Lee 4-20

[hornady]

Yesterday I was casting and ran into a new complaint about the Lee bottom pour pot. I have been using this pot for a couple years now. The first pot full run as well as can be expected from a Lee. But on the second pot about half way threw the arm that controls the spout started getting stiff, I should have stopped right there but kept on casting.
Then it happened, the spout stuck open.
I had muffin pans close by and did not have too much of a mess.
After the pot cooled I checked things out. It seems over the last couple years the C – shaped lift arm had sprung to the point it was binding on the top and bottom mounting screws.
I took the arm off and straitened it back to original shape. But now I don’t trust the pot. Being bent the thin piece of steel they use for the arm will be weak and bend again.
I think I may just bite the bullet and get the Lyman or RCBS bottom pour pot.

[skeet1]

Hornady,
I think that you can help your situation if you lubricate the upper and lower shoulder bolts ("mounting screws") of your 4-20 pot with some Bullplate Lube. I did discovered this the other day and it stopped mine from dragging when I lifted the valve. It also helped with the dripping situation. I also added three large washers behind the wooden knob on the valve mechanism. I saw that someone else on the forum had done this and between the Bullplate and the washers my dripping has stopped and everything works smoothly. With these changes to your pot I believe your problem will be solved.

Ken

[jmsj]

hornady,
One of my my Lee 4-20 pot did the same thing, I did not have to take mine apart to fix. I could see where it was binding and bent it back. I use Bullplate to lube my molds and mold guide and it was right there, so I lubed the handle. It worked so well that it has become part of my casting procedure.
I have seen other posts lately where others have started doing the same.
Good luck, jmsj

[jmsj]

skeet1,
You beat me to it !!
I think I am the slowest typist on the planet.

[hornady]

Thanks guys, I thought about a high temp lube, but have plenty of the Bull plate, I put the washers on the knob a while back, and thought that may have been part of the problem.
I may take those screws out and clean them up a little before I cast again. I noticed they were a little rusty when I had it apart.
You tend to get a little nerves with a stream of hot lead running all over the table.

[blasternank]

Tag for later reference. I just got a lee pot and will want this info.

[hornady]

Up date, I took the handle off again, cleaned and lubed screw bushings with Bull plate and put it back together. Better but it was still hanging up.
Checking things over on the bottom of the slide arm were it fits over the spout, I could see it was dragging on the spout as well.
I took the handle off again and opened that hole up a little with the moto tool.
Everything seems to be moving smoothly now.
I think it was a combination of the arm being bent, the two screws binding, and the spout binding on the bottom.

[skeet1]

Hornady,
Great news about your pot. My Lee 4-20 pot is relatively new and the more I use it the more I like it.

[bonza]

I bought a Lee 4-20 a couple of months ago, with some trepidation, after years of ladleing out of a cast iron pot. I'd had a couple of the 10lb Lee pots back in the 70s & 80s & had eventually become frustrated with their shortcomings, so went to the ladle/iron pot.
Must say though, that the new Lee has performed very well so far. No sign of any dripping, & is doing a nice job. I also picked up an old Saeco Model 24 at a gun show last weekend for $65, so am anxious to put it to use & do some comparing!

[geargnasher]

Keep the alloy clean, and as has been said lube the moving parts every session with Bullplate, it will keep the binding and wear to a minimum, plus make the pot run like a swiss clock!

Gear

[mpkunz]

My LEE Pro 4 20 pot has an issue with the bottom pour control also. I got it about 2 years ago, and I don't remember if it was my zeal to get started pouring that made me overlook it, or if it broke some time later. There is a screw with a shoulder on it that is threaded down into the top of the jacket. It aligns the mechanis. Well, the threads on that screw are stripped, so I cannot use the bottom pour and have been using it by dipping my pouring ladle into the top of the pot. Wish I had seen it earlier, wish I had spent the extra money on a Lyman, coulda, shoulda woulda. Disappointed now. I hope LEE reads threads like this and takes to heart the fact that 1) I'll never buy a LEE pot again, and 2) these posts have probably discouraged dozens of others from buying LEE pots also.

I have, however, figured out to get reasonable mileage out of their moulds. Those I will continue to buy.

[Doby45]

Call Lee and get the $.26 screw. Then you will not have to hate your pot anymore.

1) I'll never buy a LEE pot again This truly is your loss.

2) these posts have probably discouraged dozens of others from buying LEE pots also I highly doubt that, if anything I bet MORE people are buying their pots. A recent poll concluded this as well.

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=94184

I would say it is even overwhelmingly in support of Lee, 3 to 1 to the next most popular.

[geargnasher]

My LEE Pro 4 20 pot has an issue with the bottom pour control also. I got it about 2 years ago, and I don't remember if it was my zeal to get started pouring that made me overlook it, or if it broke some time later. There is a screw with a shoulder on it that is threaded down into the top of the jacket. It aligns the mechanis. Well, the threads on that screw are stripped, so I cannot use the bottom pour and have been using it by dipping my pouring ladle into the top of the pot. Wish I had seen it earlier, wish I had spent the extra money on a Lyman, coulda, shoulda woulda. Disappointed now. I hope LEE reads threads like this and takes to heart the fact that 1) I'll never buy a LEE pot again, and 2) these posts have probably discouraged dozens of others from buying LEE pots also.

