I had some gunk in my Lee pot last weekend. I cleaned with boiling water and baking soda and a wire brush and seemed to get it all out. Looked like sticky candle wax stuck on sides and bottom. Pot has never leaked and this is the way I cleaned it in the summer. I keep it inside a storage building with no heat or air. I left it about a 1/4 full off good lead and checked it Saturday and see traces of yellowish colors where the lead isn't at and it appears to be rust. I have thought about emptying again and spraying some PB blaster and going back over with the brush again and cleaning again with some white vinegar and storing inside the house when lead cools down. Any other ideas or does anyone else store with no heat and high humidity? Noticed all my stainless skimming and stirring tools have the same gunky wax buildup on them. I heated with a torch and boiled it off of them. I used beeswax as a flux with clean ingots. Never happened until I used the beeswax. I had been using pet bedding and tall kitchen candles instead. Saw a new pot on EBay for $8.00 and was wondering if sides have to come off unit to replace it or just unscrew top and bottom.