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time to replace media?

Joe Drees
When do you know it's time to replace the cleaning media used in a vibrating type cleaner? I use crushed walnuts and just did a batch and they came out shiney, but dust coated. Time to replace ?
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • 5mmgunguy
    No, not necessarily. The dust is just the media working on itself. I just clean until it doesn't work very well, thne I throw it away and refill with new. And I wipe out the bowl before refilling.
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  • Mobuck
    I've used walnut hulls until they were black and oily to the touch. Got that way from cleaning cases that had too much sizing lube on them (bad habit of mine). You might just need to add some Lyman turbo boost reactivating liquid.
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  • bpost
    I found that about three tablespoons of Marvel mystery oil keeps the walnut dust down in my tumbler. I have used it a lot and have had no problems using it. My media lasts about 5,000 case/cycles. I use it for lube removal and general cleaning until it takes too long to clean or looks too dirty.
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  • bsdoyle
    Ive used a sheet of toilet paper every one in a while. It seems to pick up the dust. Specially with walnut. Give it a try. My 2 cents
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  • peppersac
    I will have to try the three tablespoons of Marvel mystery oil. That sounds interesting.
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  • bsdoyle
    I would think that any type of oil would just shorten the life of media. Like too much lube on brass. But if it works . TRRIFFIC. GO FOR IT. Im going to stick with my T P
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  • bsdoyle
    I would think that any type of oil would just shorten the life of media. Like too much lube on brass. But if it works . TRRIFFIC. GO FOR IT. Im going to stick with my T P
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  • Dumpster Baby
    You can reuse walnut media almost indefinitely - but - you would have to periodically clean the crud off it. Basically the media has to be sloshed and kneaded a lot in a sturdy cloth bag in hot soapy water until the crud comes off. The the media has to be thoroughly rinsed. Then the media has to be further rinsed in a semi-porous bag made of mosquito netting, stretched panty hose, etc. You have to let the smallest grit and crud wash away while saving the big pieces. Then you have to spread it out and dry it out.

    Why anyone would use tumbler media to remove case lube is beyond me, but it seems everyone does it.

    I'm still using out of my first gallon jug of the stuff over 30 years later. It's not a matter of being cheap so much as wanting to find out if the grits actually wear out or if they just get encapsulated with crud. They get encapsulated.

    Clean it or throw it away, doesn't much matter, it's cheap.
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