Thanks! My tumbler sat in the corner collecting dust because it leaked so bad. Even using a strap wrench and getting it as tight as I could, it would just hemorrhage water. After trying this, it's usable now. It was amazing how un-true the ends of the drum were.
I made a wrench from a piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a very short handle that is about as long as my hand is wide. I have not had any leaks since using the wrench. I use the wrench to both tighten and loosen the lid. Put the lid on plywood, draw around it with a ball point pen, not a sharpie. Drill holes where the nubs go out from the lid, but be sure the holes are angled correctly. The nubs are not straight up and down on the lid, they are angled. Look down from above the lid to see what the angle is. After drilling the holes where nubs are, cut out with a jig saw (or saber saw, what ever it is called), cut the wrench out with about a 1 inch larger hole than what the inside diameter hole is. Or do what was done in the video, which may be easier than making a wrench.
I use powdered citric acid instead of Lemi-Shine, a 45acp case full in a load and it's only 5 bucks on Amazon and literally enough there to do hundreds of fills. As for the leaks, I had them too. I use a touch of heavy silicone grease on the gasket and I fill with very hot water. When the water cools and contracts it creates a vacuum and it seals the drum tight, I have to pry the seal off with my fingers to open it.
I noticed if the water is very hot it will leak, due to higher pressure? One turn to open the tighten again seems to stop it. Doesn’t leak with warm water
These should have come flat from the factory ! I've had good the results wetting the gasket before sealing, similar to the instructions to smear oil on the gasket of an oil filter before installing.
You're not wrong. However, the reality is that the best they'll do is send you a new one, which will probably also leak. You'll have far less time invested in fixing your current one.
Yeah, FA is EXTREMELY aware of this issue and they have less than zero interest in fixing it. They will send you a replacement drum, but it's a coin toss if the new one leaks or not.