Star Sizer: O-Ring Issue, six lube dots....

[mongoose33]

Things are better but...man. What a learning curve. When I finally get this dialed in--assuming I do --I'll have to write a post on everything I as a newbie learned using the Star Sizer.

Kyle's air kit arrived yesterday, had time tonite to install it. Initially, I could not get it to work. Even with pressure cranked up to 100 the device would not feed lube to the pump. In frustration I took it off, reinstalled the original piston and crank screw, and sure enough--that worked. So I removed it, reinstalled the air piston and again, no worky. I took off the regulator, verfied I had air going through. Yep.

I had the heater running about 89 degrees.

Finally, idea! I took a heat gun and warmed up the lube reservoir a bit, as well as the pump area. Voila! Now I get lube from the air system. Not sure why it wouldn't work, but maybe it just needed some love.

Most of the "grease ring" I note in another thread is gone, but I'm back to the lube dots. I'm sure they're from the blocked lube holes in the die (I'm only using one row).



I still have some more things to try (different alloy--this is very hard), different sizing die, things like that. I'm closer to it all working as its supposed to, but still a ways to go.

[hunter74]

I switched from CR to Commercial 160 lube. I'ts a bit stiffer and need a bit more heat, but my problems went away with the change of lube. I run the base heater screw at "about 1 o clock setting" and the pressure at about 100 psi. Sometimes I still get the same problems as you do but often not.

I can't understand the tech guy at Magma. The Star needs to be hot when changing dies. I gave up on the top o-ring. I haven't used it in a long time and the lube leakage is minimal out the top so it doesn't bother me.

[GLL]

I hate fiddling with shot !
Since the majority of my casting is for single groove revolver bullets I have Chris make most of my dies 6-hole/single row.
This eliminates both the need for shot and a lot of frustration. When I do need double row I provide him with the bullet drawing and he makes the die fit the bullet.
Commonly a single die will fit a variety of double-groove designs.
The small extra expense over the years has kept my blood pressure in check !
lathesmith dies are outstanding !

Jerry

[mongoose33]

I switched from CR to Commercial 160 lube. I'ts a bit stiffer and need a bit more heat, but my problems went away with the change of lube. I run the base heater screw at "about 1 o clock setting" and the pressure at about 100 psi. Sometimes I still get the same problems as you do but often not.

I can't understand the tech guy at Magma. The Star needs to be hot when changing dies. I gave up on the top o-ring. I haven't used it in a long time and the lube leakage is minimal out the top so it doesn't bother me.

It didn't make any sense to me either.

When I pulled the die to switch lubes, the unit was warm; the die came out slick as, well, you know. Quite easily. When the lube is cold, especially if it's a lube that needs heating to flow well, I don't see how it can be better than warm.

[Springfield]

I always remove my dies when warm, works so much better. I gave up on the o-ring years ago on the advice of the guy from Magma. The lube dots are just a bit of lube that seeped out of the normal holes while the bullet was gone and they were uncovered. It is difficult to get rid of them entirely unless you have everything set up perfect. Not sure why it is such a big deal, it is still lube and doesn't hurt anything.

[LabGuy]

I struggled with die changes and tearing the o-rings, then I found that with heat I could push the in and out by hand. Much faster, smoother and easier.

[cajun shooter]

The original Star machines had no O-rings. That is something that Magma added to make up for bad fit on the die and die chamber. I have owned and used Stars since 1970 and have not had any problems with running them without the O-rings from Magma. I had Lathesmith make all of my dies and I used a 7 gal automotive air cylinder for my air source, no compressor. If the system is tight then the tank may be used for months with the same air fill as you don't expel any air, you only use it's pressure.
As far as writing about how to stop any setup woes with the Star, it's been done on this forum many times.
I have found that most all problems are operator induced and from most people either not reading or improper setting up of the instructions in the manual.
CR is a very fine lube but it has a very fine line when it comes to the proper heat settings. The biggest problem here is when operators set the lube to flow, they don't turn it down to continue lubing, which should be done. As you have seen, it goes from flow to smear very fast. Take care David

[bhn22]

Try this for the lube dots. Clean the outside of the die really well, and clean out the plugged holes as good as you can and wipe the outside of the die down with a fast evaporating solvent like brake cleaner or denatured alcohol. Double check to make sure your plugged holes are still plugged, then mix a little epoxy and dab it over the plugged holes and let then fully cure. I've also seen guys simply wrap electrical tape over the holes, then open up the ones you want lube to pass through. Either way, the lube shouldn't be able to get past the tape or the epoxy, and this should eliminate any leakage from these holes. The epoxy can be removed easily enough when desired. If the dots persist, you should be able to trace it down to the source.

