RCBS Pro Melt Finally Died...But!

[Treetop]

After 25-27 years of faithful service, my Pro Melt laid down on me this evening. I turned the rocker switch on but nothing happened...

After sitting around and scratching my head for 30 minutes or so, I finally got my die grinder out and ground the heads off several of the rivets that hold the body together. I pried the panels apart enough to remove the rocker switch. I labeled the 3 wires and checked the switch with my VOM(volt ohm meter). I'm not an electrician but I suspected (hoped)it was a bad switch, so I took the old switch to Radio Shack and found one that was similar. It won't fit back in the hole where the original switch was, but, with the wires hanging out the hole, I attached the wires to the new switch, and it worked ! It's heating up now, while I write this email!

You think I can coax another 25-27 years out of it?

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I'm in my 28th year with a Pro-Melt and nothing has yet gone wrong (knock on lead), so you will probably get another quarter century out of yours now that you've got a new switch. RCBS had those older ones made by Ohio Thermal and they jolly well knew what they were doing. Electrically there is only the coil and the thermostat on the circuit with the switch and those parts if needed are obtainable. In any event RCBS has a solid lifetime guarantee and they are communicative. So good luck and enjoy casting. LLS

[Catshooter]

You think I can coax another 25-27 years out of it?

Yep, you probably can. Very soul-satisfiying to fix an expensive tool, ain't it? Esp an old friend like that one.

However, I am an electrician and I'm here to tell you that you don't want to leave the wires hangin' out. Leaving them out is cool while you test to see if that was the fix, but those wires are carrying the full load of the heating element and if you get in between them it will light up your world. To say nothing of the fire hazard.

You don't want to follow in Lloyd's footsteps.


Cat

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

You can probably order another switch from RCBS. Rivets they sell at the local hardware store.

Regards,

Dave

[Treetop]

Yep, you probably can. Very soul-satisfiying to fix an expensive tool, ain't it? Esp an old friend like that one.

However, I am an electrician and I'm here to tell you that you don't want to leave the wires hangin' out. Leaving them out is cool while you test to see if that was the fix, but those wires are carrying the full load of the heating element and if you get in between them it will light up your world. To say nothing of the fire hazard.

You don't want to follow in Lloyd's footsteps.


Cat

I appreciate the warning Catshooter! I taped the individual connectors up "nine ways from Sunday", then taped around the whole switch, with Scotch 888, after I knew I had repaired it. But it doesnt look good, even if it is safe... This was a just temporary "fix"...

[Treetop]

You can probably order another switch from RCBS. Rivets they sell at the local hardware store.

Regards,

Dave

I still have my original owner's manual. It has an exploded view with part numbers for numerous external parts, but no switch or other internal parts...

I suppose I'll have to borrow my BILs Pro Melt for awhile and send my old friend back to RCBS. You may not believe this but I still have the original factory box up in my attic. I'll use that to ship it back in. Original price, back in 1983? $125 and change!

[Nora]

You may not believe this but I still have the original factory box up in my attic. !

I'm the same way. I've still got all the original boxes from my 1987 vintage RC II started kit. In the event of having to move my toy bench I like to keep things as safe as possible. Nothing like the boxes that they came in.

Nora

[Russel Nash]

When I took my RCBS Pro Melt apart I used a cordless drill with a phillips screwdriver tip chucked in it. Then I used a type of self-drilling/self-tapping sheet metal screw that is commonly used to fasten metal wall studs together. Around here we call them "tek screws" or "zip screws". That's what I used to drill out the head of the rivets. Then when I put it back together, I used the same screws and screwed all the panels back together.

[Treetop]

Thanks for that idea, Russel, I know the type of fastener that you used. They should work just fine on my Pro Melt as well!

[fatnhappy]

Yep, you probably can. Very soul-satisfiying to fix an expensive tool, ain't it? Esp an old friend like that one.

However, I am an electrician and I'm here to tell you that you don't want to leave the wires hangin' out. Leaving them out is cool while you test to see if that was the fix, but those wires are carrying the full load of the heating element and if you get in between them it will light up your world. To say nothing of the fire hazard.

You don't want to follow in Lloyd's footsteps.


Cat

or to say nothing of the danger of a lead spatter hitting those wires. You don't want a short to ground like that. Breakers fail, and if they do you'll get to meet your insurance adjuster.

[Russel Nash]

Weird.

I have never had lead splatter anywhere near the back half of that machine.

You could just say "Screw it!" and wire the Pro Melt directly to the plug...without the switch.

When you plug it in, it's on. When you unplug it, it's off.

[Lloyd Smale]

Like fatnhappy said i lost all my loading gear and the building to a pot that may have been faulty. I dont know if it was the pot as it was acting a bit funny for a week or so before the fire or if it was the hot lead hitting the cord or the hot lead hitting the bench. My first guess has to be the pot as ive had faulty valves dump 10lbs of hot lead on the bench and it never caught on fire. Rcbs will fix your pot for free if you send it to them and will probably rebuild it at the same time. . Kind of silly to cobble it up.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I bought a RCBS pot at an estate auction. The pot was chared black from running it REAL hot too long. I tried using it and discovered immediately that the on/off switch was toast. I got a similar switch from a electrical repair shop that was close in size and power rating then sold the pot.Robert

[MtGun44]

I think RCBS will fix it if you send it back.

Bill

[Treetop]

Thanks, guys. I will borrow my BIL's RCBS pot and send customer service an email re: my Pro Melt. It will be kind of like shipping my 5 year old black Lab off to some stranger, though...

[deltaenterprizes]

The switch from RCBS is about $3, I had to replace it and the thermostat when I rebuilt my 25 year old Pro melt because it sat in salt water for 3 weeks because of Hurricane Katrina. The switch still worked but the pilot light did not ans the thermostat was stuck in the on position.

[Treetop]

The switch from RCBS is about $3, I had to replace it and the thermostat when I rebuilt my 25 year old Pro melt because it sat in salt water for 3 weeks because of Hurricane Katrina. The switch still worked but the pilot light did not ans the thermostat was stuck in the on position.

I'm sorry to hear about your Pro Melt getting drowned during Katrina. Fortunately, I had the time to evacuate all of my expensive belongings before "Ike" struck us last year. My Pro Melt was safe and sound along with my wife, daughters, SILs, grandkids and most of my firearms, in Central Texas, during the storm.

So you just ordered a new switch from RCBS? If so, that's what I would like to do. Mine works great with the non fitting Radio Shack switch, so I know that is all that's wrong with it.

[beagle]

Good to know about the Radio Shack switch. When I pulled the housing off one of mine, there was a dirt dauber nest in it. Little devil had gotten in through one of the radius cuts in teh sheet metal at the corner./beagle