I've had it with the Lee Production Pot

[imashooter2]

I'm a dipper man. I admit it freely. I started on an open burner and I get great results casting that way. But the damn bottom pour is so convenient. Plug it in and cast. The idea calls to me and so I keep on trying to figure it out. Which brings me to my rant:

"Production Pot" my ****. The thing won't keep up with a dang 180 grain 2 hole. Wide open, the thermostat only gets the pot to 700 degrees. I start casting and only get a couple dozen pours. Every time I add back the sprues or an ingot that has been heating on the rim, the spout freezes. With a 6 hole, I can't even get the mold warmed up. It's an exercise in frustration.

So now I'm looking at the Lee 20 pound pots. They are 700 watts compared to the 10 pounder's 500. Lyman and RCBS rate their pots at 800 watts. Now there is no way I'm going to come off better than $200 for a Lyman or RCBS furnace with no guarantee that I'll like it. But the 20 pound Lee for $63 delivered...

What is your experience with the 20 pound Lee pot? What temperature will it get the lead to? Will it keep the lead at that temperature adding back sprues or preheated ingots to keep the level up? At very least, I should be able to cast twice as many before the level goes down enough to screw up the flow at the nozzle.

[Murphy]

imashooter2,

I've been using the Lee 20 Lb. pots for over 10 years. No complaints for what you get for the money.

As for 'temp'...I haven't a clue. I have no themometer for my casting. But I can keep my molds hot and build a pile of boolits in a hurry with one. I actually have two of them.

The main trick I have found in my experience with Lee's 20 lb. pots is keeping the spout clean from impurities in your alloy. Many refer to the Lee as a 'Drip-O-Matic'. And I'll not contest them on that.

Go for the Lee 20 Lb. pot. Learn how to deal with it and be happy. I think you'll be satisfied.

The only thing I could hope for better, would be a Magma Master Caster lead pot. I had a Master Caster for 3-4 years. Even the best can have a problem now and then. I had to have the heating element replaced about the middle of the 3rd year I had it. By the way...that cost me close to $100.00 back then...and that was over 15 years ago.

Best of luck........

Murphy

[Beau Cassidy]

I noticed in one of your other posts you are 49 and want to make it to 79. Get you a pot that will last you- a Magma. Sure- it costs, but with all of the fustration you have (and I had) with the Lee jobbers, do yourself a favor and get the Magma 40 lb'er or else you won't make it to 79! You won't have to buy another.

Beau

[jballs918]

one nice thing about the 20lb is that you can put about 15 lbs in it and that should get you going. i cant cast fast enough to drain mine before my mold gets to hot. when my molds gets to hot then i add my lead. maybe 5 lbs at a time. alot less down time. you just seem like you dont have a big enough pet is all

[imashooter2]

Murphy, When the lead level drops and you add back sprues or preheated ingots, will the pot keep going or do you have to wait for it to get back to temperature?

Beau, The bottom pour concept is attractive and everything, but there is no way I'm going to splash $400 for a Magma pot. I have no doubt it's a fine piece of equipment, but for $400, I'll be dipping lead for the next 30 years and deal with the inconvenience of the set up and tear down.

Jballs, With the Coleman, I just keep a wet sponge in a shallow plate. When the mold gets hot a touch on the sponge and I'm back in business. Plenty of BTU's in the Coleman to keep the melt at whatever reasonable temperature I want. I add the sprues back as I cast and drop cold ingots into the melt as I go with no issues.

I'm not a speed caster. Is it unreasonable to expect that once the melt is at temperature, the pot should be able to keep up?

[Bman]

I wonder if you have a problem with that pot that Lee should fix. My 10# pot rocks heat wise. I crank it all the way up to get started and then have to back it down to 2 when it starts getting low I add some lead and run the heat up to 4. If I am running multiple moulds or a 6 banger I leave it at 4 and never need to slow down, waiting on the melt to come up to temp.

