CED Brass Tornado Pro Series Tumbler

Seems reviews don’t come up since I posted two negative reviews on the unit breaking after three years and the company not supporting repairs.

I’ve had mine for three years and of course it breaks after the two year warranty period. The shaft was jammed so I removed the gear box and the one bearing was destroyed. It was making a grinding noise before it jammed. I called customer service and sent them a video of the unit while it was running and they said it was something in the gearbox. They have no repair parts or can tell you where to find repair parts. I tracked down a set of ceramic bearings which should last a lot longer than the three dollar bearings that were originally installed. Bearing size is 6mm x 19mm x6mm

I just ordered another drum to increase my production. I've had my Brass Tornado Tumbler for four years now, It works very well could not be happier with the Tumbler and Double Alpha Academy.

works great but buttons sometimes non-responsive, have to hit bottoms repeatedly

When I finally made the decision to convert from dry media tumbling to wet, I looked at several different brands. What set the CED Brass Tornado apart was the steel base and the clear tumbler. Now that I've been using the CED Tornado for several weeks, I can say without hesitation that this was a good choice.

I’ve been using dry media to clean brass since the 80’s and then started hearing more and more about the wet process. Did my research and decided on CED Tornado Tumbler and I’m very glad I did. Not only do I like the process/results better, but this tumbler is the best I’ve seen. Heavy duty, well built and should last a lifetime. The formula I use is same as shown on their video and I wouldn’t change anything. After my first batch of 500+ 9mm brass I went ahead and bought the dryer and it is awesome as well.

Very well made and does what it is supposed to do. It leaked a bit the first time I used it, but not since. This process is much faster than dry tumbling and gets all residue. Looking at other company's wet tumblers on YouTube, and the CED is great. It's more expensive, but has more features. I imagine it's better made, as well.

For testing, I decided to process all my 9mm cases (around 7,000 cases) that had been tumbled in walnut media in a Dillon CV-2001 vibratory tumbler for 24 hours in several batches. The exteriors were free of carbon and dirt, but dusty. I pour the brass into a pillow case to slide them around to remove the dust on the outside of the brass. Then I’d spray on Dillon lubricant on in batches. They were then resized and deprimed in a Dillon 650. The cases were then returned to the Dillon tumbler in batches and tumbler in corncob media for a final polish and to remove the lubricant. I had hundreds of old cases that were heavily tarnished black. No amount of vibratory tumbling would remove this black patina. These had spent decades out in the desert. After tumbling, many of the cases had media stuck in the flash holes.

My test was to tumble these processed cases in the CED Tornado to see how much dirt and carbon could be removed. Using tap water, 3.5 pounds of stainless media, the recommended amount of Lemonshine and Lyman Turbo Sonic Cartidge Case Cleaning Solution. I tumbled in the rotary tumbler for the max run time of 3 hours. The tumbler was set to change directions every 15 minutes. After the three hours of tumbling, I began pouring out the solution through the supplied strainer lid, the liquid was black as coffee and had an astringent smell. I refilled the canister with hot water several times and shook it, pouring it out again until the flushed water appeared clean. I then filled the bottom third of the wet media separator with hot water and poured the brass cases and media into the basket. I found the basket design to be rather flimsy to be honest. The basket relies on the clamshell lid to support the basket at the handles to keep from twisting itself open. The Dillon squirrel cage is much heavier duty but would not work well for dealing with wet media.

With the water submerging the bottom part of the CED basket, the unit quickly separates the stainless pins from the cases and gives the cases a good rinse with clean water. If the water is particularly dirty, I’ll dump the water and rinse a second time. I have yet to find a single stainless pin left in my cases.

From here the wet cases are then spun in the basket without water. This removes a good deal of water from the cases. The cases are then transferred to the CED Brass Dryer. After a few hours, the cases are dry and ready for their next step.

Performance was amazing. The hundreds of blackened cases are so clean I can’t even identify them from the pile of gleaming cartoon gold. The cases are clean inside and out. Rarely do I see a sign of lead deposits from shooting cast bullets. Most primer pockets are squeaky clean. I case gauged about 3000 cases in one sitting, and noted that my fingers showed barely any sign of blackening from handling the brass.

Pros:
-Zero dust or dust exposure contaminated with lead. The majority of contaminants are washed down the drain. Less dust will be easier on your dies. I’m more comfortable allowing children to help with the loading process when they’re cleaned to a higher level.
-Improved performance. Cases are clean inside and out to polished brass. Even blackened cases are returned to like new appearance.
-Stainless Steel media doesn’t need to be replaced.
-Stainless Steel media doesn’t get stuck in flash holes.
-Less dust and carbon means less of each transferring to the press which means less time cleaning the press.
-Media can be picked up with a magnet. I put a plastic bag over a magnet to pick up what falls out of the rotary basket. Then you just pull the magnet out and the media falls off.
-Media sinks in the water. This allows for other contaminants to rise above and be washed out.

Cons:
-Higher initial cost for equipment.
-Drum sizes are smaller than vibratory tumblers, but speed is significantly increased. You’ll spend more time shuffling brass loads.
-Cases require drying - repurposed food dehydrators work well. I never towel them off or wipe them down.
-Water conditions may leave water spots or deposits of dirt,carbon on the cases if they aren’t flushed with enough clean water.
-Stainless Steel media can get trapped in certain rifle cases.
-Steel cases rust and corrode quickly, ie: S&B steel case. These type of cases should be tossed anyway.
-The lid design of the CED Tornado could be better. If you don’t get the latch just right, it will leak.
-Rotary tumbling is louder than vibratory tumbling. I stuck mine in a detached shed so it isn’t an issue.
-CED media separator basket is poor quality and may break with heavy use. The handles act like a worm screw migrating water and stainless pins out on to the floor.
-Wet tumbling cases with old primers may chemically fuse them to your cases if you don’t remove them quickly.

Everything OK. I got the goods. I have no complains on the shipment.

Typical excellent shipping and service from CED. The drum leaks a little so I have to use it in the laundry tub, but other than that, it works GREAT. Brass is now cleaner inside and out in less time. The steel pins take a little getting used to but with a decent media separator and a magnet they can be managed. I would definitely recommend CED and the Tumbler to anyone serious about reloading good ammo quickly.

First, couldn't ask for better service, shipped promptly and quickly. Set up was a breeze and the results are outstanding. This unit was certainly well thought out and for cleaning brass! the features are simply ideal, the results couldn't be better. I'm a happy camper.

Great Tumbler. Now i can clean about 1100 9mm cases at once. After 1:15 hour they are like brand new. Unfortunatly my drum was broken when i got it. But Saul send me a new one immediately. So a big thank you for that great service. What else can i say. A big buy recommendation.

Great bit of kit - it has reduced my brass cleaning times to a quarter of what they were.

This has been the best thing I have brought for reloading since the bullet feeder. It took a couple of times to wash the pins, but now the brass comes out looking like new. I run mine for 90 mins at 55 RPM. Using 1 teaspoon of limishine, 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid and 2 teaspoon of Lyman's brass cleaner. I love how there is no more dust from separating the cases. Its a bit more effort with washing and drying the cases, but worth it.

Product seems well constructed & easy to use. Variable RPM feature very useful as can be adjusted to maintain peak RPM for different masses of brass. First load of 260 .223 cases came out as new. Very pleased and also extremely impressed by communication and delivery to UK by Double Alpha. Greatly appreciated and highly recommended. Many Thanks.