drippy pot

[paralaska]

Well . . . I've finally started producing . . . I've thrown numerous bullets back due to wrinkling/incomplete fill . . . Think I've figured out to keep the mold (Lee) hot, got the alloy at the right temp, and have been able to produce some decent bullets (currently Lee 452-200). The problem now is the drippy pot (Lee pro 4-20). I drip more lead than I cast. I keep playing with the adjustment rod, but cannot seem to stop the drip unless closing it down completely. Are there any fixes for this? Or maintenance that I can do?

Thanks . . .

[David2011]

This is a common complaint with the Lee pots. Some people have lapped the stem to the spigot. SOme use a tool to rotate it back and forth when it drips. Some have added weights to the knob to increase the closing force. Some have bought an RCBS Pro-Melt when they got fed up with the drip-o-matic but that's a spendy solution.

If you go to your favorite search engine and search something like castboolits lee drips you will do better than using the CastBoolits search feature.

David

[runfiverun]

some clamp a pair of vice grips on the top of the stem, or to the handle.
cleaning and lapping works very well too, and only running clean alloy about 2/3rds of the way down the pot helps it stay clean.

[Gtek]

And it is a good idea to have a containment pan capable of capturing entire contents. There has been some pretty cool after shots of a lead flow over the years. As stated above, lap and increase weight and your troubles should be behind you.

[quilbilly]

I have been using the Lee 10# pots for 35 years to make custom fishing jigs for my business as well as boolits. The best way to avoid the drip is by always leaving at least 3/4" of lead in the bottom when finishing and never let it run to empty. That being said, I still have to replace pots about every 2-3 years when the drip becomes dangerous due to the, what I think is corrosion in the bottom of the pot. For me the Lee pots have been cost effective even though they require regular replacement. I save older pots for cleaning the scrap lead I often get which has to be turned into "clean lead" ingots.

[gloob]

Lapping is the way to go. Set a couple ingots under the back of the base to tilt the pot forward, so you can empty it out. Carefully flux and remove all dross on the surface, so you can get the pot empty. The pour ingots until you're empty. Then put some abrasive compound on the end of the stopper. Chuck it in a drill, push into the spout hole, and spin away.

Also, you might need to zap the spout with a propane torch for about 10 seconds, every now and then, and then let the spigot run some lead to flush out any contaminates.

[rosewood]

Also routinely turn the rod with your screwdriver while casting and it helps to keep the rod tip clean and seal up.

[country gent]

I have lapped several for friends over the years. I do it by hand and have found just spinning the rod creates rings that dont seal quite right and a "sticky" feel to handle. Heres how I do it. Completly empty the pot. clean the pot throughly. Remove handle and mechanisim so rod is free. With a coarser grit lapping compound use a tapping motion back and forth rotating 1/4 turn every few cycles till 3-4 rotations are done. Cean rod and look at the pattern formed at this stage you want the cleaned up area to be around 80% of the surface. Repeat with a fine grit lapping compund till 90% polished surface. At this point valve should seal but I like to go noe more step with shimichrome or flitz for 3-5 rotations cycles. Basically you lapping a valve (Think auto valve in a cars head). This can be done pretty quickly and easily. Add oil during the cycles to keep compounds cutting and prevent any gaulding. Running clean lead and keeping crud out of valve goes a long ways.

[CPL Lou]

Don't forget to clean up after lapping !
Some compounds have a water based carrier !
Not to mention the lapping grit getting into your boolits.

CPL Lou

[DrCaveman]

I like the vice grips clamped to the stem, that way i can use them to rotate 90* every once in a while too. Unfortunately i ended up breaking the tip of the stem, so that the handle didnt lift it anymore.

I just took out all the moving parts, plugged the bottom, set the furnace on a shorter table, and started using my Lyman ladle. It is great, things run more consistent for me now, although a little slower.

[bruce381]

""Running clean lead and keeping crud out of valve goes a long ways.""
very good advice smelt in another pot and only use clean lead and the drips will be minimal

[rosewood]

Since we are on the subject of dripping and dirty pots, what is the reddish clay looking stuff that forms on the walls of my pot? I smelt in a separate plumbers furnace so I call my ingots clean, but still get something that forms in there.

Rosewood

[paralaska]

Well . . . I did all my smelting in a cast iron cook pot, so everything put in this one has been clean and I don't think its a "crud" problem. I'm gonna empty and clean out the pot then try lapping it. I'll report back on the results . . .

[WALLNUTT]

Lapping will help. I noticed as the alloy level went down mine would drip less so I don't fill it quite full. Just a couple of Lyman ingots shy of full and lapping reduced mine to almost nothing. Also when I close off the flow I do it with a little force. Even clean alloy will get "dirty" during casting. Kinda like motor oil. It is clean when you put it in and no "dirt" gets in the crankcase but the oil get's dirty.

[rsrocket1]

A "blip" of the handle usually stops the drip for me. I also occasionally use a flat blade screwdriver in the slot at the top of the rod to spin it but I always keep my 1 pound Lyman ingot mold underneath the spout to catch the drippings. If the dripping starts to climb and form a "stalagmite", I simply grab the tower with my gloved hand and put it back into the pot.