[dragonrider]

I have two Lee production pots, they will easily heat to 850, I normally cast at 750 and have no problems keeping the temp up even when using a 6 cavity mold. I only cast from one pot, the other I use to fill the one I cast from. I never add cold lead to casting pot only hot. I keep my thermometer in the casting pot and the other I just keep the temp on 7 or 8. Also I never add dead cold lead to the other pot either. I hold an ingot with pliers and heat it with a propane torch. I do this to remove moisture and warm up the ingot until is starts to shine then lower it in the pot. I know this takes time but after a moisture accident some years ago I don't put any lead in my pots unless the pot is cold or the lead has been warmed.

[9.3X62AL]

No experience with the Lee 20# critters. I did have 2 of the Lee 10 pounders and I would call them "adequate". Your experience sounds like a defective rheostat or heat element--my 10's would take a little time to re-heat when I added back sprues or ingots, but by that time I need to clear off the boolit landing pad anyway. That's the same procedure I use with the RCBS 22# beast and 2 molds at a time, BTW. A truly great tool, IMHO.

The spout freeze-up is a direct result of too-cool heat source--I can prompt it in my RCBS if I don't crank the heat up a bit when adding to the pot. My usual casting temp is 675*, I just dial it up to 800* after add-in and set it back when I start pouring again. So, spout freeze-up isn't limited to the less expensive pots.

The added capacity of a 20# pot can extend a casting sequence, esp. with bigger boolits and more cavities. The 4-hole Lymans in 44 and 45 caliber can drain the 10 pounders pretty quickly, and they make a pretty good dent in the 22# RCBS, too.

I still think your present pot is defective, though.

[montana_charlie]

I still think your present pot is defective, though.

If 700° is all you can squeeze out of it, I agree with Deputy Al.
CM

[fecmech]

I had a 10lb. Lee pot and it would not keep up with a 4 cavity mold when adding warmed ingots and sprus back to it. I sent it back to Lee for repair , when I got it back it still would not keep up so I gave it away. I had used an old Lyman (Saeco) pot which was a 1000 watt which I bought new in 1970, it would keep up with 2- 4 cavities and adding ingots and sprues as I went. I now have the RCBS pot and it runs fine with anything I cast with 4 or 6 banger.

[Swagerman]

I had to put a heat element in my Lee 10# last year which is over 25 years old and its cutting the mustard so far, but does not get real hot.

I've been considering a 20# Lee pot, but really too chincey to spring for it while the 10# is still working.

Boy, you really have to admire the guys on this forum that have the 40# plus pots, they are super casters. Take a bow you special few who spend the big bucks.

Jim

[454PB]

I have three Lee bottom pours, one twenty (actually holds about 18 pounds of wheelweights) one 10 pounder with valve, and one 10 pounder that has the valve removed and the hole brazed shut. The oldest is the brazed one, and I bought it when they first came out around 1976 or so. All three of them will run hotter than I've ever needed. I normally set the thermostat at #7 to #7 1/2. None of them has ever given me a problem other than the special treatment we all use to avoid "the drip". I think you have a bad or misadjusted thermostat. If you're not prone to tinkering, send it back to Lee and tell them your problem.

[imashooter2]

I suppose it's possible the PP is defective. I bought it used. I've had it apart and cleaned the contacts on the thermostat and the little plug tabs for the electrical connections. Do the heating elements go bad without going open? I thought it was just a big resistor and as long as the circuit wasn't open, it was good.

[Ranch Dog]

ima... I've got a couple of the Pro 4-20s and really like them. With the new pot, I used the Permatex #133 as suggested in the instructions and I'm not dogged with the Lee leak some fellows have.

I don't add my cuttings and rejects back until I'm ready to melt another load of ingots. Once I get a pot of lead ready to pour, I don't mess with it. My number of weight rejects have dropped to about zero. In the past I would get some "light" boolits among those cast and someone suggested it was because I kept stirring the pot and adding alloy back in. Don't know if that is what was causing the light boolits but since I stopped adding to the pot...

