revco
starting to spend too much on rocks
Another Victim Of The Rockcycle
Member since February 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by revco on Mar 4, 2010 15:26:01 GMT -5
Hey all,
So I haven't seen much hacking of tumblers going on with the board members. I'm looking at my Lortone's and thinking...I can make this better. (Woot! And void the warranty as well!)
Here's what I'm thinking. I'd like to see if others can come up with other ideas or mention what they have done to their tumblers.
1. Power Switch: Nuff said.
2. Barrel guide for both barrels on 33B's and QT66: I hate that little plastic bit eating my lids!
3. Active cooling: Going to install a fan to cool the motors. Hopefully this will make them last longer and my QT66 motor could cook an egg after a few hours.
4. Quick disconnects: Install quick disconnect for motor and (new) fan wiring. Will make things much easier to service.
The most challenging hack is the fans. AC based fans largely don't come in small sizes and variety - so I have to convert the AC power to DC to get (12 volt, standards based) sizes like 40mm and smaller. (Thinking 40mm or smaller for the 33B/3A and a larger 60mm for the QT66) I'm thinking about using a little 15 watt AC/DC converter from Mean Well (RS-15-12), a small electronics case for wiring splices and the converter and mounting the case on the tumbler. (Under the barrels and exhausting towards the motor for the QT66 and a passive intake/active exhaust in the motor enclosure area for the 3A/33B.) This should make for a relatively waterproof/dust proof addition.
As for the barrel guides, I'm simply going to modify 45C guides to fit on my 33B's. The QT66 will get another QT66 guide to replace the little plastic tooth.
The power switch will go inline with the primary power cord, insuring that it will kill power to the motor and the DC converter/fan assembly when the switch is flipped. I'll use a standard metal on/off flip switch for this - medium duty for the 3A/33B's and heavy duty for the QT66.
The quick disconnects are also easy - just a matter of crimping appropriate ends on all the connections.
So what do you think? Any other ideas of how I can hack these things? Any examples of hacks that you've done? Thanks for looking!
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Mar 4, 2010 17:54:56 GMT -5
I can't really help you with any of those things but I can relate to the little plastic piece eating your lids. I'm a little neurotic I think & I like things to be balanced. So....that being said.... I try to make sure both barrels on my 33b are close to the same weight. That way one isn't pushing the other to the other side. Then, if I am still having a problem with the barrels wanting to go to one side or the other I take pieces of cardboard & put them under one side or the other til I get things balanced out so that both barrels are running in the middle, or at least close to it! I sometimes drive myself bananas trying to get them both in the middle!   Donnie |
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Post by rocklicker on Mar 4, 2010 19:18:55 GMT -5
Hmm, the barrel guides and the active cooling are easily fixed by getting an older Lortone, with it's knurled nut and better motor. If you have a plastic guide, you can probably order a knurled nut and a barrel guide from a different model and bolt it on. I've used pieces of aluminum and filed the middle out so I could use a knurled nut. I did that on some older tumblers.
As far as the switch, funny thing you should mention that. I picked up a used QT66 and it had a switch mounted on the side with a light! Not sure if it was there all along or aded. It's a pretty old model, but it's handy. BTW, glad I'm not the only one with a hot QT66 motor ;D
Another mod I've done is to instal a fuse. I did this on CE tumblers when I used them because I didn't trust them. It was an easy to put in. How about instaling a timer and an led with a reset button that lit up after a week of tumblng? I was even thinking of installing some leds you could manually toggle that indicated your grit stage.
The one I have always wanted to do and still might is to make a solar powered rock tumbler!
Steve
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revco
starting to spend too much on rocks
Another Victim Of The Rockcycle
Member since February 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by revco on Mar 4, 2010 20:55:46 GMT -5
Donnie - that would require way too much work! Hahaha. And it does nothing to satiate the gear-hacking engineer in me!
Rocklicker - Good ideas. Wish there was a old-style Lortone shop down the way, but alas, there isn't. My 3A is a 80's model and I love the thing - picked it up for $5 at a garage sale. The reason I've stuck with Lortone is because I can still easily buy everything I need to keep such an old unit running.
Gave some thought to an LED light, since I'll have DC power readily available, but can't figure out a function other than just putting light in my eye! LOL.
