How do you...leaky lee pot

[grubbylabs]

Keep the Lee bottom pour from leaking, is it possible? I have a 20# bottom pour.

[SP101GUY]

Keep the spout clean of slag n dirt on the inside of the pot. I clean mine out after every casting or smelting session. I installed the heavy pour handle off of the 10# pot instead of the wood handle. I have very few drips if any at all.

AJ

[excess650]

I plugged mine with a screw and removed the extra hardware so as to make more room for my ladle.:groner:

[Tedak]

I use a wooden paint stick, so I am careful to not scrape the bottom of the pot, which could trap the charred wood beneath the alloy. I use my flat screwdriver to clean/stir the bottom of the pot and untrap any debris that is down there. Even then, I do get drips from time to time, but usually it's about one drip every 20-30 seconds, so I'll just push the hardened drippings into my sprue bucket and not worry about it.

[clintsfolly]

Never smelt in bottom pour pot just to much junk to plug or get in to the spout and make them drip! But then again there known as Drippomatics! the best thing is to place a ingot mold under the mold guide to catch the drips. Clint

[quilbilly]

On my bottom pour I try to keep the spout clear with a thin .031 wire once the lead is hot then I am constantly wiggling the handle plus using a screwdriver turn the "valve piece" back and forth to keep it from leaking excessively. Having been using the 10# bottom pour pots for 30 year to pour custom fishing jigheads for my business, I have found those leaks to be inevitable. After about three years (and going through 3-400 pounds plus of lead) corrosion makes those leaks unacceptable so I discard the pot and get a new one.

[44man]

I plugged mine with a screw and removed the extra hardware so as to make more room for my ladle.:groner:
Me too! :bigsmyl2:

[1Shirt]

Bottom line, you probably don't!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[snuffy]

It's most likely dirt holding the valve rod off it's seat. Trying to clean the spout with the pot full of lead is like standing in a dark room trying to turn the lights on with a ten foot pole. Empty the pot of lead, let it cool down, then give it a good cleaning. Make sure you get all the crud out of that valve seat, and the tip of the valve is smooth with no grooves. Then, only use clean ingots from then on, making sure you scrape the sides of the pot when fluxing.

My pro 20 seeps, sort of like a very slow drip when it's getting dirty. I either put up with it or get busy, clean it. It's nice to wait til you're going to change alloys, then you don't waste power getting lead hot to drain it.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I have a small pan under the spout to catch the drips. I have tried cleaning, putting metal washers on the lift handle and spinning the metal rod with my cordless drill and using a compound to try to lap it in. The sucker still drips but not too bad. For me, it's the nature of the beast.

[hoosierlogger]

Ha HA HA HA that was a funny joke. You dont fix it to quit leaking, you learn to put up with it. Mine has leaked since the day I took it out of the box.

[fredj338]

Never smelt in bottom pour pot just to much junk to plug or get in to the spout and make them drip! But then again there known as Drippomatics! the best thing is to place a ingot mold under the mold guide to catch the drips. Clint

This is my rule, neither my 10# or 20# BP pots leek more than a drip now & then. I also NEVER run it dry, that only allows any crud down into the sput. Use clean alloy, always keep it at least half full, flux & stir, cast away.

[Tom W.]

When mine starts to drip I take a highly specialized custom handcrafted tool and insert it up the spout.;-)
It usually removes the offending particle and the dripping stops.:castmine::bigsmyl2:

[Dave B]

I just take a screwdriver, put it in the slot at the top of the valve rod, and turn it back and forth a few times. That's what the slot's for and it works.

[MT Gianni]

I use the Buckshot fix, a pair of import 4" vice-grips clamped to the rod @ the screw head. The extra weight helps.

[mpmarty]

my 20# lee has never leaked. On the other hand my 10# lee leaks like a sieve and always has/

[shotman]

you will find at most times half full dont drip put weight around the wood I use a U bolt with 3 5/16 nuts and it dont drip
remember you are floating steel in lead so there is no pressure on stem when pot is full

[SWANEEDB]

On both my lee pots, 10 & 20, I replaced the little wooden handle with a 3/4 in dowel about 6/7 inches long, drilled one end to turn on the wire handle, drilled the other end and filled with lead--problem solved--for the most part. I really solved that problem tho and bought an RCBS, no leakie now.

[grubbylabs]

Thanks for all your advise. It has been kind of a frustrating day.

[baker1425]

For me, it lets me know when it's time to start casting!

[cutter_spc]

my 20# lee has never leaked. On the other hand my 10# lee leaks like a sieve and always has

My 10 pounder sucked, leaked like crazy until I fixed it with a screw up the spout!
Before I ever even fired up the 10 pounders replacement (20 # Pot) took valve lapping compound to the stem and seat, never leaked a drop yet.

