bottom pour drip leak....any cure?

[atr]

Older Herters bottom pour,,,works fine except it has an annoying drip leak..
any cures or do I just live with it?

thanks
atr

[Case Stuffer]

Most common causes :


Trash in spout - clean out with a large paperclip strightened out and a 90 degree bend on the end. Be extremly careful that lead does not flow on yopur hand or splash on other body parts.

Valve not sealing- if it has rusted or coroded it may need laping which requires drain the pot and using valve lapping compound.


Sometimesif you are lucky merely rotating the rod while at casting temperature will stop the leak. Lee pots have a slot in their top end so this can be done with a screw driver. My first bottom pour was a Lee 10 pounder and it always leaked until I got tired of fooling with it and purchased a RCBS Pro and it has never leaked in over 30 years.

[Poygan]

I put a needle nose vice grips on the rod on my Lee. I think the additional weight helps plus it is easy to rotate occasionally. It still drips a bit but is tolerable.

[atr]

OK,,,,got it down to a very tolerable infrequent drip...
thanks for the help all..
atr
ps...the lapping idea helped alot