If you just want to track down the source of the dots you can simply "clock" the open holes in the die in a known direction, then examine the bullets as they emerge from the sizer. This should give you a rough idea of whether the plugged holes are leaking.

[bruce381]

I'm new to the star and had same 'dot" problem using CR. i was at 110f and went down to about 100 that change also much less pressure problem is almost 99% gone.
so go cooler and less presure.

the lube pops out when there is residual pressure in the pump area and a too high ube temp.

[6bg6ga]

The original Star machines had no O-rings. That is something that Magma added to make up for bad fit on the die and die chamber. I have owned and used Stars since 1970 and have not had any problems with running them without the O-rings from Magma. I had Lathesmith make all of my dies and I used a 7 gal automotive air cylinder for my air source, no compressor. If the system is tight then the tank may be used for months with the same air fill as you don't expel any air, you only use it's pressure.As far as writing about how to stop any setup woes with the Star, it's been done on this forum many times. I have found that most all problems are operator induced and from most people either not reading or improper setting up of the instructions in the manual. CR is a very fine lube but it has a very fine line when it comes to the proper heat settings. The biggest problem here is when operators set the lube to flow, they don't turn it down to continue lubing, which should be done. As you have seen, it goes from flow to smear very fast. Take care David

I also have had Lathesmith make my dies specific to each bullet I size. So I have nothing to plug no cares and no leaking holes. With respect to the O-ring its no needed in most cases. I have an old Star and a newer Magma and I don't use an O-ring in either.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Man I have been down this road... Let me start with this, my Magma/Star is my best purchase to date. If you bought one, fear not, it's worth every single dime you paid for it. Maybe it will click the very first time and run like gangbusters for ya and you will wonder why folks have these issues. This is for ALL OTHERS. It will take a hot minute or two to fully understand the lubrisizer. Fear not it will come. Sit down WITHOUT expectations of sizing a gillizion bullets for your steel challenge tomorrow. Tinker with getting the bullet depth right for lubing. Get it right then set it too deep and set it again and set it too shallow. All three settings make for different results. You should not fear loosing a setting because you know what to do to get it back. I have several types of bullets I cast and haven't needed anything but the middle row of holes to get by. Those big ol long rifle bullets are probably an exception. Learning with that as your first bullet might be harder but lube is cheap and paper towels and Red shop rags aren't too bad either. In setting the depth I mark my seating plug with a vertical tick mark and I visualize the press with eight possible settings to align the tick mark with, 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock are four possible points. Half way between those settings make the other four settings, total of eight possible settings. It's been my experience that when setting depth, my lube, will have a faint color difference at either the top of the lube groove or the bottom of the lube groove. When in the sweet spot it's either a uniform color or a very faint color difference on both top and bottom. Do not fear making those adjustments. Next is heat. First if you get oozing... Too hot... Take a thirty minute break after turning heat down. Tinkering with it after oozing will only frustrate you more. Walk away. Pressure. I use some air kit and have used a hundred pound to get a bullet lubed nothing got broke. Probably had to do with the temperature of my garage or maybe I had some pieces of lead stuck in the lube holes. Doesn't matter, the machine will tell you what it needs. Most common setting I use is 40-60 lbs. I have to tap my air gauge as some times the needle sticks. That's a finger tap on the plastic face don't hulk out. Run four or five bullets after making an adjustment some times it takes a couple pumps to equalize the settings. This was also a hard lesson to learn. After a while you will be good enough in setting your machine up to lube two lube grooves with one row of holes open and have acceptable results. Bottom line you have an awesome piece of machinery. It will provide you results that will boggle the mind once you learn it's language.

[Pee Wee]

Redhawk,
you are right on, I had the same experience. Once I went thur learning curve, all works great and I have sized and lubed over 200 thousand boolits with no problem.