[Horace]

I unplugged my lee 20 pounder and started ladle casting in July.Way more pleasant.

Horace

[quilbilly]

One last suggestion to reduce the drips. After you run that fine wire up the spout to clear out some of the dross, fill a couple 1# ingots at full open pour with the full pot to clear things out. The hydraulic pressure of 7-10# of lead in the pot will usually help. Others may prefer the ladle pour but after 30 years of pouring 1/8 to 1 oz lead custom jigheads for money, I would never use anything other than a bottom pour. I can live with a little drip from time to time and just clean out the hardened drips every fourth drip to prevent splash burns.

[Ridgerunner665]

Remove the rod from the valve, dip it in Permatex 133 anti-seize (just the tip and it doesn't take a lot), put the rod back in, spin it around a few times...and put it back together. (redo this after cleaning the pot)

I did that to my Pro 4-20 before I ever used it and it hasn't leaked a single drop...yet anyway, I've only used it twice.

[OLPDon]

The Lee Drip Oh Matic sure fix is RCBS :kidding: It is a common problem with Lee. I have 2 RCBS Bottom Pour and never had a problem. One was new and other was used. Both have been around for quite some time, and not a leak.

I would go with the Buckshot method first easy to do and quite simple.
Don

[prs]

Mine rarely leak, when they do I use a screw driver to turn the rod a little and it stops. To paraphrase a Caterpillar Tractor logo; Buy Clean Lead, Keep it Clean.

prs

[dualsport]

My 25 yr. old Lee 10 lb. drips less the more I use it. Go figure. I do use most of the tricks mentioned above. All I can add is that I covered the top of the bottom plate with aluminum flashing and the drips that do happen don't stick anymore in the grooves of that extruded surface. I've got a lot of good service from my Lee pot.

[kelbro]

The Buckshot method with a small pair of visegrips works for me. Also provides a nice handle to twist the rod back and forth every now and then to keep the port clear.

[skeet1]

My Lee pot drips sometimes and I have concluded that it was just crud getting caught in the valve. I think that having the valve, when you open it, to give a fairly strong stream instead of a small trickle helps keep it flowing with fewer drips. I also keep an ingot mold setting on the base to catch any drips that may happen.

As to even thinking about going to an RCBS pot, no way. I am sure that they are a fine piece of equipment but at the cost there is no way I am going to buy one. I can buy 3 or 4 Lee pots for the cost of one RCBS. My Lee is made in the USA and I'm not sure the RCBS is. Lee enables me to do more of what I enjoy for less money. I formerly had a Saeco pot that I had for many years and I was never happy with the way it worked when pouring from the bottom and I dipped out of the top its whole life till I replaced it with the Lee 4-20 and found how well the bottom pour works.

[Dan Cash]

I plugged mine with a screw and removed the extra hardware so as to make more room for my ladle.:groner:

Me too +1 then I gave it to some getting started kind of guy on this forum. It worked find as a dipper pot.
Dan

[mroliver77]

I lapped the seat and keep mine cleean , I rarely have problems. I have a 20lb Lyman also and it drips if not kept clean. 2 Lee 10lbers, 1 Lee 20 and 1 Lyman 20 lber. I also have a few steel pots I use for ladle pouring. My Lee pots have performed very well and are a bargain IMHO.
Jay

[Rusty Shackleford]

I just put up with it. I set a tuna fish can under drip and cast away.

[Shooter6br]

As an early Dick Van Dike show said. "Put it in a brown paper bag ,swing it over your head ,and sream like a chicken!" Seriously I pugged mine and use it to melt alloys. I bought a Lee Pro-4($53 bucks) It lets you adjust the valve for flow as you need it.

[Shooter6br]

It was a good melter but too much trouble

[243winxb]

Mr. Lee Said >
Leaking lead pot

If the pot drips through the spout it is usually because there are impurities in the lead, which are preventing the valve rod from seating correctly. Fluxing the melter is necessary to remove these impurities. One can also insert a flat blade screwdriver into the slot provided on the top of the valve rod, and twist the valve rod back and forth to reseat the valve.


Lead pot spout leakage

Leaking from the valve on a Production Pot is usually caused by dirt in the valve seat. Usually, twisting the valve rod side to side with a screwdriver in the slot provided at the top of the valve rod will solve the problem.

The only home remedy that can be used is to lap the valve rod in place with valve grinding compound. This is available at automotive supply stores. Remember also to keep the melter clean by frequently fluxing. This will limit the amount of sediment that finds its way down to the valve seat. Due to the corrosiveness of lead alloys at elevated temperatures, it is quite difficult to keep the valve in perfect leak proof condition.

A slow drip can be considered normal after some use. If it is excessive, we can reseat the valve. Return your pot along with $8.00 to cover the cost of shipping and handling.

Good luck with that.