[454PB]

Do you own a clamp on ammeter? I have checked all of mine using the ammeter just to watch thermostat cycling and to verify that they really are the wattage they claim. You're right, electric elements either work or they don't......very long anyway. A high resistance connection could reduce efficiency, but it would also get very hot at the connection point.

How about bypassing the thermostat as a test?

[imashooter2]

Do you own a clamp on ammeter? I have checked all of mine using the ammeter just to watch thermostat cycling and to verify that they really are the wattage they claim. You're right, electric elements either work or they don't......very long anyway. A high resistance connection could reduce efficiency, but it would also get very hot at the connection point.

How about bypassing the thermostat as a test?

No ammeter available, but I can hear the thermostat cycle. The connections all looked pretty good when I had the thing open. No melted insulation, discoloration or anything that would indicate a hot spot. Easy enough to do the bypass. I'll give it a go and see if the pot gets hotter.

[Buckshot]

............I have the Lee Pro4-20 and have had it for many years. With the heat cranked up and about a half pot of lead, according to my Lyman thermometer she'll reach well over 900* and approch 1,000*.



I keep the alloy temp about 850 and cast quickly using a modified BruceB method. With a full mould on the way to dump them I invert the mould and touch the sprueplate to the damp pad. Strike the sprueplate over and dump, then close the blocks easily (helping with my gloved right hand. Then on the way back to the pot I touch the base of the blocks to the pad for a quick "1-2" count then refill and repeat.



The above is the result. These are the Group Buy 130gr 6.5mm Loverin design slug. Very well filled out and full diameter boolits at a pretty good lick. You cannot make this many without adding metal back to the pot. With the 6 cavity Lees and pouring a good solid sprue that comes off in one piece, I will pick them all up about every 5 dumps, and put'em back in the pot while they're still good and hot.

In addition I can set a couple ingots on the rim to be preheating. Adding a hot 1 lb ingot may drop the temp back 5 degrees, if that. It's back up to temp quickly and ready of another 5 sprues by the time I can get them generated.

Those boolits represent about 1.5 hours work. I have to stop for a second maybe every 15 minutes or so to touch my toes and twist back and forth a bit, as my back will get a tad stiff.

When I strike the sprueplate over the boolit bases get a good look before dumping. 99 times out of 100, if the base is good and crisp, so will the boolit be. If one is rounded some, for whatever reason the entire batch is dumped with eh sprues and I continue. Takes too much time after dumping with the good obes to manuver the freshly dumped slugs around to find the one with the 'off' base. FAster to just keep going.

.................Buckshot

[Springfield]

My RCBS 22# pot is head and shoulders better than my 3 LEE 20#'s. First off, the RCBS actually holds 22 pounds, whereas the LEE's hold about 17 pounds. I cast from the RCBS and use one of the LEE's to melt ingots in to add to the RCBS so the temp doesn't vary so much. I also drop the sprues in the RCBS which seems to work well. I use mostly LEE six gangers, and I can cast 800 bullets an hour without running out of lead, as long as the mould is 250 grains or smaller. Plus the RCBS holds a temp better as the thermostat in on the pot instead of in the tower NEXT to the pot.

[imashooter2]

Well, I did the bypass of the thermostat and the pot went to 860 before I turned it off. So it looks like I have a pot that needs fixing.

Since Midway won't sell me just the thermostat without a small order charge, I guess I'll just have to get the 20 pounder to make up the shortfall.

Buckshot, You are doing with the Lee pot what I do with a ladle on the Coleman. Maybe a little faster, but pretty much the same. I want to be able to cast for a full afternoon without stopping for the pot to reheat. I hope my experience will match yours.

Further reports after I get my new toy...

[Old Ironsights]

I have the 10# Lee with bottom pour. Since all I really do is pure lead (mostly RB & some slow BP .357 boolits) it suits my needs - though I had to add 1.5" of tube steel between the base & frame so I could use an HP mould...

What "special treatment" are youse guys talking about to deal with the drip? It's never been a serious problem for me.