Mark x problem

[hunter74]

I'm having some issues with my Mark x. The learning curve with a machine like this is pretty steep and I know the machine a lot better than when I got it month ago.

I have casted a lot of good boolits but lately a new problem has occurred. Regardless of which mould seated in two of the "arms" I get half filled boolits and rounded bases at best. The moulds seated in the other two stations produces perfect boolits. It seems to me that this is an alignment issue under the pot. I've played with the pin on the back of the machine and moved it left and right to get the sprue plate to set at different places just ti try it, but with the same result. 2 sets with god boolits and 2 bad at one turn.

I've had some other problems as well but the customer support at Northern Valley Machine is incredible so they have all been sorted out, fast and smooth. Before I bother them more with my questions I hope someone her may have some suggestions. I have taken every measurement I can think of and can't see any sollution to this problem. I may have to change out two of the arms holding the moulds, or whst do you guys think?

Thanks

[Dan Cash]

See your dealer. Call customer support.

[2ridgebacks]

Ours was doing the same. More heat and some tin took care of it. I know you have cast a lot of good boolits, and we did as well, but this made it 100%. The PID is not calibrated so you can only use that as a reference in itself. I will be loosening my spur plates and stoning the flat side as well.

[hunter74]

I have tried hot, cold melt and moulds, more and less tin with the same poor result.

I got to think about using washers to adjust the mould to one side on just the two bad arms. Inside the arms there are many washers on a shaft about right under the big springs. (I'm aware of the bad explanation but I don't have the manual here I'm at right now, so please bare with me). If a couple of these wahers from say the left side arm get moved over to the right side arm, the tension would be the same, right? But.... The mould would get moved to one side, right? Is this a bad idea or worth trying? Keith of NVM are out of town and I haven't gotten any advice of him in this matter.

[ssnow]

I have tried hot, cold melt and moulds, more and less tin with the same poor result.

I got to think about using washers to adjust the mould to one side on just the two bad arms. Inside the arms there are many washers on a shaft about right under the big springs. (I'm aware of the bad explanation but I don't have the manual here I'm at right now, so please bare with me). If a couple of these wahers from say the left side arm get moved over to the right side arm, the tension would be the same, right? But.... The mould would get moved to one side, right? Is this a bad idea or worth trying? Keith of NVM are out of town and I haven't gotten any advice of him in this matter.

No, changing washers from side to side will not move the mold laterally, it will only change spring pressure and can create coil bind if you go too far.

The shaft has rollers which run against the cam......the springs hold the rollers against the cam. They do not affect amount of travel. The cam determines how much the molds travel laterally.....not the springs. There is not an individual travel adjustment. Any cam adjustment affects all molds, not just one or two.

I do not have a NVT built machine, I have the earlier Ballisti-Cast built machine. I know that design changes were made. Our machines are different, but I do not know the extent of the differences.

With that being the case, I have a question for you. Are the shaft lengths the same on both sides? If they are, then shaft length is not an issue. But if they are different, then the two "bad" arms could simply need turned 180 degrees.....

A note about pot alignment.....Are you using a set of 4 of the same molds, or are you using a mixture of different molds? The reason I ask is that the pot needs to be centered over the molds. The pot can be off center a bit and work just fine for larger bullets, but when casting smaller bullets, the alignment becomes more critical.

For example, if you are using two 45 caliber molds and two 9mm molds, then a slight pot misalignment can still produce good 45 bullets, while causing issues for the 9's.

[hunter74]

The shaft lengths are the same on both sides. The way I measured it anyway, with them installed, that's not easy. I suspect that it may be a problem related to this, but I don't know for sure. What I know is that it's an alignment issue. The problem also occurs when casting big boolits like 45 and I can see that the lead stream are hitting on the side on the sprue hole, because the lead shoots up again and the result are bade fill outs in both cavitys.

Yesterday I used lithium grease on the springs and inner shafts and sprayd WD40 everywhere I can think of so it's not running dry, that's for sure 😁

[ssnow]

Okay, thanks for verifying shaft length.

What I would suggest is that you center the pot and sprue plates. Even if the final out come is a problem elsewhere, these still need to be centered for best operation anyway, so you had just as well do it and eliminate them as the possible problems.

