EricW Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 My reloading area is located out in a separate shop building, so remembering to turn off my tumbler is somewhat of a problem for me. I've thought about using a spring-wound timer switch to turn off the tumbler, but those generally only run for 60 minutes at most, and my brass never gets clean that fast. While going through Home Depot, I managed to find an Intermatic E140C digital timer switch. I don't know if it's a new product or a discontinued one, but it's not listed on HD's website, or Intermatic's for that matter... Googling: intermatic "electronic auto shut-off timer" turned up this PDF as well as a couple overpriced places to buy on line. http://www.intermatic.com/images/catalog/pages/p-88.pdf It works great. I've had very good luck with these timers in another version which is a 24 hour timer designed to turn exterior lighting on and off at predesignated times. I can set it for any time from 5 minutes to 24 hours. It's fairly cheap at $30. I wired mine into a 4 gang assembly with the left outlets being on the timer and the right two outlets being always-on: Now I don't have to worry about forgetting and burning the shop down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Cool.. that allows for one-shot timer runs like say 'on for 3 hours'? I've been using the spring-wound timers (you can get up to 12 hours around here) for everything from the stat shack AC unit to my tumbler (actually I did the same thing and had it drive an outlet-- this is a no-no according to the instructions). I thought digital would be cool, but all the ones I found wanted to repeat the cycle every 24 hours, which was annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted September 5, 2005 Author Share Posted September 5, 2005 Cool.. that allows for one-shot timer runs like say 'on for 3 hours'? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Exactamundo. I never knew this thing existed until I stumbled on it at HD. I didn't see any admonitions not to power an outlet with it. The amperage limitations are listed on the package and I don't see any reason why the timer would not be compatible with a standard, 15A circuit breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Nice! I'm cheap, though, and am lucky enough to have the tumbler in my basement. I run my tumbler off a cheap 24 hr. cycling timer, and just try to remember to kill the switch to the motor after I dump the cleaned brass. The timer cycles on and off, but the motor doesn't. If I forget for a day or so, I figure (hope) that running for two or three hours on a slate base sitting in the middle of a dirt floor isn't a big risk for overheating (or am I deluding myself?). Kevin C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 You can also do what I did with one of the pin-set rotating timers-- yank out the 'on' pins and set 'off' pins every 2-3 hours. Flip it on manually and it'll turn itself off when the next off pin rolls around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 That is what I use also. I set it so it turns on for a hour or two and then off to cool down the motor and then back on for a while. I run two cleaners, one for an initial clean and get all the crap off and then the second gives it a nice final shine. This way my media lasts longer because I am not inducing all the crap into my media. The first cleaner gets pretty nasty but I keep using it. Neal in AZ You can also do what I did with one of the pin-set rotating timers-- yank out the 'on' pins and set 'off' pins every 2-3 hours. Flip it on manually and it'll turn itself off when the next off pin rolls around. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milanuk Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Silly question here... have you ever noticed any *harm* done to your cases, beyond being really really clean, if you went out/down to your shop/reloading room and found that you'd forgot and left the tumbler on for a day or two...? I generally leave mine on, and if I make it back out to the shop, the next day (usually) I swap things around then. If not... there have been times when mine has gone for a couple days (or more, but lets not go there) and that little Vibrashine unit is still humming away after 6-7 years of that... I'll probably set up a timer of some sort in my shop or reloading area at the next house (trying to sell this one right now!) just because, but I'm not sure I see it as all that big of an issue. So, what am I missing here? TIA, Monte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 If you use a cheap tumbler, there's only a set number of hours that motor will run. Midway even did a recall many years ago on tumblers that could melt down if left on too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milanuk Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Well, I don't think Sinclair International sells too much that would be classified as 'cheap', at least not when the credit card bill comes due!!! It's been going for a while now, tumbling cases, bullets, etc. Now that I'm saying this, it'll probably croak tomorrow I do kind of want a big Dillon just because that bowl on the Vibrashine sure seems to shrink as time goes by... Monte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottyw Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Shred, Who makes your wind-up timmer? Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 The one I used to use when I posted that was one of the cheapy lamp/appliance timers like this But now I use something different-- I picked up some 12-hour spring timer switches like this one: on discount once and built it into a double-outlet box with an extension cord out the side, sorta like Eric's got at the beginning of this thread but with only two outlets (note that the instructions on the timer explicitly say not to do this) IF you're going to build something, Eric's digital timer that does countdown timing is cooler, because.. it's digital . I keep thinking somebody will make a plug-in timer unit that does countdown, but 99% of them are of the 'make your house look lived in while you're away'-type which is not what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 (edited) I have a nifty one that is a 7 day timer with 2 hour increments that can be set on or off. I just set it to run about 6 hours overnight, so I can be home while it is running, but don't have to listen to it. The nice thing about this is that when it stops, it wont start back up again for many, many days. Thus avoiding the automatic start-up the very next day all over again. Edited March 10, 2006 by C.Keen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansy Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 (edited) I made this timer a while back to control 3 tumblers individualy at the same time....of course the power go out through a 3 double sockets wall plugs so it can control 6 tumblers at the time Maybe one day I will have time to stain the wood Edited March 10, 2006 by dansy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 (edited) Now THAT is a super-duper nice timer set-up! Do you have a brand name or model number for the timer all the way to the right there? Edited March 10, 2006 by C.Keen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Dansy: Are the time intervals on your switches preset? Looks like a max of 30 minutes from what I can read off the face plates. That's shorter than what I typically run (though maybe I'm overdoing it at a couple to six hours). Kevin C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Looks sorta like an Intermatic, though probably from somebody else. They have 30, 60-minute and 8, & 12-hour versions (the far right in the picture) http://www.intermatic.com/?action=subcat&sid=98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 (edited) Sorry guys, I did a search on this and forgot to post my findings. The timers in the picture (from Dansy) above are (qty 2) Leviton 6515M-W on the left, and a Leviton 6212H-W on the right. The "W" at the end stands for White (I would stand for Ivory) and the "M" means minutes, and the "H" means hours. The 6515M has 5-10-15-30 minutes, while the 6212H has 2-4-8-12 hours availableto set. Found a few of 'em on eBay. Edited March 10, 2006 by C.Keen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansy Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Sorry guys, I did a search on this and forgot to post my findings.The timers in the picture (from Dansy) above are (qty 2) Leviton 6515M-W on the left, and a Leviton 6212H-W on the right. The "W" at the end stands for White (I would stand for Ivory) and the "M" means minutes, and the "H" means hours. The 6515M has 5-10-15-30 minutes, while the 6212H has 2-4-8-12 hours availableto set. Found a few of 'em on eBay. Got your pm but I see that you now have the information.... Yes the two on the left are 30 max the other one is 12 h they work like a charm build that about 1 1/2 years ago with left over.....did it because I keep forgetting to turn it off and it end up running all days....sometime weekends.... and of course it was damaging my brass.....nicks at the case mouth. didn't know it was going to excite you guy's this much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 didn't know it was going to excite you guy's this much We are an excitable bunch, aren't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Looks sorta like an Intermatic, though probably from somebody else. They have 30, 60-minute and 8, & 12-hour versions (the far right in the picture)http://www.intermatic.com/?action=subcat&sid=98 Blast my eyes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 So am I to understand it's bad to run a tumbler say overnight? I've been doing this for years. Both with the mondo Dillon tumbler and a smaller Midway Orange bowl tumbler. Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 I dont worry about it, so long as I am home to do something about it. It's only while I am away that I dont like to leave them running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 FWIW, I use my timer setup for soldering irons and glue guns and other fire-hazards I occasionally forget to unplug. Works great for that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 So am I to understand it's bad to run a tumbler say overnight? I've been doing this for years. Both with the mondo Dillon tumbler and a smaller Midway Orange bowl tumbler. Vince The problem is with Dillon's *small* tumbler. The big one uses ball bearings in the motor. The small one uses bushings. The bushing motors have a rather short service life and leaving them run overnight will burn them out in short order. I have already had to return my small tumbler to Dillon for a motor changeout. Until I buy the mondo Dillon tumbler, this is a solution that gives me motor longevity and peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cautery Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I have the big Dillon... I don't know how y'all make do with anything smaller. I really need at least one more... I really need to put together a timer system though. I left some brass in last week for over 5 days 9I was sick in bed). It's a lot different now that my shop is more than a few steps away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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