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Curious as to how many own a RCBS tumbler and what has been your experience with the product.
I bought one about a month ago, as I had no tumbler and needed one quickly. I suspected (judging by appearance) the RCBS unit is essentially the same China-sourced piece available in other brands, but Huntington's/RCBS is local and it was on sale for about $20 off the regular price. I purchased the unit at Huntington's in Oroville.
I used it a couple of times per week and was happy with the results using walnut media and a dab of polish. The last couple of times I ran it, it seemed noisier than before, but attributed it to the lighter loads I had put in it.
This past Sunday, I had it running in the reloading shed and was working in my adjacent shop. I could hear the tumbler changing pitch every couple of minutes as if the motor was laboring and thought it sounded strange. Then it quit entirely. I walked around, unplugged it and dumped the brass and media into a bucket.
After a minute or so, I plugged it back in and turned it on. It ran, but the RPM was "surging" as it had been before it stopped. I unplugged it and found the receipt.
Today, I returned to Huntington's with the unit and receipt. I briefly explained the issue and asked if it could be exchanged. I was gruffly told to "Take it next door, they will exchange it for you". Note that I did not buy the tumbler from RCBS, but from Huntington's. Different entities these days, apparently.
I dutifully carried the tumbler the 150 feet or so to the RCBS office. I was greeted pleasantly by the receptionist and advised that somebody would be up shortly to to look at the unit. She paged someone, but after 3-4 minutes went to find him. Apparently he was out, so another tech (John) came up and I explained the problem. He said it sounded like a bad motor and that he would replace it for me.
I was given an RCBS catalog to browse while I waited in the comfy chair in the air-conditioned lobby (about 101F outside). After 30-45 minutes, John presented me with my rebuilt tumbler and verified he had tested it with confidence it would be OK.
So...the tumbler failed in less than 30 days, but was cheerfully repaired by the manufacturer as an "unannounced walk-in" and "while-U-wait". I have to consider this a good thing.
Then again, it has a 2-year warranty. Will I have to go through this drill again? What about people who don't happen to live/work a few miles from RCBS? Why did the retailer (Huntington's) blow me off to the manufacturer instead of exchanging my defective product?
Has anyone else with a RCBS vibratory had a similar failure? What was your experience?
I bought one about a month ago, as I had no tumbler and needed one quickly. I suspected (judging by appearance) the RCBS unit is essentially the same China-sourced piece available in other brands, but Huntington's/RCBS is local and it was on sale for about $20 off the regular price. I purchased the unit at Huntington's in Oroville.
I used it a couple of times per week and was happy with the results using walnut media and a dab of polish. The last couple of times I ran it, it seemed noisier than before, but attributed it to the lighter loads I had put in it.
This past Sunday, I had it running in the reloading shed and was working in my adjacent shop. I could hear the tumbler changing pitch every couple of minutes as if the motor was laboring and thought it sounded strange. Then it quit entirely. I walked around, unplugged it and dumped the brass and media into a bucket.
After a minute or so, I plugged it back in and turned it on. It ran, but the RPM was "surging" as it had been before it stopped. I unplugged it and found the receipt.
Today, I returned to Huntington's with the unit and receipt. I briefly explained the issue and asked if it could be exchanged. I was gruffly told to "Take it next door, they will exchange it for you". Note that I did not buy the tumbler from RCBS, but from Huntington's. Different entities these days, apparently.
I dutifully carried the tumbler the 150 feet or so to the RCBS office. I was greeted pleasantly by the receptionist and advised that somebody would be up shortly to to look at the unit. She paged someone, but after 3-4 minutes went to find him. Apparently he was out, so another tech (John) came up and I explained the problem. He said it sounded like a bad motor and that he would replace it for me.
I was given an RCBS catalog to browse while I waited in the comfy chair in the air-conditioned lobby (about 101F outside). After 30-45 minutes, John presented me with my rebuilt tumbler and verified he had tested it with confidence it would be OK.
So...the tumbler failed in less than 30 days, but was cheerfully repaired by the manufacturer as an "unannounced walk-in" and "while-U-wait". I have to consider this a good thing.
Then again, it has a 2-year warranty. Will I have to go through this drill again? What about people who don't happen to live/work a few miles from RCBS? Why did the retailer (Huntington's) blow me off to the manufacturer instead of exchanging my defective product?
Has anyone else with a RCBS vibratory had a similar failure? What was your experience?
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