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Jim
you are not going to get good shot until your shop area hit 60F or above.
I won't bother turning the machine on at my place until it was 65-75F if I want to get the right sized shot.
If i want #4 or bigger then that I'd do when it was 50F below.
But that's just my .02 worth- the Instructions say "ROOM TEMP" .
some folks can handle cooler temps than others but room temp. for the Shot maker means 65-75F . It can be done when it's 90-120F in the shop too but you will sweat you buns off working the machine in that heat. And even if you have got room temps make sure you don;t have too much breeze or air flow moving past the dripper heads. that will freeze them up all day long.
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Alan, my #6 shot comes out very close to the expected size; perhaps .002 oversized in cold weather.
The point that I was trying to make is that a lot depends on the operator. BTW, I made those modifications that you suggested a couple years ago and I get no more burned wires or melted plastic components. Haven't burned out any fuses either. I think it helps keep the drippers hot too. I can run the machine all day long as long as the temp in the garage doesn't go below 26°.
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Jim
I was worried your production seem very low per hour…..
As with any tool- the operator is always the biggest variable ( other than the shop temps) . I hear about how folks have a hard time making shot and some times I just don;t understand why, but some folks don;t cast , or load for some of the same reasons?? And then I get reports from folks that say the shot they make is better than the factory made stuff.??
Not all carpenters are the same but all use the same tools and get different results . Just saying…
Jim , i'm happy that you are getting shot made at so low a temp 26F, that is very low as far as the unit and keeping up. So that is a good report that I have not heard so far.
If you need help I will try my best to do so…
I think the thread title got more play than normal, maybe folks thought they where able to go to Walmart and get machine CHEAP?. I have never seen the number of hits on a thread that had to deal with making shot???