My Pot died. Which new one to get?

[C. Latch]

The heating coil is going to run off of 110VAC, so there really is not much that can go wrong with a melting pot. Either the wiring has a problem, the thermostat has gone bad, or the heating element has gone bad.

I took it apart, or at least took the top cover off, and, yes, the switch inside looks very much like what you posted. Switch appears to be fine and working properly.

I think my heating element is burned out.

[C. Latch]

This is very simple.

Do not even THINK about anything other than a Waage.

Attachment 195841
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/goog...2123j2066693j5

That looks nice but I suspect that it's out of my price range.

[Hairy Dawg]

You can test the heating element by putting an ohm meter on each end.

[wills]

That looks nice but I suspect that it's out of my price range.

Mine was $120 + $14 shipping in 2005.

Well worth it. model number is K4757

[David2011]

A 20 lb LPG tank is equivalent to 216,000 BTUs.

So, a 20 lb LPG tank should last around 67.5 to 108 hours with a bunsen burner.

Current exchange price on 20 lb LPG tanks is $16 at Home Depot, so you would be looking at around $0.15 to $0.24 per hour to run it.

That's probably a bit more expensive per hour than electricity, but those 20 lb LPG tank exchanges are not the most economical way of getting LPG anyway.

Someone here figured out a few years ago how much it cost to run an electric pot. It varies with electric rates of course but was just pennies per hour in any case.

Most propane bottle exchange programs only fill the tank with 15 pounds of propane so the rate is higher than the above figures.

[NavyVet1959]

Someone here figured out a few years ago how much it cost to run an electric pot. It varies with electric rates of course but was just pennies per hour in any case.

Most propane bottle exchange programs only fill the tank with 15 pounds of propane so the rate is higher than the above figures.

The propane bottle exchange is probably one of the more expensive ways of getting propane. You're paying for the convenience. If you have natural gas service at your home, that is going to be the cheapest way to heat a pot of lead in most cases.

[HABCAN]

Yes, I know you said you don't want a bottom pour, but one of my 10-lb. LEE's has served me well over thirty years. I note that amazon.ca has the LEE replacement heating elements for sale: maybe also in the U.S.

[trapper9260]

I have a 10lbs Lee bottom and also a Lyman Big Dipper.On my lee for what the OP stated I had and same problem also on my Lee and it was the heat element I got one from Midway . easy to change and I see that it would be easy to also on the Lyman. That would be easyer to replace then to get a new if it is me.unless you want go bigger. but can still fix the one you have for a back up.That is why I have the Lyman for but also if I have 2 different alloy I want to try with some booilts like was on here some time ago with a soft point and hard body of the boolit.

[Jack Stanley]

I have a Lee drip-o-matic ( that hasn't dripped ) since I welded the bottom hole shut . It's worked since 1977 , on the other hand it hasn't had to work as much since I got a Pro-melt in the early eighties .

Is this a case where ebay might have the parts you need ?

Jack

[lightman]

Someone here figured out a few years ago how much it cost to run an electric pot. It varies with electric rates of course but was just pennies per hour in any case.

Most propane bottle exchange programs only fill the tank with 15 pounds of propane so the rate is higher than the above figures.

With the rates in Arkansas I estimate that my electric pot cost less than 8 cents an hour to run. I have several 20# propane bottles and one 100# bottle and I save the empties up until its worth the trip to the propane place. The only time I do the exchange thing is when I'm guilty of bad planning and run out.
If I were closer to the beginning of my casting career than the end, I would build a nice bottom pour smelting pot fired with natural gas. I've been all electric most of my adult life and only recently had gas run to my house, and that was for my generator.

[imashooter2]

Here's a photo of the thermostat on the Lee melting pot. I suspect that the one on the Lyman is just as simple.



I don't feel like disassembling my melting pot to verify this, so I'll just go by a photo of the Lee thermostat that I got from the web and make deductions from it.

As you can see there are 4 horizontal pieces of metal and the adjustment knob goes on the top of the part.

Part "A" is just the mounting plate to provide a sturdy place to mount everything else. It would remain in the same place even when the unit heats up.
Parts "B" and "C" have some bent edges on them along their length. This is going to cause them to curl upwards or downwards when they are heated or cooled.
Part "D" has an electrical insulator on it probably to keep "B" and "C" from moving too far in one direction or the other.
The adjustment knob controls the distance between "B" and "C" thus setting the "set point" for the temperature.

