Problem With Dillon CV-2001 Tumbler

[George]

OK, last night I went to process some brass I had been storing up. Pulled my trusty old Dillon tumbler (CV-2001) out of hibernation to do the job. It would not start. Verified AC power, then unloaded tumbler and gave wiring and motor a cursory look, nothing wrong to eye. Tried flipping the switch while listening and looking carefully and the motor just pulses like it wants to start but nada. No hum in motor housing so current isn't staying applied, you have to flick switch off, then back on to get the motor to pulse.

I figure it's either the motor trying to draw too much current or it's the thermal protector module. It has sat unused for about 18 months in my basement on a sealed cement floor under the workbench. It is a dry space and temp never drops below the low 50's there.

I am going to call Dillon later this week, I don't expect them to cover it as I know it only has a 1 year warranty and I have had it for over 5 years. Hopefully they will be able to sell me parts rather than needing to buy a new one.

What is getting me here is it barely has any use on it, maybe in the range of 300 hours total runtime.

Has anyone else had one go south on them with so few miles on it and/or just not work after not being used for a period of time?

Thanks,

[twodownzero]

My friend had one go bad after maybe 5 bowls of brass. He's had it for a long time, but the outside looks like new and it has had hardly any use.

Dillon basically told me to get bent. They wanted something like $100 for a replacement motor.

I'm sticking with cheap tumblers from now on. Midway's cheap tumbler died on me, and they replaced it immediately without any questions.

I've had excellent service from Dillon on my press, but their tumblers use the same kind of cheap motor that the cheap tumblers use, and so if they won't offer a decent warranty, I might as well just use a cheaper product and throw it away when it fails.

I wish I had better news to offer, but unfortunately, for me, I'd rather just have a bunch of cheap and smaller tumblers than put all my $$$ into a big one that they won't stand behind.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Edited January 10, 2011 by twodownzero

[Joe4d]

could be a simple dampness or dirt in one of the windings issue,, UNPLUG IT,,,, then go get you some electricle contact spray cleaner, pray heck out of the motor then let it dry and see what happens.

[DougCarden]

Dillon does have a 1 year warranty on the new motors, and they do replace them within the one year time frame. I know this firsthand.

The original motors used to be made in the US....the newer ones from Mexico.....it is what it is...

They are easy enough to tear out and install. They wear out from use, period. You don't have to like it, but if you use it alot it needs to be replaced at some point.

They last longer if you adhere to the weight restrictions that they place on them....figure out how much brass to put in, weight it, and do that. Anything over 10lbs of brass in the big one will put a big load on the motor.....in my experience.

I have 3 of the big ones, and they work great, but don't last forever.

George, if you have an electric motor repair place close, pull it out and have them look at it, may be just the starter.

Regards,

DougC

[dhenry132]

Mine should have died a long time ago. I put about 20 pounds in each one let it rip

Over two years and somewhere over 3 million cases............

[larry cazes]

Yup. I actually went through two in the space of 6 months. Both died before 100 hours runtime. Dillon gave me some credit for the first and offered to replace the second but I gave up on them and bought another Midway which has been going strong now for years.

[AlamoShooter]

its going to sound Crazy , but its true. I kept my Lyman 1200 tumbler going for its last two years by Dropping the thing from about 6" to 12" off the floor. I would plug it in to power and if it did not start I would drop it once or twice and it would kick in and work fine.

I have a used CV 2000 now and its always great = it looks like it has had a very hard life before I got it.

Dropping it will give the off set impeller a bump to start. Ya know I remember now, the first year I only had to whack it with my hand on top strait down

Edited January 10, 2011 by AlamoShooter

[George]

its going to sound Crazy , but its true. I kept my Lyman 1200 tumbler going for its last two years by Dropping the thing from about 6" to 12" off the floor. I would plug it in to power and if it did not start I would drop it once or twice and it would kick in and work fine.

I have a used CV 2000 now and its always great = it looks like it has had a very hard life before I got it.

Dropping it will give the off set impeller a bump to start. Ya know I remember now, the first year I only had to whack it with my hand on top strait down

OK, I will try kick-starting it when I get home tonight

I am starting to think that a Lyman from Midway for under $70 may be better than paying Dillon for new parts. I will make my decision after I try some percussive maintenance on it tonight LOL

Thanks to everyone for the help here :-)

[M-Bear]

My Dillon tumbler is over 10 years old and i have abused it. I let my dad use it to polish rocks and sometimes it is on for a week at a time. If it died tomorrow I could not complain.

[John Wayne]

From other threads I've read the old motors were bulletproof. My experience is with two different cv 500's and one didn't run more than twenty hours total time and the other sits broken as we speak. Dillon has a reasonable solution for this which involves sending the machine in and they upgrade the 500 to the 750 for a fee. I would hope they are past the motor problems. I would hope they learned their lesson with the mexican motors as I'm sure it cost them a lot of money, headaches, and ill-will.

If your motor has a starting capacitor, it has failed. There are lots of electric motor shops around large cities, worth a try. They routinely rebuild large motors, I don't know if they'll fool with small ones.

[George]

Bump starting it did not work :-(

I may try contact cleaner next, but at this point I do believe the starter capacitor is the issue. The motor burps when power is applied so it seems it might be OK.

I am going to call Dillon today and see what they say.

[larry cazes]

From other threads I've read the old motors were bulletproof. My experience is with two different cv 500's and one didn't run more than twenty hours total time and the other sits broken as we speak. Dillon has a reasonable solution for this which involves sending the machine in and they upgrade the 500 to the 750 for a fee. I would hope they are past the motor problems. I would hope they learned their lesson with the mexican motors as I'm sure it cost them a lot of money, headaches, and ill-will.

If your motor has a starting capacitor, it has failed. There are lots of electric motor shops around large cities, worth a try. They routinely rebuild large motors, I don't know if they'll fool with small ones.

Seems like a lot of work to end up still using an unreliable product. Read the archives. Lots of threads on this. The Midways are rock solid and much cheaper.

[George]

Well, just got off the phone with Dillon and lo, and behold, I now have an RMA number and a committment to repair it for me at no charge!

Wow is all I can say, Dillon just hit a home run customer-service wise :-)

They said I have an old style motor assembly and after discussing the problem they agreed it was the starter capacitor. They said they have plenty of that part kicking around and they would be happy to do the repair for no charge, woohoo!

Looks like the cost of shipping to them is all I will have to cover.

Their no BS warranty is no BS after all :-)