How to stop dripping from bottom-pour lead melting pot?

[M99SavNut]

Bought a SAECO Lead Melting Furnace off eBay earlier this year. It has lately started to drip constantly, and I'd like to get it stopped. Obviously, no warranty service is available (Hooray for RCBS on this point!), and I've emptied the pot and done my best to clean it out, especially the spout area, but without measurable or positive results so far.

Can think of several things to try, but before any of that, would like to get the input of folks on this forum who have, no doubt, experienced this problem and have (or perhaps have not) been able to resolve the problem, and who would be willing to share their experience(s).

If there are any other threads on this subject, please direct me to them, as I have not seen any, at least so far.

Thanks in advance for your help.....

[John Boy]

If there are any other threads on this subject, please direct me to them, as I have not seen any, at least so far.

Pick one - the are plenty ( 10 pages) which serves to say ... Ladle Pour!
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/goog...&ref=&ss=0j0j1

[imashooter2]

Make one of these:



Bring the melt to temperature. Place a pan under the spout. Open the valve, poke the wire into the spout and wiggle. Remove the wire keeping the valve open and run a couple pounds of lead into the pan. Close the valve. Still drips? Repeat. If that doesn't work, then disassembly and mechanical cleaning is indicated.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Saeco bottom pour units can, but usually don't, leak. They can of course be partially or totally plugged with crud just like any other bottom pour so the gizmo shown in the previous thread would be worth while making and using. Next step as indicated would be the disassembly and mechanical cleaning. Last but not least is the possibility that the valve stem (where it has the ledge and smaller diameter section) is worn down (from long term usage) to where it is letting lead get by it even when closed...and then you would have to have a new stem made and/or fitted. Not a major item, but a lathe person could do it in a short time using the old one as a model. If carefully copied it will seat correctly and not leak. LLS

[kweidner]

I lapped a stem in in an older lee. It worked great........for awhile. I use an rcbs when I hand cast now. Never has leaked. If it did, I would drain, disassemble, clean with boiling water when empty, and try it. If that didn't work I would lap it too.

[Dan Cash]

Drive a plug in the hole and ladle pour.

[ReloaderFred]

I had this problem with a new to me Magma Master Caster that the previous owner said had a small leak. He was right, so I drained the pot and removed the valve stem, cleaned it thoroughly and found there was no deformation on it at all. Next I formed a wooden dowel rod to roughly the shape of the valve stem and chucked it in a cordless drill, and ran it into the spout hole while the pot was hot, thinking this would remove any loose debris in the valve. Then I put it back together and there was no leak.

About an hour into the next casting session, it started to leak again, so I went through the whole process listed above, only this time I added stainless steel wool to the wooden dowel and let it spin longer. Put it all back together and continued to cast, with just an occasional drip, but after about 4 hours of casting (I often spend 8 hours casting on the Master Caster) it started to drip again, only worse this time.

The frustration level was getting pretty high at this point, so I just scooted back my stool and watched it drip for a few minutes, which didn't help my blood pressure much. Finally, a light bulb in the back of my brain went on and it dawned on me that the valve works by shoving a tapered rod into a round hole, so something was stuck in there that the dowel wasn't removing. I took my soft head hammer, the kind with a nylon head on one end and hard rubber on the other, and lightly tapped the top of the valve rod a couple of times and the drip slowed down considerably. I tapped it a couple more times and the drip stopped altogether. Whatever was in there was either dislodged by the tapping, or conformed to the shape of the spout.

I now keep my handy dandy little hammer close to my Master Caster, and if it starts to drip, I just tap the top of the valve rod a couple of times and it stops dripping. I don't know if I've knocked the foreign object out of the spout, or scared the Master Caster into submission, but it works.

When the pot is hot, try tapping the top of the valve rod lightly and see if it cures the problem. It can't hurt, as long as you don't get mad and really smack it a good one........

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Bent Ramrod]

My SAECO dripped regardless of cleaning and lapping. I figured part of the problem was that the lead is so dense that the steel drain valve rod might tend to "float" a little in the melt. So I turned a new valve rod with the proper conical surface for the seat at the bottom plus a small straight portion that goes down into the spout a little, and lapped it into the seat by chucking it in an electric drill and spinning it with Clover compound for a minute or so. Then I attached a weight onto the top of the rod.
Attachment 109355
I don't know what that piece of scrap metal was made of, but it is pretty heavy. The steady dripping has mostly stopped, but I still put an ingot mould below the spout when I use the thing, just in case. I have to raise the lever a bit more than I used to to make the lead flow, but there is still plenty of room to do so before it hits the stop screw.

[10x]

When in doubt, hit it with a hammer,

I had this problem with a new to me Magma Master Caster that the previous owner said had a small leak. He was right, so I drained the pot and removed the valve stem, cleaned it thoroughly and found there was no deformation on it at all. Next I formed a wooden dowel rod to roughly the shape of the valve stem and chucked it in a cordless drill, and ran it into the spout hole while the pot was hot, thinking this would remove any loose debris in the valve. Then I put it back together and there was no leak.

About an hour into the next casting session, it started to leak again, so I went through the whole process listed above, only this time I added stainless steel wool to the wooden dowel and let it spin longer. Put it all back together and continued to cast, with just an occasional drip, but after about 4 hours of casting (I often spend 8 hours casting on the Master Caster) it started to drip again, only worse this time.

The frustration level was getting pretty high at this point, so I just scooted back my stool and watched it drip for a few minutes, which didn't help my blood pressure much. Finally, a light bulb in the back of my brain went on and it dawned on me that the valve works by shoving a tapered rod into a round hole, so something was stuck in there that the dowel wasn't removing. I took my soft head hammer, the kind with a nylon head on one end and hard rubber on the other, and lightly tapped the top of the valve rod a couple of times and the drip slowed down considerably. I tapped it a couple more times and the drip stopped altogether. Whatever was in there was either dislodged by the tapping, or conformed to the shape of the spout.

I now keep my handy dandy little hammer close to my Master Caster, and if it starts to drip, I just tap the top of the valve rod a couple of times and it stops dripping. I don't know if I've knocked the foreign object out of the spout, or scared the Master Caster into submission, but it works.

When the pot is hot, try tapping the top of the valve rod lightly and see if it cures the problem. It can't hurt, as long as you don't get mad and really smack it a good one........

Hope this helps.

Fred