Harbor Freight dual tumbler question

[Daved001]

I just purchased a dual tumbler and plan on using it for the first time this upcoming metal detecting season. I believe each tumbler holds roughly 3lbs so my plan was to add coins, aquarium gravel, water and a little Dawn dish soap and try to keep it all below 3lbs., so I have two questions.

1. How much aquarium gravel should I mix in with the coins and water?

2. Could I reuse the aquarium gravel and catch it with a strainer or use fresh gravel each time I clean my coins?

Thanks

 

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[DannyB1954]

1. I fill mine about 1/3 to 1/2 full.
2. yes reuse. I pour mine through a 1/4" screen.
I own the unit you inquire about. You might have to play with the leveling to get the drums to run smooth. I used common sand in mine and it worked OK. a bit of soap helps keep the sand from clumping and sticking to the sides. With gravel, may not even be necessary.
It takes about an hour. Some don't come clean at all, but they are the worthless zinc pennies anyway.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

I don't even bother putting any stones or things like that any more. I just put water, Dawn and the coins. Works good enough for me.

 

[T.C.]

Try lemon juice and salt....tumble for 30 to 45 minutes....just like new. Rinse out barrel....done!! Fill the barrel about 3/4 full...pour lemon juice in to top of coins....add tablespoon of salt. I've tried 'em all and this works the best....tumble the pennies separate.

 

[lawsonland]

Same as Blade- water, little soap and just coins. without the gravel you can put more coins in and they bang around together and clean themselves.
This is if you are just trying to get them to go though a coin counter.

If you want them pretty add more other stuff.

Just to cash them in fill them up and tumble, rinse and dump them in the machine. The treasury can clean them up and make them look pretty

 

[1637]

i have posted this before,but still works great,just put them in the washing machine,leave them in for a month or so,they wont going anywhere.
brad

 

[Duckman Willcox]

Totally agree with the Vinegar and salt. I had a problem with the tumbler tops unscrewing, so I added rubber grommets to the drive shaft to raise the tumbler knob a little higher off of the metal frame.

 

[boblemon]

I used chicken scratch today and ran it about 3 hours . Cleaned the coins real well no mess and when i was done the chickens got fed extra. lol should run it over night and i think that would be perfect. there a lil dusty from the grain but it washed right off and all dated were delegable. Just a thought.

 

[PluGGLife]

I have the same double tumbler. I have found the most efficient combo that take the least amount of time to get the most cruddy coins clean is:

Use stainless steel shot bought from ebay

One Squirt of dawn dishsoap

One dash of Lemon Shine wash booster.

I put about 1 lb of shot in and the rest of the 3 lbs is coins and water. Fill the water level just above the coins and shot.

It will make pennies look brand new, and will shine the rest like no other.

 

[flgliderpilot]

My Harbor Freight tumbler will turn everything black if I use any soap or acid in the mix. I found plain water and just ceramic media did ok and did not leech the black sludge out of the drum.

Not sure if the double uses the same black rubber drum.

 

[T.C.]

Hmmm...both of my tumblers use the same drum. I have a single and a double. I don't have any trouble with them turning everything black.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Hmmm...both of my tumblers use the same drum. I have a single and a double. I don't have any trouble with them turning everything black.

I noticed you only tumble for 30 minutes, perhaps thats why. I tumble over night with just media and water. My coins usually have sand packed into limestone on them and you have to either chip it off or tumble it off so it takes a long time.

https://www.cooltools.us/v/vspfiles/images/tumblercontamination.pdf

 

[luvsdux]

I agree with the use of dawn and aquarium gravel and use it over and over. Pennies mixed with clad will DEFINITELY give you colored clad. The rubber belts on this tumbler don't hold up very well. I found some o rings that outlast them.
luvsdux

 

[T.C.]

I agree with the use of dawn and aquarium gravel and use it over and over. Pennies mixed with clad will DEFINITELY give you colored clad. The rubber belts on this tumbler don't hold up very well. I found some o rings that outlast them.
luvsdux

Yeah, I've broken a couple of belts also. O rings are probably cheaper too!!

 

[Daved001]

I'll reply to my own post as this morning I went ahead and used my new tumbler for the first time. First thing I did was to separate my pennies from the rest of the coins. Next I added about a third of aquarium gravel, added the coins (quarters, nickels, and dimes), added water just barely above the coins and two drops of Dawn detergent. Closed it up tight and ran it for about five hours and they definitely came out cleaner than before. I used to just throw my coins in a bucket of water with Dawn detergent and sit for days but the tumbler method is way better especially if you don't want to jam the banks coin counters.

I've read some posts where people don't even use aguarium gravel or run it as long as I did. I'll have to maybe experiment with those suggestions but for now I was happy with the results. Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions.