Chicago Dual Barrel Rotary Tumbler (Info and Pics)

[Shaw]

By no means am I an expert. There are guys and gals on here that have been cleaning coins longer than I have been around.

I am just sharing my method of cleaning some coins and items, I take extra time with my better finds.

Ok here we go.

This is the Chicago tumbler that I ordered a while back from harbor freight (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=90979)

I think it was 35.00 when I ordered it and now it is 49.00

The tumbler has worked very well for me and I probably have around 30 + hours on it.

It does have the sulphate smell that everyone talks about so it stays in the garage.

 

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[Shaw]

I rinse my finds under the sink by hand first and run through them again to make sure I am not throwing some sort of killer find in with my clad coins.

 

[Shaw]

I then place them into the two different containers (Ushally pennies in one and Quarters, nickels and Dimes in the other)

Today just for the hell of it I am cleaning my pull tabs.

 

[Shaw]

I add roughly a few tablespoons of regular dish washing soap to the barrels (My wife puts it in this olive oil container to make it look better I guess? )

 

[Shaw]

I add approximately 1 cup of water to each barrel

 

[Shaw]

I usually use a smaller size aquarium gravel but this is all I had left.

I add about 1/2 to a full cup of gravel.

 

[Shaw]

About and hour worth of cleaning and here is everything.

There was a wheatie and a Canadian cent in there as well.

Like I said before I am sure there are 100 other ways but I was just sharing my cleaning method.

Those are the cleanliest pull tabs I have ever seen!

HH

 

[dirtdevil2]

Thanks for Posting the info... I use the same method.

What I did get from your posting that I really like, is the Olive oil bottle for dish soap.... Nice

 

[Shaw]

Thanks for Posting the info... I use the same method.

What I did get from your posting that I really like, is the Olive oil bottle for dish soap.... Nice

Thanks

 

[diggemall]

A word of caution with the Chicago Tumblers !

I'll try to keep a long story short, but here goes

My wife had been using one to tumble stones, and with reasonable success, except that every couple months the plastic pulleys would just plain wear out. (tumbling stones requires that the tumbler run 24/7 for weeks on end) Well, since they have a 90 day warranty that was no problem, we'd just return the worn out one for a replacement and she was up and running again. She had had her 4th replacement sitting in a box in her office for a while when I walked into the house and could hear it running, so I headed towards her office just to say "Hey, you've got your tumbler up and running again". When I rounded the corner into her office I could see a plume of black smoke rising from the floor in the corner of her office. She was working away at her desk with her back to it, oblivious to the fact that the thing was running in a basketball sized ball of flames !! Yanked the plug and carried it outside by the power cord where it extinguished itself after a couple minutes. No harm to the hardwood floor, but I wonder how far it would have gone if we hadn't been home (remember - it normally was allowed to run 24/7/365)

If you are going to let one run unattended, please; do it in a place that is safe if it decides to self-destruct !

Diggem'

 

[Shaw]

Thanks for the input Diggem,

I never leave it running unless I am around.

Good thing you guys were home!

 

[Baldingboy]

Before hearing your story, I probably wouldn't have worried about this. Since reading, I started running my Chicago Dual Drum right out in the middle of the garage floor with no obstructions. Thanks for the info....I am not taking a chance on a fire!

Baldingboy