How long: can I run a vibe cleaner + reuse the media (hope my house does not burn...)

[Pendragon]

I have a Dillon Case cleaner - the 500 count model.

Can I leave it running all day without worrying about a melt down?

I have run it for 3 - 4 hours at a time without trouble and today, I went in to work at 10am and turned it on. I will be home at 7pm, but I could go home at lunch and turn it off if I should.

Can anyone think of something bad that could happen by leaving it on all day? - I suppose it could overheat and catch fire, but that seems pretty far fetched - and I put it on a tile floor that is not too close to anythign flamable

Am I crazy? Should I go to sushi for lunch with my friends ro should I run home and turn that thing off?

Also - how many hours should you use walnut media for? Does it get dull after maybe 8-10 hours of use? Or is it much longer?

 

[Poodleshooter]

I don't let it run more than 2-3 hours at a time. I store powder near my tumbler It sometimes needs more time than that to clean, if the media is getting saturated. As far as changing it, I compare the old media to fresh media. When it gets too dark, I toss it. You'll notice that old media doesn't clean as quickly.

 

[Pendragon]

Called Dillon - they said it should be fine in an A/C house and its thermally protected to shut off if it does get too hot...

 

[Nanaimo Barr]

to extend out the life of the media, used laundry fabric sheets in the media with the brass seem to suck up a lot of the crud, I've noticed a good improvment in the life of the media (Corn Cob too)

 

[Edward429451]

My friend used to leave his Dillon tumbler on for up to 24 hrs at a time. It had a meltdown. Nothing serious, just stopped working.
Dillon replaced it for him.

I let my Lyman tumbler run all day while I'm at work sometimes. It has a replaceable 2 amp fuse though. Came home one day and it wasn't on...Fuse good...Called Lyman, they said "No user servicable parts inside!" "Send it in with 80 bucks and we'll replace it" (I got the big one.) So I took my Dremel and a cut off wheel and cut the air screen thing loose from the bottom of it and fixed the loose electrical connection. Been running fine ever since.

I throw away my media when it gets black. How many of Ya'll use liqued Turtle wax (ammonia free) for polish instead of the expensive Dillon stuff? The Dillon stuff is GFP, but its also TFE!

 

[maxwayne]

I let my Midway run all nite last nite. Often leave it on like that. I clean my media every 3 or 4 years and I use Turtle Wax.

 

[Sisco]

Can't remember when I changed my media last; couple of years ago? I use a non-amonia auto polish with it.
I also plug mine into a timer that's set for 3-4 hours. Now & then I'll forget to unplug it after emptying it and it'll start up the next day with the lid not screwed down tight. Makes quite a racket!

 

[larryw]

I've run my Dillon tumbler for 24 hours with no problem and it didn't seem to get overly warm. I now put it on a timer and removed the timer's "on" clip to keep it from starting back up on its own. Crank it up before dinner and it shuts off by the time the kids are in bed.

I used to tumble for very long periods before I discovered how well the Dillon blue stuff works. It is more expensive than the auto polish, but I only use 5 or 6 capfuls per batch of media (walnut), so it lasts a long time. I've found that I sometimes need add another capful or two when cleaning slows down, but that's infrequent.

One trick is making sure you run the tumbler for a while without any brass whenever you add polish. If you don't, some of your cases will have a real nasty goop packed in there (and it is a PITA cleaning it out of the sizing/decapping die).

 

[Waitone]

I'rn it 3 hrs max. If brass isn't clean in 3 hours I pull brass out.

Non-ammonia turtle wax works great and cheap.

I reuse corn cob media. I pull out one handful and replace it with one fresh handfull. Corn cob media ain't that expensive.

Prudence says don't let it run too long.

 

[jtduncan]

Even the dirty police range brass that's been left on the ground for three days in the rain, polishes up nice in 4 hours.

Overnight is not bad - done it for years.

But past several hours, you're just burnin electricity for nothing!

 

[WESHOOT2]

Use timer, corn-cob, Dillon Rapid Polish.

Lasts a long time.
Long time.

 

[moredes]

Geez, guys, what WESHOOT2 said. Get a timer for turning on lights when you're gone from home.

I use corn cob, and "CRC Mechanix Orange" citrus hand cleaner from Orchard Supply. $3.99 for 16 oz. Two capfuls have cleaned 5000 rounds so far; the cob is gray now, but shows no sign of needing replacement. I run the tumbler for 90 minutes / batch. They come out clean like they're goin' to church.