Broken spru and lee customer support..

[AlaskanGuy]

I recently bought one of the lee 6 cav bator molds from midsouth... I had just borke in the mold and it was a casting great when the spru plate broke...
90810

I wrote lee an email last night, with the above pic and recieved the following reply when i got out of bed this morning...
Mark:

Thanks for sending in the photo. We'll get a replacement sent out to you in tomorrow's mail.


Thank You,

Laine
Customer Service

Lee Precision, Inc.
4275 Highway U
Hartford, WI 53027
phone: 262-673-3075
fax: 262-673-9273


Folks can say what they want about lee stuff, but I for one, love them. I have a bunch of their gear, and their prices are a great value, and their customer support is absolutely the best... A winning combination in my book... Lots of folks sneer or turn up their noses at them, but not me... I am a fan... Good value and good customer support... What i expect, and what lee delivers....

AG

[Doc_Stihl]

I've had good luck with Lee support.
Very rarely had to use it so that helps...

[leadman]

This type of failure is common when the mold and sprue plate are too cold. If you feel the handle stop and resistance is increased stop and grab a flat tipped screwdriver and insert it between the side of the mold and the rocker part on the sp handle. This will give you the mechanical advantage back and the sprue should cut.
I have this same mold and cast with linotype which hardens in a very small temperature range. I run my pot hot and preheat the mold in a toaster oven that has a glass door that slides up so a mold does fit on the rack. If you use a hotplate to preheat turn the mold over so the sprue plate is heated before casting.
Dipping the mold in the pot according to the instructions does not work very well with this large mold with very small boolit cavities.

[deadarrow]

Broke mine the same way on my first outing with a lee 6 cav wad cutter mould. Tried calling lee but it is always busy. Guess an e-mail is the way to go. I did braze mine back together and it is still holding. I am gentler closing the spru now tho.

[farmerjim]

I broke the screw off on the valve rod for my 20 lb pot. They have changed to a new valve rod which was sent to me on my internet order. The new rod won't work on the old pot without changing the complete valve arm assembly. I called Lee this morning and 2 of the old style rods for my pro 4 20 are already in the outgoing mail.
Great service.

[AlaskanGuy]

I was not casting with a cool spru plate.... It happened in the middle of a hot and fast session. And i did not force the plate closed at all.. It fit well and nicely.... I think that there was a crack there when i got the mold that i did not see.... But either way great support....

[w5pv]

Lee has very good customer service,one of the reason I use them

[MT Chambers]

Lee has very good customer service,one of the reason I use them
They have good customer service, but these parts shouldn't break so often, that's why I DON'T use them!

[fred2892]

Same here. Cracked a shell holder last week. Emailed Lee with a photo of the part. Less than an hour later I got the simple reply. "a new part is in the mail". Never had a problem with Lee and with this kind of service I never will.

[AlaskanGuy]

Wow chambers, the parts dont break that often.... I been using lee products for over 20 years, and this is my first request to customer support... But to each his own... Ever try getting a hold of lyman???? I have never tried.. Please share your experiences with some of the other vendors... Love to hear it....

AG

[Bullshop Junior]

RCBS is about all I use. Dont get me wrong, lee has been good, but RCBS has the best service period. They have even sent me a new die set when i forgot to lube a case and got it stuck and wrecked the die trying to get it out.

[srk468]

Lee has always been good to me as well, I'll always use their stuff :)

[labradigger1]

Lee got into the mold scene iirc in 1973 as an economical mold to get many who could not afford the iron and brass molds started into the hobby. I hav only a few things from lee, 6 or so molds and maybe 2 sets of dies. I can honestly say i have never had any problems with any of them but they just feel cheap to me. When you are used to iron molds it is hard to get the feel of the alloy blocks, not impossible but very different. The fact that they stand behind their product sits well with me though. Hmm, i picked up 6 used lee molds yesterday. Maybe i will give them a whirl.

[AlaskanGuy]

Or you could send them to me labradigger.... He he

[kungfustyle]

That is fantastic. Love RCBS reloading stuff but I've been using Lee casting (just getting started) it has been working so far. Good stuff, glad to hear that they are keeping up with RCBS in customer service....Lets face it, if it weren't for great products and decent costumer service, I don't think that the business would last that long.

[waco]

Just sent off an email to Lee about my broken spru handle. Lets hope I get the same treatment!

[dkf]

If it is broken and Lee can see it is broken they can figure out what to do there. Have a not so obvious issue (like a sizing die that does not size right) and they have a hard time with it. Of course they had all kinds of excuses how everything was right. That has been my experience with them.

[rsrocket1]

Make sure the sprue handle is shut all the way in before casting. If not, you don't have enough leverage to cut the sprue and breaks like these are very possible. You can save the day by sticking a flat blade screwdriver into the gap to regain the leverage.

[Bzcraig]

There might be comparable customer service but Lee is second to none.

[NVScouter]

I've just rewelded mine 2-3 times. Now like others have said I get it hot hot hot before casting

[cbrick]

Lot's of comments on how great the customer service is . . . Only one other comment on - It shouldn't have broken in the first place. Oh well, with such good customer service I'm sure they will also replace the replacement part. :groner:

Rick

[TheGrimReaper]

Awsome...good to hear.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well Rick, i have many of the six bangers, and many of thier other molds, and never had one break before...

AG

[waco]

They will have my new one in the mail tomorrow.

[AlaskanGuy]

See how easy that was????

[ubetcha]

I thought I saw an ad on this site or someone had mentioned it, but is there a site vendor that make a solid steel pivot and handle for the Lee 6 Bangers to eliminate this concern?

[buggybuilder]

I live about 30 miles from the LEE facility. I've driven over to them when I've had an issue with their product. Nothing but courtesy!! and that is not often that I've experienced a problem. As far as them replacing a part for free on a $20 mold----------why don't the same individuals complain about FORD, GM and CHRYSLER when they spend $25,000 + for a vehicle, and $100 per hour to have it repaired? I like LEE products and have used alot of them.

[varmint243]

I went thru a curve with Lee.
I am now 100% convinced Lee makes some nice stuff and is a good contributor to the industry.
IMO You have to pick and choose a little based on your needs.

You can have my AutoPrime when you pry it from my cold dead fingers :p

[cbrick]

why don't the same individuals complain about FORD, GM and CHRYSLER

I promise I will just as soon as they begin producing boolit molds or other casting equipment!

Rick

[AkMike]

That break looks like it a cast iron set of handles.. I thought they were steel.

[fatnhappy]

That break looks like it a cast iron set of handles.. I thought they were steel.
FYI Akmike, It's a sintered MIM part.


While I'm happy the OP is pleased with Lee service, I prefer to think customer service would never be needed with a RRR replacement sprue plate handle. I guess that's why a bought a couple.

[AABEN]

I always lay my mold on top of the pot when I turn it on that way my mold get hot with the pot.

[fredj338]

Yeah, good ole Lee. If you use that mold a lot, replace the pot metal handle with a steel one for RedRiver. It will never break again. If Lee would make steel handles, charge another $10 for their molds, problem solved. You have to baby a Lee 6cav or you'll break the handle every time. Preheating &/or partial mold fill until the mold is hot will save you too.