Worm composter lifeless!

I recently made a large worm composter out of a wheelie bin. I started it off with some well rotted horse manure and added a kilo of dendrobena's. I have been adding  some potato peels and cooked pototoes.  I've even added some  nesting material in the form of shredded newspaper. However they appear to be lifeless and the numbers have went down as far as worms go. I've even aquired some of the worm treats from wiggly wigglers. A recent inspection has seen no change. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to revamp the composter.

I have a few dalek type composters and they are always full of worms. They stand on the soil and I put everything in them. Peelings, weeds, earth, rotten fruit, cardboard, etc. I don't add any commercial products. When I take the lid off I have to leave it before putting it back as there are loads of worms around the top and inside the lid and I don't want to trap or squash any.
Earth will contain worm eggs.

Thanks trillium! 
after all these years I had no idea spud peels were poisonous to my worms!!You would have thought that info would have percolated through somehow,but no.
I never buy any worms,I just start the compost off with lots of green stuff and uncooked kitchen waste of banana skins apple cores and many many tea leaves,which I suppose technically are cooked aren`t they?The worms magically appear from nowhere.I haven`t even put any cardboard in,and there are so many worms,they are crawling all over the inside of the bin,I hope they aren`t trying to escape?

The rats can`t get in this year,so what will I be able to use the compost for next year?potting on,general soil improver or will it be ok for seeds?

Worms try to escape when they are not happy, ph not right, too wet are two reasons.

If you see tiny white threadlike worms then the soil is too acid and you must add a lime agent, not garden lime but a product made for the purpose.

If its too wet, leave the lid off and it will dry out, too wet usually results by you putting too much food in for the worms to eat. A short term measure to help is to give the whole thing a good mix up after adding brown cardboard, kitchen paper and shredded newspaper.

My worms do not try to escape when the lid is off even at night, I found out by accident a couple of times.
Of course by doing this you can say goodbye to much of your liquid fertiliser if that's what you are after but you will be able to add a lot more kitchen waste and obviously more compost will be the result.

Another thing worms don't like much is onions. (So I'm informed by wholesale worm breeders)

All this is in my short lived few months of experience and is not written in stone, John.

Worm castings (manure) is very rich and should be used sparingly. The industry people actually carefully pull aside the worms to gather the manure, then set the worms in fresh bedding and peels, etc. Sounds like its time for your lot to move into fresh new quarters, perhaps two if you have so many worms.

Yes, you can use worm castings for transplanting seedlings but it's too rich for seed starting. Industry producers never sterilize worm castings because it would devalue too greatly, and unless you see obvious signs that something else is living in the worm composter, it can be used as is without fear since its not subject to regular compost conditions (weed seeds, insecticides, fertilizers, insect eggs, etc).

The reason I'm leery of potato peels is that most people leave them sitting about for a day or two (or longer) before tossing into the composter. By this point, the solanine poison is developing and is lethal to everything that digests it.

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Don't spend good money on worms. Just add a shovel full of earth. There will be plenty of worm eggs in there if there are worms in your garden. I also put in egg shells.