Recently I have come across problems with my rock tumbler. I have been running it longer then I ever have when tumbling polymer clay. (Usually with a batch of clay I will take 36 hours to tumble it through three grits of sand paper and buffing.) The last two weeks I have been polishings sea shells that I found in Maine. I have done two grits, both being used for over 1 week. The poor tumbler got a work out.
The first problem was with the original belt breaking. The tumbler is a two barrel Chicago Electric. The belts have a history of breaking. I replaced that with a sewing machine belt of the same size.
The second problem happened when that belt over heated. It got brittle and then started to shred. To help with the over heating issues, we simply took the cover off of the motor compratment. I will be putting mesh over it to keep things from falling into to motor. So far it seems to be doing okay. I am about to polish the shells which will leave the machine running for another week.
I was wondering if your singer belt with the mesh cover worked. I’ve blown through about 7 belts on mine in the last 2 weeks while going through agate tumbling. If this worked, could I ask what size belt did you use? Thanks! Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts, I’ve never worked with polymer clay and now I’m fascinated!
Comment by Elizabeth — January 19, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
The sewing machine belt did not work for very long. Currently I am using large rubber bands, the ones that the newspapers are wrapped in. They have lasted through a week of tumbling.
Comment by Helen — January 20, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Nice! I’ll give that a shot, my last belt just broke.
Comment by Elizabeth — January 20, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
hi, i have the toy also. an had to take it apart many times . here is how i solved the belt problem , bring the two pulleys together enough so that the motor will turn the barrel when it is fully loted , there should be a lot of slack in the belt. the-plastic motor pulleys have worn out on both of my tumblers, ive replace them with wood en dowel drilled to fit the spindles tightly, filed out a grove to fit the belts and to adjust the rpm. oil the spinning bars every couple of days.
Comment by tchin — July 3, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
Hi I was looking for solutions to a different problem with tumblers when I cam across your post, the Chicago electric tumblers, AKA “Chinese trash”
nearly burned down my house, you cannot trust them, the belt break for a reason, the rollars bind and the motor overheats, then the motor wile stop tuning all together making it into a very nice heater that can start a fire, the unit has no fuse protection and cannot be trusted. I have two Lortone brand ones and they have ran now for 6 months with no problems. If you want a belt that will fit yours for short use, get a belt that will fit a Lortone 45c its the same size but will not break on yours. It will however overheat the motor… you do get what you pay for.
Comment by Zachary — February 16, 2010 @ 3:19 am
I have the 3 pound Chicago Electric piece to trash! I keep going through belts left and right. My brother has the same tumbler and uses it all the time with no issues. I guess maybe I should just break down and get a Lortone huh?
Comment by Brad — November 15, 2011 @ 2:07 pm