Here's the thermostat on my Lyman 61 melter

[scrapcan]

fishhawk,

When you get it installed let us know how it goes.

[Echo]

Good. I was just concerned about the 550 limit the company describes.

My guess is that the 550* relates to the ambient temperature around the control, and not the temperature of the pot.

I am fairly sure these are controls, not thermostats. A control works on the duty cycle, turning the power on and off depending on the setting, leaving it on longer when turned up, and not so long when turned down. Our electric blanket works the same way. There is no feedback that a thermostat would need.

(A thermostat measures the temp of the controlled substance - antifreeze in the radiator, for instance - and adjusts something - amount of fluid flow in the case of the radiator - to effect the control. Doesn't happen with our pots, with the possible exception of the RCBS pot - I have heard that it uses an actual thermostatic control.)

[PWS]

This site is the BEST!!! I've been running my old Model 61 without a temperature control for about 25 years now. Found it in the junkpile of an old gunshop and got it for a song. Gonna finally fix it!

If you're looking for ANYTHING to do with cast boolits, this is the place!

[miner49r]

This is great!
As you can imagine, the temps on my furnace were all over the map. A B200 thermostat arrived from PPE today. I wasted no time getting it installed. It came with a new knob but the shaft is shorter than the OEM. I wound up sanding the bottom of the old one down to the brass insert to fit. Plugged it in and dropped 4 ingots into the well.

Well... The lead did melt but the high temperature was only 700deg. Removed the cover, slid the stop collar off the shaft, and reinstalled the collar 4 splines counter clockwise. Works like a charm.

Thanks guys. The pot was my fathers and I'm glad (with your help) I was able to repair it.