Lyman mag 20 dipper slow to heat

[lesharris]

I turned on my Lyman mag 20 dipper pot yesterday.
It took 1 hour to melt the wheel weight alloy that was in the pot.
Pot was 3/4 full.
Temp knob was turned up full.
I have a new Lee 4-20 to use.
MY question: Do i send back to Lyman for repair or replacement ,or do I take it apart and try to repair?
I can do assembly/disassembly.
Thanks in advance.
Les.

[sagamore-one]

The thermostat on a mag 20 is adjustable without disassembling the unit. Pull off the knob, in the center of the remaining shaft you will find a place to adjust the thermo with a small slotted screwdriver. After the second trip back to Lyman the service tech clued me in on the location of the adjuster.
See if that helps.

If you do decide to take the unit apart by all means wear a face mask dust filter. The insulation is nasty on the sinuses.

[lesharris]

Thank You: I knew someone on this site would have the answer.
Cheaper.quicker,and faster than shipping back to Lyman.
I will try to heat the unit the next cooler day we have here in NE.Pa.
Thanks again.
Les.

[montana_charlie]

Cheaper.quicker,and faster than shipping back to Lyman.
Be sure to post your results, but I think you are going to confuse yourself with that adjustment ... and the pot will not heat any more quickly.

Be sure to tell me I'm wrong, if that is the way it works out.

CM

[MGySgt]

If your pot is set at a max of say 600 degrees, than it could take a lot of time to melt the contents.

I adjusted my Mag 20 from a max of 700 - to 875. At the max setting it did melt quicker.

Later I had to rebuild my pot. Wires got too hot and melted. Rewired it an replaced the insulation about 5 years ago and it works much better, especially since I did a better job of insulating it. Of course my pot is about 25-30 years old.

[bhn22]

Have you checked your pot with a thermometer to see what the temps really are?

[lesharris]

Weather was a little cooler today.
Was able to try adjustments to thermostat on my Lyman pot.
I turned the screw counterclockwise about 3-4 turns.
Pot heated up much quicker.
35 minutes fron cold start up to melted lead.
3/4 full pot.
Temperature knob was all the way up.
Temperature according to thermometer was at 800 f and still slowly going up.
At that point I shut the unit down and poured the melted lead in ingots.
Thanks for everyones help.
Les.

[TCFAN]

I had to adjust mine also. It would just get to 600 and not any higher. Did a small adjustment to the screw and now it hits 850 with out any problem. Been working that way for the last two years since I made the adjustment...........Terry

[GreenRiverBoy]

Found this thread and this solved my problem as well. I adjusted about 3/4 turn counter clockwise and now I'm pouring with the dial on 8.5. I don't have a thermo. but before, set on 10 the metal was barely liquified.

Easy fix!

[bigted]

so im very interested in this pot and also the mag dipper bottom pour pot. advertised as being able to use it for dipping as well as the bottom pour...would like this feature as i cast some smaller boolits and dipping gets tired of my arm sooner...the heavy boolits i set down every time to cool before i unleash em into my hand.

i guess advise is needed as im looking to buy a larger then the 10 lbs pot i have already...its a dipper pot only...lyman also. is this mag pot the best bang for my buck or is there something in the 20 lbs arena that i should look at?

[sagamore-one]

Best bang for the buck is the RCBS Pro Melt. Call customer service at RCBS as they occasionally have a refurbished unit for sale for a very good price.
I have a Lyman Mag 20, a Lyman Mag Dipper 20, and 2 RCBS Pro Melts. Guess which ones are on the shelf collecting dust.

[cbrick]

I haven't compared prices between the Lyman 20# and the RCBS 22# but I used the RCBS for 20 years without a hitch until I got the Magma 40# pot. Still use the RCBS on occasion for my softer alloy.

Rick

[bigted]

interesting...i was just looking at the rcbs. i have had nothing but good luck with rcbs for the 30 plus years ive been loading and dinking with guns and loading...thanks...the extra bucks dont bug me i just want a quality product for my hard earned bucks.