Lee Melting Pot

hay all. i inherited a lee casting pot (10lb i think). It worked okay for a while then the pouring went from a stream to a trickle.. now nothing comes out of the hole. haha silly questions first; yes... there's still molten lead in it waiting to join the party hahaha.

but seriously. after a while i scooped the lead out and now it's lead free. i've removed the metal cork thing that acts as a stopper and cleaned the hole a bit. i did get a good size chunk of crud (not sure if it's lead or not). the bottom of the pot had all kinds of nasty stuff in it. i scraped out the nasty stuff and tried again... still no lead comes out.

I've sense ordered another pot but i would like to figure out how to fix this one if able as well.

With all lead out of the pot you can heat it back up and see if you can push a wire of smaller diameter through the spout going from the bottom up.

Once could also take the bottom off the bot and then use a drill bit the same diameter or just a touch larger and drill out the spout. I personally drilled out the spout a touch larger as this helped create a better stream/flow of lead through the pot. If you go this route though you will likely need to get yourself some lapping compound and put some on the flow rod tip as well as some in the inside of the pot spout hole and then turn it so it mates the two surfaces to a perfect fit etc. If this is a 10 lbs pot the flow rod is at an angle so you will need to keep the angel the same while you do this. Whether you have the 10 lbs pot or the 20 lbs pot you will have to take the top mounting hardware off so you can turn/spin the flow rod etc.

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Originally Posted by RobS

With all lead out of the pot you can heat it back up and see if you can push a wire of smaller diameter through the spout going from the bottom up.

Once could also take the bottom off the bot and then use a drill bit the same diameter or just a touch larger and drill out the spout. I personally drilled out the spout a touch larger as this helped create a better stream/flow of lead through the pot. If you go this route though you will likely need to get yourself some lapping compound and put some on the flow rod tip as well as some in the inside of the pot spout hole and then turn it so it mates the two surfaces to a perfect fit etc. If this is a 10 lbs pot the flow rod is at an angle so you will need to keep the angel the same while you do this. Whether you have the 10 lbs pot or the 20 lbs pot you will have to take the top mounting hardware off so you can turn/spin the flow rod etc.

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the wire thing sounds like a good first quick fix to try. right now. it's not even letting water out. i'll try the drill afterweards. It must be a 10 lb because the flow rod is at an angle. makes it hard to see if my hole is clear and how big it is. i didn't hink of taking the bottom off.... ./sigh

With the pot half full of lead or more, turn the control all the way up and let the pot heat up. Take a fairly large paper clip and bend one end at a 90 degree angle(a small nail will also work). Use a pair of pliers and hold the paperclip at the bend and poke it into the spout from the bottom and wiggle it around. Usually, this will clean the spout so it works for quite some time.
Fluxing the lead as you melt new ingots in the pot will help keep the clogging from happening.
Occasionally, if the plug is bad enough, you may need to use a small propane torch on the nozzle to get a bit of extra heat to melt the clog.

You can use a paper clip to push from the bottom. That's what I did and it worked.

interesting. the paper clip doesn't melt because of different melting temperatures i'm guessing (like my spoon). what media am i clearing out/uncloging w/ the paperclip though? the mcNasty stuff that's not lead like.. dirt from said lead etc etc?

If it doesn't melt and it doesn't float.. whats to prevent it from going back into said hole? Do i need to EMPTY the pot from time to time and do this?

Be careful.....the paperclip gets hot and when you clear the spout hot metal will flow out quickly.
Watch you hands and put the pot in a metal pan or something with low sides just in case the spout sticks open....you don't want molten lead running all over the bench.
Flux the alloy to clean the trash out. Fluxing will cause the trash to float and you can skim it off/out the pot.
Gary

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Originally Posted by moorvogi

interesting. the paper clip doesn't melt because of different melting temperatures i'm guessing (like my spoon). what media am i clearing out/uncloging w/ the paperclip though? the mcNasty stuff that's not lead like.. dirt from said lead etc etc?

If it doesn't melt and it doesn't float.. whats to prevent it from going back into said hole? Do i need to EMPTY the pot from time to time and do this?

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The paper clip doesn't melt because it is steel just like the pot is iron or steel.
The stuff you are pushing out is impurities that stick to the sides and bottom when the lead melts. They are nearly the same weight as lead but will usually float. They may need some help with that. Fluxing the pot will do a lot for cleaning the alloy.
It won't clean it completely but it will help a lot.

Don't over think it. Just use the paper clip as described.Common problem.

I usually put wood handles on my casting tools. Makes them easier to pick up with gloves on and are stored in a rack right by the pots. The ones in the middle are to clean the spout. One of stiff wire and the other an allan wrench I ground down to a semblance of round.
Attachment 226171

i ended up ordering another pot. I did try the paperclip trick.. no joy.. took it apart.. tried DRILLING the hole out a bit.. still no joy. though honestly i think i wasn't hitting the hole properly w/ the drill.. i'm NOT a handy person. give me some zeros and ones, i'll write a program to do it.. give me a tool... i might be able to tell you how to use it.

@MikeW1 - side note.. i grew up in IOWA! Little town called Maquoketa Iowa.

now that i have my replacement pot.. i also have a ladle pot for the "known dirty lead". even the new pot has a stream taht seems small but it's working.. so i'm not goign to mess w/ that one. the one thats NOT working though... any more tips/tricks to clean my hole? Paperclip nor drill seamed to fix it.. i'm goign to try the drill again tonight though.

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Originally Posted by moorvogi

now that i have my replacement pot.. i also have a ladle pot for the "known dirty lead". even the new pot has a stream taht seems small but it's working.. so i'm not goign to mess w/ that one. the one thats NOT working though... any more tips/tricks to clean my hole? Paperclip nor drill seamed to fix it.. i'm goign to try the drill again tonight though.

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That hole is at an angle on the 10 lb pot and I'm not sure it's a straight shot so I'd drill by hand were it me. If you empty the pot chances are you're gonna find a batch of crud. I'd wire brush that **** out and probably scrape it out pretty good first then brush. Just boiling some water in there will lots of times clean things out fairly good. I only put clean lead in mine anymore and since switching to bees wax have not had any crud build up. A tip I saved from somewhere or another but haven't tried might be the ticket.

A tip I got from a member on Tuco's forum worked. It worked even better then I
thought it would. He told me to get some hardwood charcoal and crush it down to
bean sized and fill the pot. I went to WallyWorld this past Sunday and bought a
bag of 100% wood charcoal. Crushed it up and filled the pot. I turned it up to
max and let it burn. After I dumped the ash my pot was completely clean. I worked
the spout with a dental pick after it got really hot and it cleaned out all of
the zinc that was clogging the spout. Worked the valve rod in the cavity and
cleaned it. Pot is completely clean and I am again able to cast. This took several
hours but it saved my pot. Long story actually but it worked and I have a working
pot again.