Lyman 4500 lubrisizer threaded rod and plunger removal

[Fishman]

So I did a bone head move and ran my lubrisizer out of lube resulting in the plunger coming off the threaded rod in the bottom of the reservoir and just sitting there spinning. Few options were presented on the net and I tried them all. Hot, cold, jamming objects in the periphery of the plunger, nothing worked. I was whooped.

Preparing to drill out the base of the threaded rod where it passed through the casting, I paused. My battery powered impact driver takes a hex bit, the threaded rod is a hex bit, what if I let 'er eat while pushing down and maybe it would catch. I set the driver clockwise so it would screw out through the bottom, and having previously removed the lubrisizer from its mount, I laid it on its side and went to work. Success! I ran it down as far as I could, then swapped for my drill set counterclockwise, tightened down the keyless chuck on the base of the threaded rod, and screwed it out the rest of the way.

After removing the rod, I flipped it over, he top down, and threaded it into the plunger from the top about three revolutions. Then I gently grasped the base with a set of pliers (which was now sticking out the top of the sizer). Wiggling and pulling it came out.

The orings can be sourced from Harbor freight. The largest orings in the 225 pc. Nitrile orings assortment are a match, and the box has 10 of that size. Of course replacement parts are available from Lyman, and I have ordered some parts to have on hand.

I hope this is helpful to someone as I didn't find any tips that were helpful after a thorough search. If one only has a drill, I would try it because I bet it will work too.

[Mal Paso]

The 4500 should have a plastic spacer on the bottom of the threaded rod to prevent that from happening. You might want to order one of those too or look at the parts list and make one.

It's #24 "Nylon Piston Stop Collar" Cat # 2745820

In my haste I forgot to say Good problem solving!

[Fishman]

Good point and one I forgot to address. The stop collar was missing from my press and I wanted to employ a substitute instead of waiting for Lyman. Others have used a very short section of pvc but I didn't have any with a small enough diameter. So I fabricated a lead "donut" from some thick lead wire I had and placed it in the bottom of the press reservoir. Now I'm not saying this is a good approach, but I'm currently lubing boolits when otherwise I wouldn't be.

[Mal Paso]

I don't think it matters what it's made of. I made a heavier operating lever and replaced the cross bolts with grade 8 when each of them broke. I don't think you get any extra points for keeping it stock. I'm guessing 70,000 mostly water dropped 44 boolits through it.

I remember wondering what that part was for and put it in just because they said so. Thanks for the post!

[Fishman]

A quick follow up to this. The spare 4500 sizer parts I ordered from Lyman a week ago arrived today. Everything was in stock and reasonably priced I thought.

[Petrol & Powder]

OK, I'm an idiot, What exactly happened?
Can the piston (disk with O-rings) go too low in the reservoir and become detached from the threaded rod? And is there some sleeve on the rod to prevent that from occurring?

I have a 4500 and would like to avoid that problem if possible.

[Fishman]

That's exactly what happened. Apparently mine did not include the nylon stop collar or if it did. I failed to assemble it correctly. This problem is somewhat common if you do a search on the net, but there is no good solution. The impact driver allowed the plunger to rethread and unscrew despite insufficient gripping force from the torn orings. I had the bad luck of almost running out of lube during my previous session and then thinking the problem was the lube being too cold. I soon realized that I was out but tore up the orings thinking I was backing the plunger out as I have done many times before.

This tip may or may not be helpful for older lyman sizers and RCBS Lam sizers. There are lots of used sizers out there and one never knows what the PO did to it.

And I may just use the driver to unscrew the plunger to add lube in the future. Much quicker than the Chapman wrench.

[Petrol & Powder]

Got it now, thanks. The impact driver was a good solution, it allowed you to take advantage of the inertia of the piston to get it started on the threaded rod.

[lmcollins]

OK I've got to ask. What are the dimensions of the spacer?

My early 4500 doesn't have one. Also, why can not one just drop something like a 3/8 nut over the shaft, and then run the lube-follower disk down on top of it? I mean, I have a lathe, and could fabricate about anything, but aren't we working too hard at a simple problem? Covered with lube the nut will not rust, and as long as it has a bigger ID than the shafts' OD we are doing the needed job.

Am I missing something? I'm getting old and slow. Help and old fart!

[Mal Paso]

OK I've got to ask. What are the dimensions of the spacer?

My early 4500 doesn't have one. Also, why can not one just drop something like a 3/8 nut over the shaft, and then run the lube-follower disk down on top of it? I mean, I have a lathe, and could fabricate about anything, but aren't we working too hard at a simple problem? Covered with lube the nut will not rust, and as long as it has a bigger ID than the shafts' OD we are doing the needed job.

Am I missing something? I'm getting old and slow. Help and old fart!

If I recall it's 5/8 or 3/4 tall, inside diameter to fit over the rod, outside diameter as small as practical. It's just a stop. The original is just a piece of hard plastic tube with a thick wall.

[Fishman]

You might want to avoid anything that covers up or significantly impedes the flow of lube into the port that leads to the size die. I used something with a little compressability (lead) because I was concerned that the casting might crack if the plunger and screw were aggressively applied by a novice. I have read of others using a small piece of pvc pipe as well. The important thing is avoiding the situation I describe in the OP.

I am sure there are others on this site with more lubrisizer experience than me.

[Mal Paso]

The shaft is a bolt through the bottom of the lubesizer. At the end of it's travel the piston traps the spacer and the bottom of the lubesizer against the bolts head. It's the bolt that takes the stress if it's over tightened. It's very unlikely that you would break that bolt with the little 4 inch wrench used to pressurize the lube. Any rotational force is applied to the base between the 2 mounting bolts.