Lee furnace pouring problem

[Texantothecore]

There is a screw on the top of the melt furnace walls that the pouring mechanism sits on. I had somewhat the same problem and found that the screw had worked its way out and was standing pretty tall. Next time you pour, look at that screw and tighten it down with your hand, not a wrench. I do this everytime I fire the pot up and it works fine. Now it is just part of the start up routine.

Good luck.

[geargnasher]

Lizard333, I had some screws strip out on my Pro 4-20 that are a pain to fix, several other people have had the same problem. It's a matter of ignorance on my part that it became problem that had to eventually be welded.

The shoulder bolts that the valve control mechanism slides on are screwed into a thin channel in the ends of the aluminum outer shell, and are self-tapping and very prone to stripping. The bottom one kept working loose during a session and I'd forget to snug it when the pot cooled down. Eventually I got a wrench on it during a session and stripped it out. I had to disassemble the pot liner and take the side panels out, put the screws back into the channels and peen the metal back around the screw threads. I then built up a little aluminum with the TiG torch to close the gap around the screw so the channel couldn't spread and strip again.

Lapping the valve pintle and seat should be pretty much self-explanatory. It doesn't take a lot of lapping to get it perfect.

I removed the spout and peened the bottom hole smaller, then drilled it for uniformity. This is no small task, the spout is made from some pretty hard steel, but the results were worth it, it now drops a finer stream and I can leave the pintle lift adjustment wide-open. The disadvantage is that I can't get fillout with any but the smallest moulds when the pot is only 1/4 full or below, but that's ok, the temps get wacky when it's that low anyway, so I just cast between 1/3 and 3/4 most of the time. I can't for the life of me remember what size hole I drilled for the spout, it was only about a 25% reduction in size, but it made a big difference. If you're casting huge boolits like 500-grain .45 or .50 calibers and don't have a good Rowell casting ladle, you might want to leave the spout as it is.

Other than the screws stripping out and the valve surfaces needing a lap, I haven't had a minute's issue with my pot as long as I do two things: Keep trash off the bottom of the pot liner, and keep the moving parts of the valve linkage lubricated with Bullplate or full-synthetic caliper slide grease. This includes the outside of the spout where it guides the valve lift arm.

Mine has cast around 6-700 pounds of boolits in the last few years, and since I got it's issues ironed out, have had not one single drip or problem with it at all in over a year. Really, not a single drip since I lapped the pintle and learned to stop scraping the bottom with my wooden stir stick.

Gear

[1bluehorse]

The image of that pot serving as a trotline anchor is hilarious! What's the Loadmaster doing? Fish structure?

I've been asking to buy Lee bottom-pour pots from disgruntled customers for a couple of years now, everybody loves to gripe and moan and bash them, but nobody has ever bothered to offer to sell me one they didn't like. I have a PID controller setup, a Miller TiG welder, and some valve grinding compound, all a fellow needs to make a $50 Lee pot work like a $400 one. I've used a Saeco pot, several Lymans, and an RCBS. I'll take the Lee and spend the saved money where it really counts, like on three more Accurate Mold moulds, thank you, but cheap, persnickety Lee BP pots sure aren't for everybody.

Gear

I'm a disgruntled Lee 4-20 pot owner also. I cured the problem with mine like so many others did, bought an RCBS Pro Melt. However, the reason I won't send you mine is because I THINK I can find a useful purpose for it. Not as a bottom pour (bottom dripper actually better describes mine) but by taking MY Miller tig welder and welding the bottom closed and use it as a premelt to reflux my alloy(to keep my new RCBS cleaner or ladle casting (never tried that, but this may be a good opportunity to start) or maybe even as a small smelter. Haven't decided yet. I've never said the Lee wouldn't melt lead, it does, but the uneven temps and constant drip, I'd finally had enough. By the way the RCBS was $341.00 shipped to my house two months ago, AND WORTH EVERY CENT.......

[mpmarty]

Guess I'm just weird. My 4-20 pro melt is over five years old and no problems.

[44wcf]

I have had 2 of them for 5 or 6 years.
No problem other than the drip, and the small vice grips solved that.
Have cast many, many boolits with them.

[Lizard333]

Gear what is your PID controller set up?? I am going to assume it regulates the temperature of the pot.

[popper]

I just built one using the Aubrin small controller and 1000 deg probe. Put in a 2x3x5 cast alum hobby box with an old CPU heatsink bolted on top of the box, above an SSR I already had. Used an extension cord cut in half for connections. Works great, not warm to the touch, measure temp of mould and controls the Lee pot temp. Took 1/2 hour to cut a square hole in the panel with a dremel cutoff disk, about 5 min to wire it. Consistency makes better bullets. Only problem now is trying to hit the sprue holes in the sixbanger 30-30 mould from an inch away. Haven't had any problems with the Lee pot yet, I see many ideas here to solve problems I may encounter(got to find some fender washers in my junk box). As for stripped sheet metal screws, just apply some JB weld and re-tap the holes. Only other problem is finding a new shooting range, the city is trying to close the one close by.

[geargnasher]

Lizard, it's similar to Popper's. The trick was getting an AC controlled AC SSR, many of them are DC switched for some reason. Heat sink for the SSR because it will cook itself if it doesn't have one. I just strung everything together in a steel box, ran the SSR in line outside the box, and had an outlet to plug the pot into. Just stick the thermocouple probe in the pot, plug into the PID outlet, plug the cut-off extension cord into the wall, turn the pot thermostat on 10, and it's off to the races. More often than not, I find myself just using a thermometer since I only work in the middle of the pot's capacity and temps stay pretty consistent with the factory thermostat.

Gear

[prs]

So far as I know, I've never had trouble out of screws stripping or getting loose. My wood lift handles have stayed put too, so far (knocking on wood). I've had these for years and years, truck loads of alloy through them. I did get the Leaorrhea when scraping with a wood spatula and have gone back to using a steel putty knife and boolit lube for flux. Reckon I better check those screws, gently so.

prs

ps: Checked the top screw in question this AM and both pots did have slightly loose screws. Also, I thought about how Jack said he used vice grips on the valve needle to ballist it. I have a couple of tap handles that I seldom use that might fit that bill if they should begin to dribble again.