I have 2 both hum.i have a RCBS Pro Melt and it is quiteNever noticed the lees humming till I get the Promelt.Now I find myself cheching if the Promelt is on or not lol
I have 2 both hum.i have a RCBS Pro Melt and it is quiteNever noticed the lees humming till I get the Promelt.Now I find myself cheching if the Promelt is on or not lol
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm click. Hummmmmmmmmm click. Hummmmm click.
I have owned and used several Lee pots over the decades. All of them hummed. Never gave it a thought. I just go ahead and use them.
The only issue I had with them is when my basement flooded and the pots got under water for 4 days, there were some parts I needed to replace. Just drying them out wasn't good enough in all cases.
Anytime electrical current passes through a conductor, a magnetic field is generated. As these casting pots are powered by AC, or alternating current, the magnetic field will build in one polarity, collapse and build in the opposite polatity approximately 60 times per second, as that is the standard frequency of AC power. Combine this with the heating coil wrapping around the circular metal pot, and an audible noise is generated as the pot acts like a resonator.
It gets more complicated and it's been many years since l studied electrical theory, but I believe this to be a pretty close explanation without rambling on for several paragraphs.
Hope it helps. (?)
You're correct in what causes a 60 cycle hum/vibration in many things - same as I mentioned in loose laminate in a transformer.
I was wondering if I had the only vibrating 20 lb pot, but guess not. Seems there are a lots of them that have this vibration. Maybe one day I'll get around to pulling the cover and see if a tad of space can be added somewhere to prevent the vibration, OR make the coil tight against the pot. There's got to be a reason some pots don't make this 60 cycle vibration sound.
The one I have hums, also. As you have mentioned, making the coil tight against the pot seems like a workable solution. I don't know this to be fact, but it seems reasonable.
I have cast with a propane hotplate for 50 years but have given some serious thought to a Lee 20 pound pot. One would be handy when I don't want to go to effort to getting everything set up with the propane hot plate to cast. I'm glad I read this thread but I'm a little confused . . . .
I checked Titan and while they sit the posts, I don't see any part numbers for the "style" of humming . .. . anyone know the part number for the pot that hums bluegrass? My luck is that I'd order one and get the "opera" model . . . .
I thought the hum was how you knew it was working! I use it to gauge if the unit is still trying to gain heat rapidly or just maintaining heat.
"Yes or no will almost always suffice as the answer"
If it gets to the point that you can identify the song it is humming, seek professional help. Or if it breaks out singing `Oklahoma`, then you have a money maker!Robert
All three of mine have hummed , the little precision melter, the 10 lb. bottom pour and the 20 lb. magnum melter. Never paid it no mind and they are all still working and humming right along....I thought it was normal. As long as they are melting lead I won't try and " fix " them.
Gary
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
Interesting your 10 lb pot hums also - my 10 lb bottom pour is quiet as a mouse. I guess the 20 lb pot humming/vibrating bothers me because it sounds like a transformer with loose laminate core - and that's a signal to replace transformer. I can see where it does no harm with the pot.
I might try whomping my pot some day to see how that affects it.
Good thread - thanks to all for comments.
Last edited by KenH; 07-10-2017 at 05:48 PM.
Mine has hummed since I got it, but it can't carry a tune worth a darn!
Charter Member #148
They are sort of like wives....keep them long enough and after awhile....you don't hear a thing !
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
My Lee pot has no noticeable hum, not a bottom pour, 20lb used out side thou!
Camptown race track five miles long Do Dah Do Dah .
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo
People never lie so much as after a hunt,during a war,or before an election.
Otto von Bismarck
OK, I pulled the pot down today to do a good cleaning of the bottom spout and can see the heating coil is resting against the support rod that goes to bottom. I "pried" a bit to give some clearance, put it back together. Turned pot on and it's not humming much at all now - none when cold, but as pot heats up the humming increases, but still less than before.
As other's have said, that's how you know it's heating
Ken H>
Be happy you can hear a hum by anything I haven't in years, although I do hear a high pitch whine evey now and then but it goes away.
Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum
We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, 'There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see.'
But I wandered through my playing cards
And would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might have just as well've been closed
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
Here is Procol Harum in concert in Denmark
- it is an excellent video if you like classical renditions of oldies rock.
With the lyrics you do not have to hum along
Play it the next time you cast bullets to remember the old days....
Last edited by EDG; 07-18-2017 at 11:09 PM.
EDG
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |