Teardown of my toasted Harbor Freight Tumbler

[87iroc]

So, you can see the previous discussion here about what to replace it with...

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/ammunition-reloading/400294-life-harbor-freight-tumbler.html

So got my new Lyman tumbler I decided to replace it with. Pro Magnum 2500. I know it wasn't suggested in the posting, but knowing the motor was the weak link in all of them and I decided I didn't want the 'Auto Flo' feature...I went with it. What sold me was a post I saw somewhere else where a guy swapped in a grainger motor in to one to fix it when it died.

Anyway, back to the Harbor Freight 'Chinese Junk' tumbler as I've seen them refered to as....I was shocked to find these in it...



Also, was shocked not to find any brushes...but my brother who rebuilds them for a living reminded me I'd never messed with a AC motor before. Anyway, looks like the lower bearing area(closest to the 'bob weight' that causes it to vibrate') was all gunked up with brown powder. I am guessing that was broken down wire coating(this was due to my brothers expert input again) that flaked down as it was starting to heat up. Not sure what area caused it to overheat...but I do wonder if as someone at the end of the previous post mentioned...I overloaded it with b rass that last run and fried it. The only failure I could find in the system was that lower bearing felt as if it 'caught' as I spun it around minorly. Maybe it expelled its inner grease(that bearing was greasy) and it died. Overall, I am pretty sure you could rebuild the thing with new bearings if you caught it at the right time and keep it going. The numbers are clearly on the bearing.

Here are a few more pics...

 

[EyeCarry]

And here I thought tearing something down yourself was a lost art. Good for you in your ability. I had it passed down to me by my father. I find people less and less able to do this type of stuff. Much less even know that it is possible. I have known some 20-ish aged students that thought "ball bearing" was "ball bare-ing" and did not even know what a ball bearing was when explained to them. So much for knowing how to fix your roller skates or skateboard. Throw it out and have Mommy Daddy buy another. (sigh)

 

[87iroc]

I didn't say 'then I re-assembled it'...lol. I figured if it looked fixable I'd keep it in mind for 'the next one' if I ever buy one. Nothing i did would necessitate throwing it away. Its a rebuildable design if you catch the motor in time.

 

[Gluemanz28]

Those are sealed bearings so the problem of the coating leaking down into them can't happen unless a seal has been compromised.

Bearing will give you some indications that they are needing replaced. I had a motor on my swimming pool that started to roar. I replaced the bearings in it. It was still running two years later when we took the pool down.

I have probably replaced a truck load of bearings in various motors and spindles during the 25 years I spent doing Industrial Maintenance.

I learned a trick from an old guy to replace the removed bearing with a new one with out damaging the seal if you are trying to replace it without a press. He would clamp a trouble light in a vise, open the wire cage and lay the bearing on the 100 watt bulb. He would then cover it with a shop towel. The heat from the bulb heats the inner race causing it to expand. After it heats up you put on a pair of welding gloves and just slide the bearing on the shaft.

 

[SSGSAD]

You can probably buy a replacement at Bearings Inc., in Indy .....

Or, at an Auto parts store, I used to work at O'reilly, and we carried some .....

 

[bulletsmith]

I'm surprised to see an actual bearing and a full blown induction motor, not those cheap shaded pole motors some of them use. Here's a thought. If that bearing locked up, it would cause the current in the stator windings to spike and eventually burn open. Your photos didn't show any hot spots in the windings. I'm wondering if there is a fusable link in series with the stator windings that opened to keep them from actually burning. If so, you may actually be able to get this thing working again.

That one shot of the rotor shaft looks like a spot that is worn in a strange way. Is that where the bearing sat? Is there missing material? Or am I seeing it wrong?

 

[87iroc]

It looked like missing material...but not sure if that's where the bearing sat or not. There wasn't a lot of side to side slop in the bearing or the shaft when I pulled it out. That area of recess was full of the brown powder. There was a strong smell of burned electrics when I opened it up. Yes, there was some sort of a 'canned' potted electronic 'thing' that was in the wiring....it looked OK but I just glanced at it. My new one say s'thermally protected motor'...thought maybe that's what that device was. It was rectangular...not round like most capacitors I've seen(starting capacitor for like AC compressors is what I'm thinking it probabvly ISN"T)

Yes, was shocked to see bearings.

The inner race of the bushing that was in the failed area looked bronze when I first started looking at it. Actually thought it was a funny bronze bushing. The bearing was not locked up...just had a lsight catch in it as I spun it.

 

[bulletsmith]

It looked like missing material...but not sure if that's where the bearing sat or not. There wasn't a lot of side to side slop in the bearing or the shaft when I pulled it out. That area of recess was full of the brown powder. There was a strong smell of burned electrics when I opened it up. Yes, there was some sort of a 'canned' potted electronic 'thing' that was in the wiring....it looked OK but I just glanced at it. My new one say s'thermally protected motor'...thought maybe that's what that device was. It was rectangular...not round like most capacitors I've seen(starting capacitor for like AC compressors is what I'm thinking it probabvly ISN"T)

Yes, was shocked to see bearings.

That area, lets call it a worn spot, on the shaft is strange. Makes me think the bearing was lose on the shaft and when the bearing started to seize up it started slipping maybe. I suspect that the blob of stuff is what kept the windings from heating to the point of failure. The shame is that it's all fixable except for that worn spot on the shaft.

What did you end up doing? Did you replace the motor?

 

[IndyDave1776]

You can probably buy a replacement at Bearings Inc., in Indy .....

Or, at an Auto parts store, I used to work at O'reilly, and we carried some .....

In the Indy market, Motion Industries is my personal favorite. In Terre Haute, Coldwell is the best bet.

 

[Water63]

Those are sealed bearings so the problem of the coating leaking down into them can't happen unless a seal has been compromised.

Bearing will give you some indications that they are needing replaced. I had a motor on my swimming pool that started to roar. I replaced the bearings in it. It was still running two years later when we took the pool down.

I have probably replaced a truck load of bearings in various motors and spindles during the 25 years I spent doing Industrial Maintenance.

I learned a trick from an old guy to replace the removed bearing with a new one with out damaging the seal if you are trying to replace it without a press. He would clamp a trouble light in a vise, open the wire cage and lay the bearing on the 100 watt bulb. He would then cover it with a shop towel. The heat from the bulb heats the inner race causing it to expand. After it heats up you put on a pair of welding gloves and just slide the bearing on the shaft.

That's one of my old tricks but wait that's old school. LOL

 

[87iroc]

That area, lets call it a worn spot, on the shaft is strange. Makes me think the bearing was lose on the shaft and when the bearing started to seize up it started slipping maybe. I suspect that the blob of stuff is what kept the windings from heating to the point of failure. The shame is that it's all fixable except for that worn spot on the shaft.

What did you end up doing? Did you replace the motor?

I tore the tumbler down to see what made it tick. I plan on just throwing it away as a whole. Looking at the motor, rebuilding it is the only way to 'save' the motor. Its not a universal thing at all. Everything bolts to it. It has mounting locations on both ends. I replaced it with a new Lyman tumbler. I do plan on looking at the worn spot to see if that's the bearing surface.