Lee production pot 4, got one in today but I have questions ?

[capt.hollis]

Guys I finally got my Lee prod pot 4 in today, and let me tell ya this is heaven sent as compared to pouring with a ladle so far, but I choose not to praise it too much until I see that it will hold up. What is the sweet spot on the heat, looks like maybe setting it on level 7, but I only poured 10 bullets real quick with it? How about the maintenance ? Do you just keep it full?
I really appreciate you guys for all the help you've been giving me. Pouring bullets ain't easy, and I have a whole new respect for the craft.

[Lights]

Mine may have been a fluke but I set my dial to about 7 the first time and I overheated my alloy. When everything was melted and I was pouring. The dial was at like 3.5 and my thermometer said I was at 700*f.

[500MAG]

There are many factors that play into the temp in the Lee pot. The temp will fluctuate constantly depending on the amount of alloy you have in the pot. It will take some getting use to. I normally keep lead in all my pots. Wait till you add a PID, then you are stepping up your casting ability.

[el34]

The temp control is imo the only crummy thing about this pot. It is not a thermostat, it does not know how hot your lead is. The control has a bimetal strip that basically determines the ratio of on time to off time, typically in tens of seconds to a few minutes. It is only affected by the lead temp by how much pot heat is transferred by the two sheet metal screws between pot and the air inside the control tower, a very poor relationship. Fix it by getting a PID but that's another story.

Do you have a thermometer? If not, your temp can wind up all over the place and all you'll be able to determine is it's hot enough to be melted. Add a new ingot and it can drop 100deg.

Based on my experience you will learn how to control the flow rate, going for a consistent mild stream that doesn't 'flood' your mold. And setting the mold guide (mine won't work with Lee dbl-cavity molds but is great with sixers). Once you have all that, and you have a routine for filling the mold, whacking the sprue, dropping boolits, putting sprues back in often, you get in a groove that seems like it could go all day.

Sooner or later you gotta get up to pee but hate to give in until it approaches emergency.

Start rolling around the idea of a PID controller.

[williamwaco]

This pot does not have a "heat" control
It is a "power" control.

SO:

The sweet spot depends on how much metal you have in the pot and how fast you cast.
I keep the pot around 1/2 to 3/4 full and the dial at around 6.

.

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

[smilie=l: :takinWiz::takinWiz::takinWiz: [smilie=l:.

Sooner or later you gotta get up to pee but hate to give in until it approaches emergency.

Start rolling around the idea of a PID controller.

[462]

There are many variables involved: Alloy makeup, ambient temperature, alignment of the stars . . .

A thermometer, while not a necessary casting tool, can be a very useful one.

In the end, though, your mould temperature is more important than that of your alloy. Search "mould oven".

[capt.hollis]

What is a PID?
Thanks

[USAFrox]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?115724-Project-PID-on-Lee-Pro-4-20-furnace

Check this out.

[bangerjim]

What ever floats yer boat!

I do not use a thermometer. Gets in the way.

I do not use a PID controller. (I sell these & t/c's in the company I own.) Too much wiring and mess.

I set my Lee 4-20 or proMelter at between 6 and 7 and pour perfect boolits EVERY SINGLE time. I have never seen the need for any type of control/monitoring other than the on-off bimetalic control in the Lee products.

I preheat my molds by dipping the end in the soup until lead does not stick. Perfect starting point!

I spend my money on molds & dies...not controllers, even thougth I have all kinds of them FOR FREE!

bangerjim

[kartooo]

i use a thermometer and keep it at just over 700.
mine has a cover and when full needs to be cranked up higher to get it up to temp.
around 7 or 8, then turned down to around 5 to keep it there.
the cover is great, it gives you a place to pre heat the mold while the pot comes up to temp

[500MAG]

What ever floats yer boat!

I do not use a thermometer. Gets in the way.

I do not use a PID controller. (I sell these & t/c's in the company I own.) Too much wiring and mess.

I set my Lee 4-20 or proMelter at between 6 and 7 and pour perfect boolits EVERY SINGLE time. I have never seen the need for any type of control/monitoring other than the on-off bimetalic control in the Lee products.

I preheat my molds by dipping the end in the soup until lead does not stick. Perfect starting point!

I spend my money on molds & dies...not controllers, even thougth I have all kinds of them FOR FREE!

bangerjim

Jim,
I casted for many years before I found this forum. I didn't own a thermometer and didn't even know what a PID was. I was happy with my casts and even after reading the techniques that people where using, I refused to change mine. Finally, I got a thermometer. Suddenly, I noticed my pot was frequently going past 750 and up to 800 degrees. Knowing I was losing precious tin and other alloy, I decided to go with a PID. Built it for around $60. I have never casts the type of boolits I do now. I can set my pot at 725 and do what I please. Phone rings? No problem. Gotta pee? No problem. I hit that sweet zone in minutes and can cast perfect boolits for hours. I'm so happy with that PID I even added one to my ProMelt and don't even know if it needed it. Now I cast Perfect Boolits all the time too.
Charles

[capt.hollis]

Ok I got ya guys. I'd rather not put a pid on this unit. If I were going to do that I'd bought the rcbs one for around $350, and would be done with it without all the wires and the mess. Maybe one day I might decide to do it???

[el34]

... without all the wires and the mess. Maybe one day I might decide to do it???

Frozone sells a kit and a finished controller-
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?116-Frozone

I used the same controller he uses and it's a breeze to set it.

[mdi]

With all the variations, I watch how my bullets look as they drop from the mold. If they are frosty, I'll turn down the thermostat a bit. I watch fill out and if I start to get rounding at the base I'll turn it up a bit. I like to cast my bullets with a lower melt temp with molds on the hot side to control shrinkage some. I have the 20 lb. bottom pour and temp will vary from a full 18-20 lb. load to a 5 or 6 lb. load. I use alloys from "range lead" (usually fairly soft) to my "hard" #2 equivalent, so one setting just won't do it for me.

[SSGOldfart]

Humm my newest Lee prod pot 4 is almost 12 years old and it's been set on 9 since I got it, maybe 2000 plus pounds of lead run throught it ,I have no ideal what the temp is when it looks right I pour,I don't use a guild for the molds just a old piece of 2x4,because I only got one hand to work with

[el34]

Humm my newest Lee prod pot 4 is almost 12 years old and it's been set on 9 since I got it, maybe 2000 plus pounds of lead run throught it ,I have no ideal what the temp is when it looks right I pour,I don't use a guild for the molds just a old piece of 2x4,because I only got one hand to work with

Kudos to you sir, you sound like the type that could make it work with your toes if you needed.

I never got a pager back when it was 'necessary', rebelled against a cellphone until it was for my wife's comfort, stayed away from smartphones until there were enough actual reasons to have one, but it took no convincing that the PID would be a great thing. In my case, it is a great thing.

Now if I can just find my favorite blue Princess lighted dial phone with the touchtone buttons, that'd be great too.

[harley6699]

Charles.. you said you built your PID for $60.00.. I also see you are in south Florida.. where is that.. I am in Ft Myers and I would love to put a PID on my Lee pot..

[snuffy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A block diagram of a PID controller in a feedback loop
A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process control inputs.