I have, however, figured out to get reasonable mileage out of their moulds. Those I will continue to buy.

You can repair the stripped screw hole if you are patient. Take the liner out of the pot by removing all of the screws that hold it in, including the spout. Of the four panels that make up the sides, the front section holds the lever guide screws. Once you get it apart you'll see what the screw threads into, and how easy it is to strip of you run the pot with a loose screw or a long time or overtighten it. You can take ballpeen hammer and gently roll the edges of the screw channel back over so it will have something to grab again. What I did was put the screw back in (all the way) and peen the metal back around the screw itself to forge some threads, then just touched the gap where the aluminum channel won't quite fold all the way around the screw with my heli-arc and closed the aluminum up so it wouldn't spread open again. Not essential to weld it, but if you can, do it.

While you have it apart, clean the pot liner and spout thoroughly, and polish the pintle with fine sandpaper and a drill. Lube all the moving parts with Bullplate (except the pintle and seat!!) and you're all set.

Gear

[mdi]

I do the same as Skeet and Gear. My pot has leaked once, and that was the result of a small piece of charred stir stick. I broke one of the "ears" off the valve slot and was having trouble with screws working loose around the rim. When I got the new valve rod I took the pot apart and saw how it's constructed. The steel screws attach to aluminum extrusions and will work loose in two or three heat-cool cycles, so I closed the screw holes in the aluminum a little, and reassembled with Loc-tite Blue. I wire brushed the valve seat and soaked it with BullPlate (it may burn off after the first melt, but it's there). I also BullPlated the valve lifter screws and valve point. Has been working quite well since then and I expect it to continue to work for quite a while...

[Recluse]

Keep the alloy clean, and as has been said lube the moving parts every session with Bullplate, it will keep the binding and wear to a minimum, plus make the pot run like a swiss clock!

Gear

GEAR!!! No wonder no one else trusts us Texans when we tell tall-tale whoppers like that one up above.

Make that (Lee) pot run like a swiss clock!"

Sooner or later, the Swiss are gonna get tired of us taking their name in vain. . . :)

I have a Lee 4-20 pot and I have zero qualms about what I paid for it versus what it has done for me. However, I am still kicking myself for literally giving away the RCBS pot to a pilot buddy (actually more of a trade) who got into casting. Of course, despite tales to the contrary, it leaked, too.

Funny how I've never seen too many pictures of people's RCBS Pro Melt furnaces that didn't also have an ingot mold (or likewise) underneath the spout. . . If they never leak, then why the drip pan? [smilie=1:

I have mixed feelings about the Lee pot. I recommend them for beginning casters simply to keep their investment/expenditures reasonable. But after all the friggin' tinkering I've had to do with mine--and continue to do--I seriously doubt I'll ever buy one again.

I see opportunity for some EXTREMELY inexpensive improvements in the pot that would QUADRUPLE its "likeability" factor and user-friendliness. Both of the Lee guys are engineers, and why they have not done some of this is beyond me. I mean, we're talking about not even adding five bucks to the cost, but it would make all the difference in the world.

Namely, I'm talking about those &$^$*@# sleeves where the sheet metal screws hold the spout/valve/handle fixtures. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

I'm not sure even China makes things that chincy cheap and half-butted. [smilie=b:

Don't get it. I just don't get it. The engineering and innovation that Lee comes out with is literally second to none. I appreciate keeping the cost down. What I don't appreciate from Lee is the blatant BS about how cheap carp is somehow better than the "expensive" stuff made by other brands.

Again, five bucks worth of easy, mechanical changes on that Lee 4-20 pot would make that pot the Holy Grail for most casters.

I like Lee 2-cavity molds. For whatever reason, I don't mind tinkering with them (Lee-menting) as I've found I only have to do it once--and then they cast extremely good boolits for me. I've yet to have one break or wear out on me. (Knock on wood).

I love the Lee Classic Cast and Classic Turret presses--my next two purchases this summer. And as I've stated before, I've gone through Hornady and RCBS powder measures but still have my little $20 Lee Perfect Powder Measure that I bought some 25 years ago. I've yet to have--or try--a more consistently accurate powder measure. Maybe I just got lucky, but then again, maybe so did my brother, his best friend, two guys I shoot with, another guy. . .

I love the engineering of the Lee Pro1000, but despise the chincy quality and incessant need for tinkering--which is precisely because of the carpy quality. Another fifty bucks in better materials would make that one helluva fantastic progressive press.

And so on.

But the present day Lee 4-20 "running like a Swiss watch?" That is a Texas tall-tale that even Pecos Bill would have trouble saying with a straight face.

:coffee: