larry cazes Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I would suggest that you do a quick search here and see which brands are having the most problems. The answer may surprise you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD Niner Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I have a Frankford Arsenal one because I believe it to be the "best value for the money." It is not the best tumbler I suspect but for the price it is an outstanding deal. I have over 40K rounds through mine with the only problem being a screw that came loose. I fixed it in about 5 minutes. I went through three RCBS tumblers. None lasted more than six months and one less than a day. I'm sure that the Dillons are better units but they are way more expensive than the FA unit. I doubt one does a better job of cleaning the brass than the other, just that the Dillons are liable to last a bit longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 (edited) The motor on my little Dillon tumber has crapped out twice now. I just ordered the big one from Brian. Edit: I just called Dillon. For $55 bucks, they will send out a replacement motor. For $80 bucks, they will replace the old motor with thier upgraded motor. However, the tumbler has to be sent it so they can replace it. Edited July 9, 2009 by CSEMARTIN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryl Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 dillon without a doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I have gone through 2 dillons, 1 small and 1 large. The small one lasted a few months and they convinced me to upgrade to the large. I paid the difference. The large then started to have problems after 2 small batches of empty cases. I am back to the FA that I bought 10+ years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2osport Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I had to run my FA tumbler for about 6 hours to get the brass as clean as my FL2000's do in 2 hours. I think most of the problems people have had with the Dillons is related to running them too long. I believe Dillon recommends running them no longer than 2 hours. There really is no need to run them any longer than that as my brass comes out like new in about 1.5 hours. Somebody mentioned earlier in this thread that you might want to take into consideration your volume of brass to be cleaned. I would also suggest that you consider how clean and shiny you want your brass. I like mine shiny like new, and the big Dillon is the one for me. If you just want your brass knocked clean then maybe a cheaper tumbler will do the job. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I think most of the problems people have had with the Dillons is related to running them too long. I believe Dillon recommends running them no longer than 2 hours. There really is no need to run them any longer than that as my brass comes out like new in about 1.5 hours. Yup. That must be it, I must have run mine 2.1 hours right before it quit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I think most of the problems people have had with the Dillons is related to running them too long. I believe Dillon recommends running them no longer than 2 hours. There really is no need to run them any longer than that as my brass comes out like new in about 1.5 hours. Yup. That must be it, I must have run mine 2.1 hours right before it quit. My first Dillon motor took a lot of abuse. I used to turn it on and forget about it. I'd go out to the garage in the morning to get into my car and realize the tumbler was still on. I did that type of stuff for years and never had a problem. Finally, the tumbler wore out so I had the motor replaced. I had less than 20-30 hours on the new motor before it crapped out. I have no idea why it happened. I hope Eric has better luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Guys, in my own experience...... It is s weight thing on burning up the motors, not a time thing. If you load up the big one with 12lbs or less, which is what they recommend, the motor will not get hot for any duration of time as long as you have it in an open area. The more weight, the harder it has to work. Just an observation. DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Doug, I am just being facetious. To suggest that these be designed for anything but continuous duty cycle is outrageous. There are undoubtedly a mix of factors that cause these to be less robust than some others in certain cases. Sorry for the drift..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
professor Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I just came across this thread, but figure better late than never. I got a Berry's tumbler when I started reloading in 2001. It ran fine until 2008, cleaning lots of brass, both stuff I shot and stuff I collected to sell. So when it finally died, I got another. The big surprise on the new one is how much quieter it is than the first one. And it seems to clean somewhat faster. I've got my set up so that the power goes through a 24 hour lamp timer set for 4 hours. Once I filled it with media and brass to clean, I rotate the timer so that it powers up the unit, and go about my business. After 4 hours it shuts down, and I've got the remaining 20 hours to get back to it, get the brass out and set up a new batch or turn the power off. If I forget either, it just goes through another 4 hour cycle the next day. Like some people have mentioned, you just don't want to load down the unit with too much brass. First, it puts more of a strain on the motor, and second, the agitation of the media and brass isn't quite so vigorous. Just my .02 Oh yeah. The media I use for just about everything is ground walnut shells that is sold for small animal bedding through pet stores. It's finer and cheaper than most of the gun store brands. It also doesn't pack up in the 38 Spl and 9 mm casings like corn cob media. And if a chunk gets stuck in the primer hole of a casing, the decapping pin punches right through with no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2osport Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I think most of the problems people have had with the Dillons is related to running them too long. I believe Dillon recommends running them no longer than 2 hours. There really is no need to run them any longer than that as my brass comes out like new in about 1.5 hours. Yup. That must be it, I must have run mine 2.1 hours right before it quit. Thread drift on: I have no idea how you ran your tumbler. I only know how mine have run. I also referenced "most problems" I have read about on this forum. Your experience with the Dillon tumblers has been different than mine! From th Dillon Manual 6. Normal run time is one to one and a half hours or until the desired effect is achieved. Thread drift off. Lots of different experiences with tumblers given in this thread. Maybe we need a poll. Any of the tumblers will clean the brass. Pick the one that fits your needs as far as capacity and cleanliness. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomfturner Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I don't know about any except the Frankford Arsenal tumblers. I've had 2, one was purchased while I was still in high school and living at home. I used it to polish a lot of rifle brass when I was into shooting long range. My dad is still using this tumbler some 17 years later. The second is going on about 10 years. Both of these have been filled to more than capacity, and have been left on for days to run. Neither has a problem to my knowledge atm. I would feel comfortable buying another. The only problem I have is that they don't have the BIG FA tumbler available anymore that was available when we purchased the first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I wish I would have bought the big Dillon tumbler years ago. Man....this thing is awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildot1 Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hard to wrong with any dillon product. Service is top rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keninaz Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 I have the small unit from Dillon, I think it's the 500. It has been going strong for over 15 years. YMMV Kendall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball97 Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 (edited) Thank you all. I just received the small Dillon unit & media separator, ordered from Brian. It came quick but was missing one of the rubber feet. One call to Brian, and he had 2 new feet sent out the next day. Great customer service, and the unit is quiet. 1 to 1-1/2 hours with corn cob media, and the cases come out looking like new. I have polished all of my cases and am enjoying loading again. Thank you Brian! Edited August 2, 2009 by bball97 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryl Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 dillon makes a great one. buy one with a large tub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremiah C Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I have a small dillon I have used for years with no issues. I would check craigslist for whatever is available. If you can find one for a relatively decent price then who cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GmanCdp Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 i've ran a layman 3200 for more then 20 yrs without a problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holsterdude Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I have the old Dillion FL 2000, they call it the CV 2001 now. I got it around 1988. I have had no problems. I do not tumble for more then 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. Not sure if that gives it a longer life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I replaced my two Midway tumblers with an RCBS and Lyman 2500. I also purchased a timer that shuts off as programmed to limit tumbling time to 2 hours. I think I burned the Frankford Arsenal tumblers out by running them too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Lyman 2500 here with the autoflow. the autoflow is...ok but I find it is much faster to just dump it into a frankford media separator in a 5 gallon bucket. this also allows you to agitate the cases to get the media out of them. If you are lazy and can stand the racket the cases make as they bang around when it gets empty, use the autoflow. Friend has the same tumbler for about 2 years now and he reloads several thousand rounds a month I think and has the same Lyman tumble. He is the reason I got mine. 99.00 on sale at Cabellas did not hurt either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 i have a Midway 1292 that worked fine for over 10 years, noisy but i cover it with a box to drown out the noise, and i drilled vent holes on the motor base for circulation. the brass tends to just vibrate in place and doesn't circulate as much (i fill the bowl up to the center stem with brass and the rest with media). Again it's worked fine over the years. lately i needed more cleaning volume, so i bought a Cabela's version for $25 at the gun show. it has a bigger bowl and not as noisy (no box needed) and am very happy with it, you can see the media and brass actually tumbling and circulating in the bowl very aggressively. i've always wanted to get a Dillon but for now, the 2 are working just fine for me. Good luck on your search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
springy Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) I've had, and still have a smaller cleaner - Midway. I use it for small batches, or to clean really messed up 308 range brass. For normal I use the big Dillon. My wife and I both shoot 3 gun, and practice for 3 gun. I reload tons of 40, 45, 223, and 308. Lots of brass, so the cleaning process is important. The big dillon holds about 2500 40's, about 500 308's. When you get the whole thing full to about 1" below the edge, the movement slows way down, but that also puts a lot of "weight" on the cases against each other and media in between. An hour of that and the cases are scrubbed clean. The extra weight may be more strain on the motor, but mine has been running for 2 years with no problems, and tons of time saved. For separating, I discovered a neat setup. An RCBS rotary case and media separator. I cut the bottom out, and it sets in a bucket. Plus the lid keeps the dust inside the unit. After separating, the bucket gets dumped back in the vibrator. It sure works for me. Edited September 12, 2009 by springy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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