Is this OK to do to this Lee pot?

[ironhat]

I decided to do my first pouring session on Saturdy with a fairly old Lee pot (10#'er, I'd guess) that I bought a couple of months ago. I noted that there was a bit of lead in the bottom and thought that that would be a good thing since it would have sealed the valve. I chucked in a total of four Lyman ingots (cast from WWs) and got it all nice and silvery. As I fluxed and stirred I noticed a rocky sensation at the end of my stirring rod. I kept it up and eventually got under an edge and up came a slab of slag the size of a silver dollar and 3/8" thick! I tried my first pour and the valve barely opened and dropped little puds. Shortening story... wouldn't stop pud dropping because it wouldn't open. I poured out the melt and tipped it upside down with the valve open until cold. Closer exam showed more of the slag down in the hole but I was out of time. So, your time to chime in;
What should I use to pry out the remainder of the slag so that I don't damage the valve seat? I thought I'd use a bronze bore brush in a drill to clean out the port - any issue with that? I'm also planning to pull the 'needle' rod, chuck it in a drill press and use a bit of 220 paper wrapped around a file. Still good? What sayeth you?

[mikenbarb]

Try turning it up all the way or take a plumbers torch and heat the spout till it drips out. That should unclog it but just be carefull with the heat and dont overdo it.
PS- How long did you let the pot pre-heat for? It might take about 20-25 minutes to melt all the lead in it and the silver puck might be unmelted lead in the middle of the heat zone.

[leadman]

I pull my valve rod out and clean it when it starts giving me trouble. I also heat the bottom side of the valve in the pot with a propane torch and carefully pull any chunks out with a dental tool. I have use a new wire brush for cleaning a firearm on a rod turned by hand to finish cleaning the spout. Watch out for the dust created when cleaning this.
Don't smelt your WW in the pot or use Marvelux. The Marvelux is the main cause of the valve plugging up on my Lee pots.

[Jaybird62]

I had an RCBS pot that was giving me fits. I emptied the pot and scrubbed the inside of the spout put it back together and it still dripped.

Read somewhere on this site to clean the pot by burning out the crud. I filled the pot with dried oak lumber chips and turned the pot to the highest setting. I sat it outside and let it burn for about 4 hours. I repeated the process the next evening. I also took the plunger and chucked it in my drill press and cleaned it with some wet/dry 400 grit sand paper. Problem solved.

[ironhat]

Thanks, all. To answer a few questions, I let it heat for 30-35 minutes. As it heated up I could tell that there was crud in lead which I blamed on the ingots and before I discovered the massive chunk of slag that was hiding under the layer of lead left in the pot by the prior owner. That's when I fluxed with candle wax. I left the pot on for a total of about 50 minutes before pouring into molds and tipping it over. It's too rainy today to be cooped up with a torch on the valve but I will pull the rod and check it over and true it up. I may put some lapping compound on it and spin it slowly by hand in the valve opening to get a matching set of parts - seat and rod.

[Bret4207]

Never have any blockages with my ladle!

[ironhat]

Never have any blockages with my ladle!

Wise acre - LOL!!

[ironhat]

This thing is more screwed up than I thought. I removed the rod and heated the nozzle with a MAPP torch. The larger chunk around the throat came right out but I could not get anything through the nozzle. I tried a small drill, twisted by finger power and it was a no-go. I may have to remove the base to gain access to the nozzle. I'm pretty concerned at the amount of corrosion inside the nozzle - can't see to the seat. How would you proceed? Drill up from the bottom? Ream from the top? What with?

[shooterg]

Plug it and proceed to ladle !

[Maximilian225]

This thing is more screwed up than I thought. I removed the rod and heated the nozzle with a MAPP torch. The larger chunk around the throat came right out but I could not get anything through the nozzle. I tried a small drill, twisted by finger power and it was a no-go. I may have to remove the base to gain access to the nozzle. I'm pretty concerned at the amount of corrosion inside the nozzle - can't see to the seat. How would you proceed? Drill up from the bottom? Ream from the top? What with?

Be careful with the drill bit routine. The valve is not straight through, it is angled. You can break a drill bit off in it if your not careful.

Don't ask how I know this fact/

Looks somewhat like this inside.



-Max

[ironhat]

Thanks for the diagram, Max. That helps a lot. As for the ladle, I don't have a ladle or a pot big enough or hot enough for one. I bought this melter with a Lubrisizer and 300# of WW ingots for $200. I'm trying to be as economical as possible since I haven't worked in a while.

[Maven]

ironhat, You may also need to adjust the thermostat on that furnace. Search the archives for a description of how to do it. (It's pretty simple and takes just a few minutes.)

[leadman]

You should be able to melt the lead in the nozzle, especially with a map torch. I have a long dental type tool with a 90' bend on one end. If you have something like this you might try wiggling it around in the nozzle with the pot in normal position and the torch on the nozzle on the bottom outside.

You could leave the valve rod out and put a pan under the nozzle and put a couple pounds of lead in the pot and turn the heat all the way up. This may melt out the plug in the nozzle. This will take awhile as there may be non lead debris in the nozzle.
Sounds like the previous owner tried melting wheelweights in the pot. This will plug them up for sure!

[DLCTEX]

Worst that can happen is need to replace the pot portion, $8 from Lee. I'm always surprised at Lee's low parts prices. Needed a new sizer stem for 7mm mag. size die. $3.00 from Lee, and they shipped two. Shipping and handling was $4. Try beating that. Something else I ordered one of a while back, they shipped two. I thought it was an oversight until this time, now I just think they're just generous.

[ironhat]

Well, I failed at all attemts and with a good light down into the pot I could see that the thing is terribly corroded and pitted. I found the offer online from Lee to rebuild the valve for $8. I don't think that it's salvageable. I tried the MAPP again and a short drill in my fingers and all I could come up with is that there's a chunk of slag in there and it doesn't have enough lead in it to allow it to loosen. Geez, this ticks me off. I finally get my act together... well, you know. Thanks for the help, folks!

Chiz

[45nut]

try air pressure yet? or boiling it out with water?

[leadman]

The valve area on my pots are straight thru, not curved. You could turn the pot over and heat the nozzle. Have something handy just a little smaller in diameter than the nozzle and gently tap it into the nozzle. I had to do this to the Marvelux when it plugged up the nozzle.

[fredj338]

I leave all my casting pots at least half full to prevent crud from settling into the valve area. My 1-# Lee must be 20yrs old now & a routine tunr of the screw keeps everythign working. FWIW, I do NOT smelt in the bottom pour pots.

[powderburnerr]

my lee 10# are straight through valves , I use an allen wrench when they get slow , so I know they are straight ,,
turn the thing over , heat it up and drill out the spout by hand , wear gloves and be brave. the crud has to come loose or else the pot isnt any good and you might as well send it back to lee for fixin...if the crud came loose on the bottom it should come out of the spout also............ I would also try using a small nail and tapping it through, after flattening the end ,,, but then I have to win when I work on stuff like that..Am I guilty of pot abuse?....... Dean

[pdawg_shooter]

I have cured all my Lee drip-o-matics by welding the dripper shut!