turn the pulleys. The belt when warm is larger and looser and may slip after a few hourse or running.
(4) Thumler has "thermal protection" on their motors (at least the new ones). If anything jams up, the motor shuts down. I have tested mine twice now. You should not worry about overheating.
Darryl.
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 17, 2009 15:37:11 GMT -5
You can determine if it is the motor by oiling motor one or two drops in each motor oil port if equipped. You'll see a small hole at shaft and opposite end. Remove belt and start motor. If it hums but does not start without turning it by hand it will need to be replaced. If you bought it less than a year ago contact the distributor you bought it from to see if it is warrantied. Many of the smaller motors have only a 90 day motor manufacturer's warranty but Thumler's may cover it for one year. When I sold Thumler's they told me they would sell replacement motors directly to the customer for dealer's cost so contact them directly if out of warranty. I don't know if that is still the case but it would be worth a try.
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Post by superioragates on Dec 17, 2009 15:39:13 GMT -5
Ok, thanks everyone. I will dble check these things suggested. I hope it's not the motor!
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 17, 2009 15:40:04 GMT -5
Sorry, I just read your message again. Is it the model AR-1 with motor/belt exposed or Model T with skeleton frame motor under a cover? If the AR-1 it will likely have oil ports on motor. If model T it won't but motor will be pretty inexpensive.
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Post by superioragates on Dec 17, 2009 16:09:15 GMT -5
Motor and belt are exposed, no cover. I assume this is an older model, I bought it at a garage sale this summer, and until now have had no trouble with it, except a belt. I believe this was modified at some point or another, as the shafts on it are longer, as if for a larger barrel, but I only have a 3lb barrel on it. (That's what came with it) I am guessing here, but the shafts on it are at least a foot long. I'd have to measure them to be sure, but at least that much, well, at one point I was gonna put a longer barrel on it, and a 1 gallon pickle jar will fit on those shafts.......barely, which is why I didn't use that.
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 17, 2009 16:19:50 GMT -5
You have an AR-2 with one barrel missing. It had originally two 3 lb barrels.
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Post by superioragates on Dec 17, 2009 16:25:14 GMT -5
Ok, so what should I be looking for if the motor does go bad? AND, could I just put a 6 lb barrel on it, or should I stick to 1 3 lb, or what? I know nothing about this, and I sure don't have any money extra to be wasting, so any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 17, 2009 18:47:29 GMT -5
Thumler's 6lb tumblers have wider spacing between the axles. You need another 3 lb drum or better yet two. Reserve one for polish only. Tumbler will work with just one drum. Check motor starting like I posted before with belt off. If it starts ok then see if it starts with drum loaded. Also make sure motor is stopping and not just the barrel. Belt could be slipping but motor turning, pulley could be slipping on shaft, etc. If it is indeed the motor call Thumler's (they will answer "True Square Metal Products") 253-833-2310 and see what they want for an AR-2 motor, 115volt. You can compare with Kingsley North and Rock Shed but most dealers don't offer much if any discount on repair parts. If you can read the specs on the motor you can also try a local motor shop, Heating/AC shop, etc. Thumler's vibe tumblers use an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) motor but I'm not sure about the rotaries. You'll have to decide if it is worth investing the money to replace it.
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Post by tkrueger3 on Dec 17, 2009 19:40:59 GMT -5
Marie, I also have a Thumler's AR-2. My experience tells me that it will only work right with 2 barrels on it.
If the barrel stops but the motor's still running, then it's not the motor.
With only 1 barrel, the barrel will walk itself sideways until the 2 raised "treads" on the ends of the barrel are no longer on the rubber rollers, but on the metal shaft instead. When that happens, the barrel stops turning, and the load on the motor goes up.
The other thing that happens is that the barrel tends to walk up and over the plastic barrier at one end or the other of the rear shaft. That causes the barrel to stop, and since the other end is still sitting on the drive shaft, you will get the burning-rubber smell.
I always run with 2 barrels loaded, and then I put layers of thin cardboard under one end or the other until the barrels stop trying to walk off of one end of it.
Just my experience - perhaps some of it applies to your situation as well?