The counter is an AWESOME idea. Problem, though, did some research for day/hour/minute counters...and they're freakin' expensive! I am NOT good at digital circuitry...so DIY isn't an option. Any ideas on where one could source a small, DC powered, mountable d/h/m counter of this nature? It would only need a reset button, preferably mountable anywhere...but a reset on the unit may work, depending on the design.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 4, 2010 21:02:03 GMT -5
Mount a scratch pad and pencil near the tumbler and keep notes.
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 4, 2010 22:05:48 GMT -5
Mount a scratch pad and pencil near the tumbler and keep notes. +1 John  Use a wall wort psu for the fans. A power light will let you know there's power to the unit. (so when it dies you know it's NOT the breaker). I'll see what I can find on log timers. Dr Joe . |
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revco
starting to spend too much on rocks
Another Victim Of The Rockcycle
Member since February 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by revco on Mar 5, 2010 20:06:01 GMT -5
John - I do that now! Cracked me up, though! ;D
Dr. Joe - I think I want to use a dedicated PSU (like the Mean Well units) so I can avoid two power cords. It's easier and less expensive to use a wall wart, for sure, but a mounted DC converter would be more contained.
This counter deal is turning out to be a pain. I've found a number of relatively inexpensive electronics kits that count time on LCD's, but for one reason or another, they don't work well for this application. Mostly because counters don't exceed 99 hours or the counters can't increment on the hour. I have a couple emails into some kit shops to see if they can come up with anything here. I really like the idea, but if it's a convoluted hack job, I'd just rely on good old pen & paper!
I've pretty much settled on my fan sizes and locations - but the PSU will be dependent on whether I go with the counter idea or not.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 5, 2010 22:43:39 GMT -5
If you liked the high tech paper/pencil idea maybe you would like this too. Can you remove motor cover to let heat dissipate? Sorry, I can't remember if motor cover is on top or bottom. If on bottom leave off and either drill side holes for hot air release or add louvers. Natural convection is free.
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Mar 6, 2010 12:26:40 GMT -5
John, I like your ideas, they are so practical & inexpensive!
Donnie
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 6, 2010 21:54:14 GMT -5
Looks like a calender is the best bet so far, digital timers, hour meters and elapse time indicators are out of the budget unless you can find one surplus. A resettable mechanical counter could be an option and would indicate barrel slippage too. You could put a heat sink around the motor with a couple peltier devices mounted to it to keep the motor cool  Maybe an auto oiler (or oil cups) for the bushings (or replace with oilite bushings or bearings) and motor. Dr Joe . |
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Saskrock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2007
Posts: 1,852
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Post by Saskrock on Mar 7, 2010 17:52:02 GMT -5
Its a easy fix on the guide wearing the lid. Cut the center out of a sour cream lid, put a hole in the center and put it under the nut that holds the barrel lid on. Plastic on plastic doesn't wear hardly at all and when it does wear out it will be the sour cream lid that wears out.
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revco
starting to spend too much on rocks
Another Victim Of The Rockcycle
Member since February 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by revco on Mar 7, 2010 19:17:37 GMT -5
John - your solution for the QT66 would be dangerous and problematic at best. It's an external motor mount and I'm not about to go drilling holes in a $50+ motor's case. I use an external fan right now and it runs probably close to 20 degrees or more cooler. This is the one I worry about the most...it gets HOT to the touch. The others are optional...but I'd expect longer life by keeping them well maintain AND cooled.
I have one set of the 33B's new barrel guides finished. Spent some time with a dremel, reinforced rotary disc and 45C barrel guides...and voila, guides not unlike the QT66's. Under an hour for both and the second took a LOT less time.
Saskrock...I see what you're saying and that is a good solution. I liked the benefit of being able to precisely control where my barrels would sit. And for a $4.00 solution, it's not bad and I don't have to keep screwing around with it down the road. Maybe replace an occasional nut, but those are cheap and likely would only need to be done once or twice for the entire life of the barrel.
I think the counter idea is out the window. Can't seem to find a way to do it cheaply, as awesome as it would be.
I'll post some pics once I'm done with the barrel guides. Thanks all for the ideas!
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 10, 2010 13:53:08 GMT -5
I was referring to the 33 model with the skeleton frame motor in an enlcosure. I wasn't suggesting drilling holes in a motor.
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