My Lyman MoldMaster has died.

[Dave B]

The element on my old Moldmaster XX burned in two. Lyman has no parts. Does anybody have any ideas on a fix, or where to get a new element?

[scrapcan]

do a search here for lyman or saeco mould pot rebuild. There should be a link to a page that has part numbers and a full pictorial of the rebuild process using parts available from mcmaster carr. If you don't find it I am sure someone with a better memory will come along. I printed the page, but it is at home. If no one psts first I will try to remember to look it up for you.

[oneokie]

Here is the link to the thread---

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17508&highlight=saeco

This is the link in the thread that shows pics-----

http://pages.suddenlink.net/abittner/

[Dave B]

Thanks guys, that is a great link. I think I will try that.

[scrapcan]

oneokie,

thansk for posting the link. I was in a hurry yesterday and did not have time to pull it up.

One more thing to make note of is to be careful with or be prepared to replace the material used to hold the power pins in the case. I just had to rebuild mine, I used a piece of high temp tile to make a new piece.

[fishhawk]

well my moldmaster just quit this morning only been used 2 years was new old stock in a gunshop. any way one of the wires onto the thermostat got loose at the crimp on terminal i just cleaned it up and reconnected it only problem i could find. bigger problem is it doesn't heat up at all now. any ideas how to get this working? steve k

[fishhawk]

ok now if i take the power in lead to the thermostat and connect it to the lead out from the stat the heat element should heat up right? steve k

[lurch]

ok now if i take the power in lead to the thermostat and connect it to the lead out from the stat the heat element should heat up right? steve k

If the element is any good...and the connections to it are good...then yes, it should heat up. A quick & easy check once you have the thermostat bypassed would be to measure the resistance between the two prong of the plug (while not plugged in of course). If you see something more that about 20 ohms you have connection/element issues.

[fishhawk]

well just come up from the casting cave and the element does indeed heat up when i do bypass the stat. now where to i find a stat that will work......

[scrapcan]

YOu might think about doing the PID controller and bypassing the thremostat all together. You might also do a search for saeco pot, I think there was a discussion in one of them related to a thermostat that woudl work.

[fishhawk]

did the search for the mould master but didn't think about a saeco being so close to the lyman but i did find the thread! don't want to go back to ladle pouring. steve k

[scrapcan]

You have a great little pot, you just have to keep it running. I am also using a mould master. I had issues with the cord plug on the pot end.

Let us know how the repair goes. I am keepign track of what to do and where to get parts for when I am in need.

[HORNET]

You could always try a 'net search for King's Kiln Repair. A few members have reported them as a source to get your old Lyman or Saeco rebuilt. I have no idea of the cost. My old Lyman 61 finally died but I got a couple of used Lee's and built a PID controller...

[fishhawk]

awwwww nuts the thermostat they have is 230 v don't think it will work with a 110 pot. just keep looking.....

[oneokie]

awwwww nuts the thermostat they have is 230 v don't think it will work with a 110 pot. just keep looking.....

Fish, do a search for posts by "Tippet". He replaced his thermo with an aftermarket one. He even had pics. Said it worked like a champ.

[lurch]

awwwww nuts the thermostat they have is 230 v don't think it will work with a 110 pot. just keep looking.....

Not so fast... If it mates up mechanically, you can most certainly use a 230V thermostat in a 110V circuit - just not the other way around...

[fishhawk]

well going to order one out tomorrow probley won't get here untill next week. so its back to ladle casting for a bit from my 33 year old lee 4 lb pot. steve k

[hunter64]

Since the temperature control on the Mold Master is not really a temperature control and nothing more than a rheostat, any rheostat control that will handle the wattage will work. Until I built a PID controller I simply bought a control from a Lee 20 lb pot part number EL3466 http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/EL3469.pdf I think it cost me about 20 bucks to my door (I live in Canada)

Worked now for 8 years just fine, I have it bypassed and the PID does the temperature work now.

[lurch]

Since the temperature control on the Mold Master is not really a temperature control and nothing more than a rheostat, any rheostat control that will handle the wattage will work. Until I built a PID controller I simply bought a control from a Lee 20 lb pot part number EL3466 http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/EL3469.pdf I think it cost me about 20 bucks to my door (I live in Canada)

Worked now for 8 years just fine, I have it bypassed and the PID does the temperature work now.

No... The Lyman pot uses a real thermostat - a switch that opens & closes based on temperature. A rheostat is a variable resistor. I can unequivocally say that the "rheostat" required to do this type of function would be as big as the pot is. You would need one rated for about 1kW for design margins. That's big and pretty expensive.

[hunter64]

Lurch: I wonder if my pot was retrofitted sometime in the past. Mine just has a temperature contol that is definetly not a temp control of any kind. I have two pots and I took the good one apart and put my ammeter in line with the temp controller and sure enough as I increased the "temp number" the current increased as I lowered it the current decreased. Holding a heat gun to the back of the switch and getting it hotter to simulate the pot heating up, the current stayed the same thru the switch and the thermometer in the pot itself stayed the same temperature. Maybe mine is different but the lee replacement part does the exact same thing and has worked for all these years.

[Echo]

H64, I'll bet your controller has been replaced with a light switch controller. Most are rated @ 500-600 watts, but some will go up to a kilowatt, and I'm sure an enterprising sort could find one even higher.

These work on the individual sine-wave cycle, rather than depending on the heating caused by the current going through the bi-metal strip (It's a common misconception that the controls react to the temp of the pot - they react to the temp caused by the current going through the bi-metal strip, heating it up.

The light controllers work on the duty cycle of the AC current, only allowing a part of the sine-wave to get through at lower temps - more is let through as the control is turned up, until at max all the sine-wave is allowed through. Heat has nothing to do with this sort of control. I use one of these on my Cute Little Thing Potter 3-pounder.

As far as I know, and that's not very far, the RCBS is the only pot that actually uses a thermostat (that reacts to the temp of the controlled substance). I may be wrong...

But that gives me an idea - I have a Lyman 20-pounder that needs help. I may see about an electronic control for it.

[hunter64]

Echo: that makes total sense and has probably been changed in the past.

The PID controller is excellent and I even use it for my food dehydrator and my Lyman 450 sizer. I have bypassed the control on both my pots and just run them with the PID now.

[lurch]

Echo - Yeah, the dimmer is a possibility. It won't live long mounted to the hot parts of a pot though. The bi-metal strip type gadgets come in a couple of flavors. One kind like you state depends on the current flowing in the moving strip to cause heating and actuate the contacts - like the old automotive flasher relays. This requires the strip to be fairly resistive and as such would probably not be a good choice for a direct control on a pot type heating element - but it could be made to work with a little forethought.

The other type has a low(er) resistance bi-metal strip (or it may even be out of the electrical circuit) and relies on some external heat source to actuate the contacts. This is the type that I would expect to be used for a pot. If the strip is in the electrical circuit then yes, the current flow does affect the temperature of the strip and hence when it actuates the contacts, but to a much lesser degree. Mounting this on the hot part of the pot then creates a true thermostat action where the contacts actuate pretty much in response to the temperature of the pot.

Which type is actually used on the older Lyman pots I can't say for certain but that's my somewhat educated guess. PID's are definitely the way to go if you have a little tinkering ability.

I do know the Mag 20 I have (but don't use - can't stand the constant freeze ups in the thing at temperatures where I cast) does use a bulb type thermostat.

[ChuckS1]

Mouser Electronics - Google them and I'm sure you'll find what you need!