Tom
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Post by superioragates on Dec 18, 2009 0:12:09 GMT -5
Ok, this is a pic of my rotaries. The one in the top middle of the pic, kinda at the back, is the one I am talking about. Tom, yep that's what it does, the barrel walks towards the motor. No matter what I do, it walks over there. BUT, I cannot put another barrel on the shafts, because there isn't enough room, the motor sits under one shaft, and is too tall. So I have unused space on the shafts. Hopefully you can see it in this pic good enough to know what I am talking about. The shafts are 13 inches long, and have 9 inches of rubber on them. I believe this is an older machine, as these shafts look different from what the Rock shed show to go with this machine, if it's and AR-2. These shafts are almost completely covered with an orange rubber, and new ones have black rubber spaced out across the shafts.  Thanks for helping me with this. YEAH! It has stayed running for almost 6 hours now..........Oh yeah, no I didn't have a blow out that day, I picked up one of the barrels in polish, to check the rocks, and the flippin thing slipped out of my hands and the lids popped off! LOL This pic was taken several months ago. |
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Post by Toad on Dec 18, 2009 8:11:49 GMT -5
Did you try elevating the motor side to prevent the walking?
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 18, 2009 10:06:18 GMT -5
It looks like two 3lb. drums would not fit. You might want to call Thumler's ans ask Al about it. It may be really old and maybe had 1.5lb drums or something. You could try buying a foot of braided vinyl hose, split it, cut it and place pieces over axles on either side of drum to keep it centered. I've never seen a Thumler like that before.
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 18, 2009 10:14:44 GMT -5
Looking at photo, did the motor problem start after spilling slurry over motor? I'd clean it up as well as you can and make sure the air vents in motor end are not blocked. There should be a small fan inside to cool motor. I also would keep lid side away from motor and put the hose "stops" I mentioned on the motor side to keep drum away from the motor. A Thumler drum over a vented motor is just plain scarey.
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Post by superioragates on Dec 18, 2009 11:06:33 GMT -5
Ok, I will get that taken care of today. (Actually my husband will...I am NOT mechanical AT ALL ! LOL)
I think it would actually hold 2 barrels, if the motor weren't too tall. As you can (barely) see, the barrel stops right at the motor, because the motor sticks up "just enough" to stop the barrel from going any further. I have put a 1 1/2 lb on there, to see if they both would fit, but 1 barrel always rubs up against the motor, and it's a tight fit, so I didn't do that. I looked at the rock shed stuff for replacement parts, but I am not sure the shafts they sell would fit this....I don't know, cuz, again I am not mechanical. I know I bought a pulley for this machine from them, and it fit fine on the motor shaft.........I also know that the guy I bought this from had some reeeeeally old lap. equipment at his sale. He had 2 old vib machines there that look NOTHING like what you see now, he said they were just for face polishing stones. They were BIG, and round, and made of solid metal, but they were vibrating machines. Everything had been stored in his garage for several years. I also bought another tumbler from him, that the motor died on. That one does 2 way action, and probably holds 4-6 lbs. of rocks, made of metal, not rubber, and the lid has wing nuts to secure it. If that gives you an idea of the age of this tumbler?
This photo was taken several months ago, and yes, we cleaned it up really good, but yes as well, the problem started maybe 2 weeks ago, so after that spill took place. To me it doesn't look like anything is plugged up as far as the air vents go....but I will have my husband look at it better to make sure.
Thanks for your help....
Marie
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Post by tkrueger3 on Dec 18, 2009 11:51:44 GMT -5
Marie, here's a pic of the secondary shaft on my Thumler's AR-2 (the one with 2 of the 3-lb barrels).  As you can see, it is 12" long. The white plastic wheels on either end are the "keepers" that are supposed to prevent the barrels from moving any farther toward the ends of the shaft. There is just enough room between them for 2 of the 3-lb barrels plus about 1/2" of free space. The 3-lb barrels are 4" long, so the usable length of the shaft would be about 8.5". I'm guessing your tumbler is one of the larger ones - the 15-pound Thumler's barrel is exactly 8.5" long, for example. Hope maybe this helps. Tom |
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Post by superioragates on Dec 18, 2009 12:04:22 GMT -5
Ok, mine doesn't look like that. There are no keepers on the shafts. The shaft is almost covered in this orange plastic/rubber (that looks VERY old I might add) , and the orange stuff is starting to come off...if the barrel stays in 1 place too long, it will wear it off in places.
The inside length, between the braces is 13 inches on the shafts, and then there is also like an inch sticking out at the end, outside of the end braces. The bushings are metal also, not the plastic ones. Which I know these are starting to wear out as well.
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