Is my Tumbler working correctly?

[htuong95]

I just bought a Harbor Freight tumbler. I filled it with 2/3 full of wallnut media with about 200 9mm brass. With the top off I can see that the media are moving towards the center but my brass are not rising to the top. Is this normal? I tried removing/adding some media but still the same.

[johnrunner89]

I usually see my brass moving. I would try taking some brass out and doing a smaller load.

[ojisan]

Too much brass in the tumbler at one time will slow down the movement.
Too much brass, they just sit there and jiggle, takes forever to clean.
Reduce brass, add media until the movement is good.

I do suggest using something like the Dillion or other case clean additive to your media.
The brass clean much faster and ends up cleaner overall.

Never add liquid cleaners to media with empty cases already in it.
Add the cleaning liquid to the media and tumble it for 5 minutes to get the liquid fully worked into the media before adding brass.
The reason is you may get a damp clump of media stuck in a case.
If you do not catch it when loading, especially on a progressive press, you might create an over pressure round that might blow.
Yes, I did this one time.
It's the only reload I ever made out of thousands that failed.

[Suhleen]

Sounds like your ratio of media to brass is high. I try for a 60:40 media to brass ratio to get the best results. Try adding more cases or removing some of the media.

[reloader714]

You need the lid on for them to work properly.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

You need the lid on for them to work properly.

This...

The harbor freight ones especially. You can even simulate this by pressing down on the top washer with the lid off. It will begin to work exponentially better once you hold it down with a little pressure.

[bcrich]

I have to agree on keeping the lid on the harbor freight tumbler, I cut out a piece of clear plexi to glass as a lid to keep an eye on what's going on in the tumbler

[htuong95]

Thanks all for the help. I just ordered a Frankford tumbler at Midway. The HF tumbler is going back.

The harbor freight ones especially. You can even simulate this by pressing down on the top washer with the lid off. It will begin to work exponentially better once you hold it down with a little pressure.

With the lid off, the bowl does rotate clockwise. Maybe the bolt was not tighten down enough.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

Thanks all for the help. I just ordered a Frankford tumbler at Midway. The HF tumbler is going back.

I will say that those are pretty cool. The included brass seperator is worth it's weight in gold. I ended up ordering one from midway after I got sick of sifting through media.

My Harbor Freight tumbler works fine but the FA one will be far superior...

With the lid off, the bowl does rotate clockwise. Maybe the bolt was not tighten down enough.

Yeah, it is. I had to do the same...

Seriously, for the convenience of going to your local shop and grabbing one today and the low HF price, the HF tumblers are ok. Certainly not optimal, though. The purpose-built, brand name tumblers are much better...