I suspect that there is probably another spade terminal connector on the other side of the device.

The heating coil is going to run off of 110VAC, so there really is not much that can go wrong with a melting pot. Either the wiring has a problem, the thermostat has gone bad, or the heating element has gone bad.

Close. Part C is fixed. Part D is a bimetal and curls upward when heated to push on part B and break its contact with C.

You are correct in the assumption of a 2nd terminal and that the Lyman part is virtually identical.

[NavyVet1959]

Close. Part C is fixed. Part D is a bimetal and curls upward when heated to push on part B and break its contact with C.

You are correct in the assumption of a 2nd terminal and that the Lyman part is virtually identical.

Thanks... I was expecting bimetal, but when I saw the bent edges on B and C in the photo, I was thinking that maybe that caused it to expand in a curved manner similar to how a Bourdon tube expands in a pressure gauge. Given that D is bimetal, then the bent edges along B and C are just to provide stiffness in that section of the part while still allowing them to flex on the left side as they get close to the central attachment point.

So, in the above photo, B and C have the electrical connections and when D gets warm, it's going to expand and go upwards. Because of the insulator on the right side of D, it will push B up which will make B break contact with C, thus shutting down the power and allowing things to cool off. As it cools off, D will go back down which will make B also go down, until it touch C again and things start heating up again. The control knob sets the position of C in relation to A. By decreasing the distance from A to C, it means that D will have to move further in order to cause B to no longer have contact with C, thus the end result would be a higher temperature set point.

Eventually, those small metal leaves are going to corrode and they'll break. I've never had it personally happen, but I've seen photos of where it has happened.

At one time, I was wanting to try using an electric hot plate to melt some lead in a pan, but could not seem to get it hot enough. So, I disassembled the electric hot plate to see how it worked. I noticed a similar type of thermostat on it and saw how it was cutting out as it got too warm. I discovered that if I took the cover off the hot plate and moved the burner away from the thermostat or had a small muffin fan blowing on the thermostat, I could get the heating element hotter. Reminds me of what we used to do back at NASA to get the room air-conditioning to be cooler. They had the thermostats locked, so you could not change the temperatures, so we fooled the thermostat into thinking the room was warmer by placing a large floor-standing laser printer under the thermostat. Laser printers back then didn't really have much in the way of power saving modes, so even when idle, they still produced enough heat to fool the thermostat into thinking the room was too warm.

[wills]

The propane bottle exchange is probably one of the more expensive ways of getting propane. You're paying for the convenience. If you have natural gas service at your home, that is going to be the cheapest way to heat a pot of lead in most cases.

Having your own tank refilled is like getting every third tank free.

[TexasGrunt]

My local Tractor Supply started filling tanks.

$1.99 a gallon. Or less than $10 for a tank.

[wills]

Someone here figured out a few years ago how much it cost to run an electric pot. It varies with electric rates of course but was just pennies per hour in any case.

Most propane bottle exchange programs only fill the tank with 15 pounds of propane so the rate is higher than the above figures.

How many hours a day do you run your pot?

[Grmps]

I thought companies were required to have replacement parts for 10 years after they stop production of something. Anyone know the legalese on this?

[jem102]

This is very simple. We determined the answer years ago.

Do not even THINK about anything other than a Waage.

Attachment 195841
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/goog...2123j2066693j5

I checked their web page and it looks like anything in the 20 LB. range is over $500.00...

[jmort]

I got my Waage a little over two years ago
Highly recommended

"We manufacture the K4757. ~#25 pounds, temperature 800 °F; 115v We maintain the price affordable for the re-loaders. The item is marketed via the re-loader blogs.

1. The K4757 melter is scheduled to be manufactured within the next 10 business days.

2. The price is $198.00 + S& H of $30.00 .

3. Payment is via visa/mc, please call with the cc number to place the order. 800-922-4365"

[Echo]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

No idea what I'm going to do about a new pot, but I have options to consider, at least. In the meantime I think I'll disassemble my old pot and see if anything's obvious.

If you have the mechanical chops to disassemble the pot, and the time to do it, seems to me the way to go. A good ohmmeter/multimeter will come in handy for checking continuity, available from Harbor Freight cheap. Or you might see where the heating element is burnt in two, in which case take a picture & send to Lyman, and see what they say.

[wills]

I thought companies were required to have replacement parts for 10 years after they stop production of something. Anyone know the legalese on this?

Automobiles, maybe.