[bangerjim]

Lap.

I NEVER use anything but beeswax in my 4-20's and have NEVER had any dripping problems. EVER! Sawdust and other chunky thing can (somehow!) get down into your valve and cause problems.

Also if your pot does NOT have the metal weight handle, add one, and more weight as suggested above will help.

Once you get it lapped and cleaned, stick with beeswax to reduce you metals back in. Use sawdust for only your re-melting pots.

Works for me.......for a loooooong time!

The 4-20 pot is an excellent product if used correctly. With the money you save on it, you can buy a bunch more molds!

bangerjim

[kbstenberg]

I use to use wood shavings on my melt when casting bullets. An my lee 4-20 dripped most of the time. Sometimes really bad.
But since reading Tim's article on more consistant casting I have converted to just BW on the top of my melt. An 90% of my dripping has vanished.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[borg]

What about the brand new pot that empty's it self, didn't even slow down, turning the rod when the first thing you put in it is pewter?
That happened to mine.
Still need to take it apart and try lapping.

[big bore 99]

Also routinely turn the rod with your screwdriver while casting and it helps to keep the rod tip clean and seal up.
Works for me!

[bangerjim]

What about the brand new pot that empty's it self, didn't even slow down, turning the rod when the first thing you put in it is pewter?
That happened to mine.
Still need to take it apart and try lapping.

Looks like you have some kind of mechanical alignment problem with the seat, valve, and rod. Carp happens. The type of metal makes no difference. You have some little gap in the seat that came from the factory or from banging around during shipping. Alignment and lapping are really the only solutions......or send it back to Lee.

They DO work! Flawlessly! I can attest to that.

OP...........Good luck in finding and solving your drip.

banger

[David2011]

And it is a good idea to have a containment pan capable of capturing entire contents. There has been some pretty cool after shots of a lead flow over the years. As stated above, lap and increase weight and your troubles should be behind you.

A cheap but effective containment can be had in the form of a garage floor drip pan. They're galvanized steel so lead won't stick. They're 47" x 25" x 1/2" deep; $12 at Wal-Mart. Also keeps boolits from rolling off the counter to the floor.

David

[paralaska]

SOLVED THE PROBLEM ! Using advice given here . . . I lapped it with auto valve grinding paste, then some rubbing compound, and finished up with some Flitz. Everything seems to be working perfectly now. I'm a happy camper . . . Now the next thing on the agenda will be learning how to use my Lyman sizer/luber . . .

Thanks for everyone's help . . .

[VintageRifle]

I have a fairly new 4-20 that dripped a lot when I first got it. Was solved it for me was turning the adjustment screw to totally off, allowing the pot to cool, and then heating everything back up. I had issues with dripping until I did this. Now I adjust to shut off the flow between sessions. At the next session, I let the pot get to 750°F, adjust for flow, and have yet to have dripping for 5 casting sessions.

[bangerjim]

It really must be alignment problems in the batches they build.

In many years, I have never touched either of the adjustment screws on the 4-20's I have. Never a drip. They worked perfectly right out of the box.

At least discussions like this bring to light the fixes that can be used if one has the problems!

That seat and valve down in there is definitely VERY low-tech and is fairly easy to address.

[borg]

Finally got around to lapping the rod/seat tonight.
I used some light abrasive to start with just to get a look see at how they matched up.
The rod looked like a one sided screw, didn't touch the seat at all on one side, no wonder it flowed through.
Got out the heavy valve grinding compound and gave that a workout till it the rod seated all the way around.
Then I went progressively finer till I had at least a 1/16" contact.
Cleaned it up and then filled it up with water(too late to run alloy), let it set, worked the handle a few times, still didn't leak, no drips whatsoever.
I know alloy is totally different as for weight, so, hoping it will work,, will try tomorrow.

[William Yanda]

A cheap but effective containment can be had in the form of a garage floor drip pan. They're galvanized steel so lead won't stick. They're 47" x 25" x 1/2" deep; $12 at Wal-Mart. Also keeps boolits from rolling off the counter to the floor.

David

I went the cheap route, an aluminum cookie sheet from the thrift store for half the $.

[dudel]

Also routinely turn the rod with your screwdriver while casting and it helps to keep the rod tip clean and seal up.

Bingo. That's the fix that works for me.

[bangerjim]

Someone mentioned the floor oil drip pan form WalMart. A true God-send!!!!!!

I cast totally outside on the flagstone patio in front of my back shop, and the wife was moaning about all the "little silver thingies" that are on the stones. I told her the rock was probably quarried from an old sliver mine! She did not buy that for one minute!!!!!

So I bought one of those oil drip pans ($12 is not going to kill anyone!), set my Workmate on it, and cast away in peace & silence now.

banger

[borg]

Got around to running the Lee pot again.
After lapping, running 15 lbs of alloy, I get no drips, leaks, not even the tear drop off the nozzle.
Happy camper now.

[clum553946]

I sent mine back, bit the bullet & bought the RCBS. It's 5 times the cost of the Lee but for me, it was worth the lessened potential of getting seriously burned. There is no comparison in build quality either, you basically get what you pay for.