How do you get old lube out of your sizer?

[Trapaddict]

I have a Lyman 450 sizer that is full of a lube that requires a heater to use. I really want to get all of this lube out of the sizer and switch over to something that is a little more user friendly and requires no heat to use. I have never had to do this before and was wondering if there is some tried and true method for getting all of a stick of lube out of a sizer short of putting the new lube on the top, turning on the heat and just running the old out of the sizer without the sizer die in place? Since the new lube requires no heat, what would be the best way to accomplish this?

Jeff

[jeepguy242]

heat gun or hairdryer maybe?

[stubshaft]

Propane torch or even dunk it in a big pot and boil it out. If it has the heater attached just remove the sizer and put a pot underneath it and turn it on.

[Lefty SRH]

I boiled some hard black lube out of my 4500 when I got it. Glad I did to.

[midnight]

Last time I used a hair drier plus I shined a heat lamp on it. It was an old Lyman #1 and I didn't know what was in it. Now I just use BAC in it and I heat it a little just to be easy on the old machine.

Bob

[runfiverun]

i turn on the heat ,open the bottom, and use the new lube to push out the old lube.

[gbrown]

I always have an old cookie sheet around and line it with aluminum foil. I take the lubi`sizer down and place the parts on this and then put it in a warm oven--150 degrees. Depending on the oven, gas or electric, and the temp, I may crack the door. Done it with both. Don't go off and get involved!! Watch it, so the temp doesn't get out of hand. A little oven thermometer helps to watch the heat. Never failed me with Stars, Lymans or Saeco's. After about 2 hours, take it out and check. Take the whole thing out, remove the parts and let the old lube solidify. Get rid of all, foil and lube and then redo, until all is good. Time consuming, yes, but gets it done.

[kweidner]

unmounted mine. set it outside with an extension cord on top of old concrete block, took die out, put foil underneath to catch lube, turned on heater and forgot about it for awhile. I came back an hour later and ran the screw all the way down. Then took popsicle stick and cleaned residual out. It was messy but worked. I use the old lube for flux when casting ingots. Let me say I do not like to change lube. I think that is why many guys here have multiple lube set ups.

[Forrest r]

I was doing the same thing several years ago & ended up soaking mine in hot water, not boiling. My 450 came out of the water looking like a new machine. I put new seals in it at the same time, figured do it while it was down for maintenance & clean.

[D Crockett]

ever so offten I have to change lubes so I take a big pot that I have for cleaning raw bees wax in putmy luber in it cover with water and put it on a hot plate and let it get hot the lube comes out I then let that wax cool cut it off the top of the pot and use it for fluxing and the luber comes out clean D Crockett

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I use a heat gun.

I remove the die, pressure screw, and and o-ringed nut from the reservoir.
I invert the lubesizer over a container, then add heat till it's empty.
have plenty of rags handy for cleanup, and maybe a small cleaning brush
and a dish of mineral spirits if you want this thing real clean.
Jon

[scb]

Last one I did I stripped it of all the parts attached to the reservoir and boiled it. I let everything go cold before I removed it from the water. That way I could easily skim the lube off the water and it didn't adhere to the part when I pulled it out.

[Trapaddict]

Thanks for all of the input guys. Sounds like I'm gonna get dirty no matter which method I try. lol!

[shootinxd]

I just went thru this changing from Lymans moly to Cr,what a MESS.I used the hair dryer method after removing the sizing die,put an empty coffe can under it,let it heat for an hour.Still getting a small streak of moly after 100+.I hope I dont have to do that again.

[BoolitSchuuter]

Boil it

[dragonrider]

A hairdryer better yet a heat gun will do a very good job of it.

[Horace]

Remove sizing die and hang above cookie sheet infront of 500W lamp.Go watch a John Wayne movie with some JD and a good cigar.

Horace

[fredj338]

When I switch lubes in my Star, I just add it to the top & turn the heat up or down depending on the lube. It all eventually works out.

[Iowa Fox]

I use a heat gun.

I remove the die, pressure screw, and and o-ringed nut from the reservoir.
I invert the lubesizer over a container, then add heat till it's empty.
have plenty of rags handy for cleanup, and maybe a small cleaning brush
and a dish of mineral spirits if you want this thing real clean.
Jon

I used the above method with a 100 w bulb with reflector for heat. I had it wired up over a five gallon bucket, in less than an hour I wiped it down with the rags and no other cleaning necessary. Worked slick as a whistle with no labor to speak of involved.

[DukeInFlorida]

The black **** that they ship as a sample with a new Lyman 4500 is still, after dozens and dozens of refills with other lube, haunting me. I've done everything I can think of, and I still occasionally get small black smudges. I guess it will eventually go away completely.

Heat is your friend when it comes to melting that stuff.

[Ken77539]

I recently acquired an old Ideal #45 lubricator in a recent estate sale. Not sure what was in it originally, but it was VERY messy and had the consistency of axle grease. To clean this out, I disassembled it and then boiled it out in a pan of water with a bit of Zep's concentrated degreaser (the purple stuff). I left it in long enough to return to a hard boil then removed the pieces from the water. Once cooled, I sprayed all the "nooks and crannies" with an aerosol degreaser. This left the pieces very clean, inside and out, with no discernable lube residue at all.