Wonder if my pot is quitting

[Andrew Quigley]

Had trouble with my Lee Pro 4 20lb pot the other day. With the pot full and the lead plenty hot to pour, the spout wouldn't let anything out. It wasn't clogged as I could use a long lighter to heat the spout and lead would flow. If I took more than 30 to 45 seconds between pours it would stop again and had to be heated with the lighter.
Pots only 13yrs old.

[afish4570]

Had trouble with my Lee Pro 4 20lb pot the other day. With the pot full and the lead plenty hot to pour, the spout wouldn't let anything out. It wasn't clogged as I could use a long lighter to heat the spout and lead would flow. If I took more than 30 to 45 seconds between pours it would stop again and had to be heated with the lighter.
Pots only 13yrs old.

Then I would scrape sides of pot down and remove any build up of scale and junk, flux and remove residue. Then clean out the nozzle using a propane torch to heat up nozzle (carefully) and with a pr. of needle nose pliers holding a short piece of copper or soft steel wire.......poke the nozzle carefully with a gloved hand to remove any junk in nozzle........Maybe your problem with be solved by now..... if not. It may be your element in the unit. Maybe someone else can trouble shoot from here.afish4570

[RydForLyf]

Had trouble with my Lee Pro 4 20lb pot the other day. With the pot full and the lead plenty hot to pour, the spout wouldn't let anything out. It wasn't clogged as I could use a long lighter to heat the spout and lead would flow. If I took more than 30 to 45 seconds between pours it would stop again and had to be heated with the lighter.
Pots only 13yrs old.

Not to doubt you but if you applied heat and it flowed, it sounds like the lead is too cool. What were you measuring temps with and what was the reading?

-RFL

[Andrew Quigley]

Yep I do all that about every third or fourth pot. Been getting slower for a while when I first start to run a pot about pouring but this is the first time is quit pouring and I had to heat the spout.
Oh well, guess it can't last forever.

[3006guns]

If it's heating at all, the element is O.K........they don't "partially heat". They either work or they don't.

So, that just leaves the heat control which is what's wrong with my Saeco. The thermostat is faulty and shuts off the heating element at random times and the lead freezes in the spout.

If you check Lee's website for replacement parts you'll find that the replacement thermostat is quite expensive......about five bucks.

[Andrew Quigley]

I don't have a way of measuring the temp but have enough years of experience to know when it's plenty hot to be casting. I leave my pot on setting 8 and it takes about 20 to 25 minutes to come up to temp, guessing as I've never timed it.
I wasn't sure if it had anything that came down and wrapped around the area of the spout but now that you mention it either works or it doesn't, that kinda seems silly.
lol!

[Tristan]

I don't have a way of measuring the temp but have enough years of experience to know when it's plenty hot to be casting. I leave my pot on setting 8 and it takes about 20 to 25 minutes to come up to temp, guessing as I've never timed it.
I wasn't sure if it had anything that came down and wrapped around the area of the spout but now that you mention it either works or it doesn't, that kinda seems silly.
lol!

Sounds like a build up of gunk in the spout area; I just cleaned an old pot that had been used for smelting (a no-no, of course) raw ww's and the spout under the plug was quite gunked up with material that didn't melt at the same temp as lead.

After pouring all the melt out, cooling, and taking the plug out and cleaning/polishing with valve grinding paste and cleaning again, it works great now.

- Tristan

[zomby woof]

It happens to mine when the lead gets around 600 degrees. The spout freezes. Need to keep the lead a little hotter. Get a thermometer.