How long?
 

How long should the medium last in your tumble? Is it an age or amount of rounds thing. Do you look for other things color?

RE: How long?
 

It will quit working after a while. New corncob will clean them in an hour or so. But after a while it will take much longer.

RE: How long?
 

I have an old fashion one that you let run for hours and seems to still work good but the cob is turning colors a bit.

RE: How long?
 

When a heavy black ring starts forming around the edges of my tub is when I change media. When that occurs I notice it taking a considerably longer time to clean them.

RE: How long?
 

I tumble in quanity. Some people like to in sets of 20, but I usually prep a whole order of brass, and load and shoot all of it once, and then tumble all 100. If I do this 4 times, I usually change the media. If youput brass polish in it, it will wear it out quicker also.

RE: How long?
 

I tumble 400+ cases at a time, the walnut media I use lasts a long time.

RE: How long?
 

That is a good question. I too wondered how long the media would last. I just got my tumbler about 2 weeks ago. I have already cleaned 200 rounds of 9mm brass and 100 rounds of 357 brass. I am using the walnut media to clean my brass, I figured it would last longer that the corn cob media. Not for sure about that though, but I have gotten some real clean looking brass...looks better than factory ammo.

RE: How long?
 

When your tumbler media begins to load up with dust and grunge, cut some strips of paper towel about an inch wide and six inches long. Put four or five strips in with the brass and media and tumble a while. You will be amazed at all the gunk that sticks to the toweling and can be removed. Keeps the media cleaner longer.

RE: How long?
 

My media lasts a surprizingly long time considering I tumble the tar out of my brass (I like to see my reflection in the brass when they're done). I use a 50/50 blend of whatever fine ground walnut and corncob media my local petstore has on sale. I use two capfulls of Iosso polish for a new batch of media, and then recharge it with a capful every other tumbling session or so. I have been using the same media for at least 10 tumbling sessions and it still works well enough for me not to change it. The corncob isn't black yet either. One thing I do after every session after I dump the brass and media into a separator is wipe all the black nasty dust and crud out of the bowl before I pour the media back in. That seems to keep the media in better shape and speeds up the next tumbling session.

Mike

RE: How long?
 

I use just the 1/8" corn cob pet beding with nothing added . A 50 lb bag is $16-18
I have a low nap carpet square that I lay on the floor to place the tumbler on .
I have a 12 hour timer ,I set everything up and tumble brass while I am at work.
I don't worry if the brass is not shinny ,just clean.

My medea lasts ,depending how dirty the brass was ,between 12 and 20 uses.

Clean and shinny brass are 2 different things.
The more you take off the shorter time it lasts.

Johnch

RE: How long?
 

The media will last a long, long time Thousands of rounds can be cleaned. It's just gonna take longer and longer to get the finish you want, no big deal. I usually load my tumbler up and let it run all night anyway so when your tumbling for 6-8 hours anyway, it seems to last forever.

RE: How long?
 

The media in my tumbler has been in there for about 2 years and has hundreds and hundreds of rounds through it. It seriously needs to be changed but I dont see why I need to because usually after Ive shot the cartridges and prepped them for loading and all that good stuff, I have several days or weeks before I would have to use them. I threw in a few handfulls of new media the other day to kinda refresh it.

RE: How long?
 

I can't say for sure, but the electric you take to run for all night I bet I could buy a new batch of media cheaper.

RE: How long?
 

Now you're worried about the price of electricity???

RE: How long?
 

I don't worry about anything. I am explaining if you didn't read, there is may be no use in running a 50 dollar tumbler in the ground, wasting electricity, waiting 6 to 8 hours, possible noise problem of tumbling over saving 4 dollars in media. Seems like pure common sense.

Seems so simple to me its easy. But hey, its your crap, not mine. Run it straight for 100 hours for all I care. Could care less. Have at it.

RE: How long?
 

What kind of media do you use? You didn,t say. If you use brasso that brass polish mentioned will make your brass brittle,and i would advise not to use it.Its the ammonia in it that causes brass to go brittle. If anybody wondered,or uses it.

RE: How long?
 

I think you've got it right Mike, I've been using that method since the end of the late unpleasentness in SE Asia made walnut hulls unavailable at an affordable price. The governmet used it to clean the blades on the turbines in the Huey engines. There are several non ammonial polishes that boost the polishing power of whatever medium you use.[8D]