any electricians out there

[windwalker]

any electricians out there
i have a lee 10lb lead bottom pour 1V pot 220v went to use it it was on for 10 minutes when it triped my power kept on doinig it, i think my heat control thermostat has gone what say any of you,i got the melting pot in january 1980 so i cant complain had a good run with it and have cast thousands of bullet's with it.
Bernie

[newton]

I believe those pots are 500 watt. At 120 volts, that is less than 5 amps. Try using a different setting on the pot. That will tell you if its the resistor inside. One part of it may be causing a short when it heats up. Next thing to try is to move it to another location and try it. You may have a bad breaker and/or a real touchy one.

I would not count it out just yet.

[windwalker]

I believe those pots are 500 watt. At 120 volts, that is less than 5 amps. Try using a different setting on the pot. That will tell you if its the resistor inside. One part of it may be causing a short when it heats up. Next thing to try is to move it to another location and try it. You may have a bad breaker and/or a real touchy one.

I would not count it out just yet.
new ton i have done all that it trips my pals power aswell.
Bernie:)

[Nobade]

I would remove the casing so you can see what is happening inside and watch it. Sounds like you have a heat related short, and as it warms up it suddenly makes contact and shorts out. Maybe a little lead inside where it doesn't belong or something not fastened down properly?

[newton]

I have never seen the inside of the controls, but by my estimation it has to be run off a variable resistor. Resistors like this are known for going out. Usually it does not create a short though. But sure enough, it must be a short somewhere. All you need to do is find it.

There cannot be too much to one of these pots. But I would start with the easiest and work your way down. If the heating sensor runs off of a bi-metal switch that might be your issue. The switch keeps the pot from going full blast all the time. Even when the dial is turned all the way up.

If when you plug it in, it stays on, it could draw enough amperage to kick a breaker if it does not let up. It is going to draw more when its cold than when its hot.

Listen to it and see if you can hear it kicking off and then coming back on before tripping the breaker.

Did you try running it at different temp levels yet? If not, do that. Does it get hot at all?

I really cannot see it being the heating element. They are either good or bad. There is a fine wire inside the element and if it were heating up and then causing a short it would break. Then the element would not work at all.

If your pot gets warm at all, then I believe it can be fixed fairly easy. Just a matter of narrowing it down.

[tomf52]

Mine was doing the same thing. I opened it up and it was nothing more than a wire that had moved out of place and was grounding against the case. Easy fix.

[wv109323]

I have rebuilt my Lyman pot twice. The wiring is exposed to a lot of heat and the heat takes the temper out of the spade terminal ends. They become loose and the loose connection requires more amperage thus more heat. There is an fiberglass insulation board that the prongs for the cord attaches to. That board had suffered so much damage from the heat I took JB Weld and reworked the board to restore the prongs so that the cord could be re-attached.
I would guess that some of the wiring has grounded or the heating element itself has grounded. Disassemble and see if it is repairable or toast.

[Mal Paso]

Watch out, there is no ground wire and a short to the case makes the case LIVE. I second opening it up (unplug it first). The only part other than the heating element is the "Infinite Switch" (just like an electric range). One wire from the plug goes to the heating element, the other to the Switch, and a small wire goes from the switch to the other side of the heating element.

[Gliden07]

First let me ask have you moved your bench and plugged it in else where?? A 15 amp circuit will max out at 1800W, if you have any high draw items on the circuit (not the plug the whole circuit) that could contribute to the breaker tripping? You should try and give the circuit a 20% safety margin or around 1500W. If its a 220V pot, it should only draw about 3 Amps with the pot's element on, really not much. That said the thermostat they have in there is a bi metal strip (switch), as the bi metal heats up it will flex and shut the pot off, when it cools it will flex back into shape and turn power back on to the element. If the pot is as old as you say I would say the stat is gone I don't know if there is a Hi limit on those pots or not? If there is it might be that? Conversely it could be a loose connection or bad breaker?? Try the pot on another circuit and see if it works. Then make sure all the connections are tight on the pot. If the problem persists I would take it apart and check the element for burn marks (this is unlikely because the element would probably have burned out and element would not heat at all). Do a really good visual inspection for any wires grounding to the case frayed wires etc...