[hunter74]

Keith suggests check sprue plate being fully reset and pot alignment and to slow down the pour velocity.

I guess I'll play more with the reset pin, temp on the melt. The pour spedd I'm sure is rigt.

I'm surprised if this works but I'll have to try.

[Ausglock]

post a few photos of the bad bullets. Might help us try to solve the problem.

[hunter74]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/27/54e10270d54ff137bfddb352b7aca307.jpg

These are all scrap boolits produced by the "bad" arms while the other two producing good boolits. As you see on the photo the fill out is about 50 %. The one on the far right are close to good but has a rounded base. I suspect it to be because of to slow velocity of the lead stream. If the stream is adjusted to slow all the stations start to suffer and I get rounded corners on the base and bad fill out. That's a sure sign of to slow pouring, am I right?

I have deburred all the sprue plates and they are polished to a mirror finish on both sides. When I got them they all were pretty rough. Anyway, it didn't fix the problem but it has to be done to get the moulds to last I guess.

If I don't "see the light" any time soon I've planed to swap sides of the bad arms just to try it.

Thanks for helping, I'm close to desperate!

[Tazza]

It's as if the mold is not venting correctly, trapping air in there so it won't fully fill out. Very strange that only one mold is having issues, as i firstly thought it looks like not enough heat, but all the other work.

Can you try changing sprue plates around to see if the issue moves to the other mold?

I may just be grasping at straws though, and the cause is totally different.

[hunter74]

Update after last casting session....
After a measurment of the melt with another thermometer I found out that the new PID measured 30 degrees below actual temperature.
Another discovery I made was that some of the sprue plates was in a very rough condition with some of the holes drilled only half trough. I suspect this to be the cause of the problem. With the burrs on the plate restricting the lead stream together with a too narrow hole and low lead temp I'm pretty sure.
Anyway.... When I drilled the sprue holes trough so they got round and deburred the plate on both sides with a flat file and a dremmel, it looks like it's working all right.

The way many of the sprue plates look it has to be considered a half finished product. For a new caster with no experience with the machine this is a problem. As I have experienced you could quickly ruin a mould when using a tight sprue plate with burrs on the underside, snagging the top of the mould. I ruined one cavity of my 45 colt mould this way.

I was wrong about the arms to be the cause of the trouble....
I've only cast about 2 hours with the Mark-X since replacing the thermostat NVM sent me and so far it's working fine. This time I hope it lasts.

I'm glad to have sorted out this problem. Thanks for all the advice in this tread. Without it I would not have done this! The customer support at NVM has also been very helpful. Keith is a stand up guy who knows his things and are fast on his e-mail to help his customers overseas!

[hunter74]

After a steep learning curve with the machine and some work to smoothen the sprue plates, the machine works great!

For new users I would like to point out the importance of one thing. When using the machine, check the bottom mould halfs EVERY time! If you drag a stuck boolit to the next station and it prevents the mould halfs to close you are in a world of hurt!

[Tazza]

Glad it's working well.

As for stuck projectiles, does the mark X have the option of adding mold tappers? I know my master caster gets the occasional stuck projectile, but the bold halves do close back up.

[hunter74]

Not that I know of, so the fix for that is a flat screwdriver in the left hand 😁. A stuck boolit is usually a sign of too hot moulds so, I use it for an indication of when to turn the fans on. But in my experience it's a lot of difference between boolits how easily they stick. Full wadcutters are the worst kind. Bevel base boolits with a more rounded profile are much easier that way.

[Tazza]

A screwdriver is handy for that, but you really should be able to sit back and listen to it purr :)

Good to hear you know the signs, too hot so slow it down a little to get it just right.

[Ausglock]

Get some of the HITEK Aqualube mold release.
Zero stuck bullets.

With the Mark X.
take 1 washer out from under the rubber stopper.
this allows the carrier arms to rock a bit more over the shaker lumps on the cam rings when rotating.

[Tazza]

I really need to see one of these puppies in action one day. From what i have seen on youtube, they look fairly simple, yet finely tuned to run at just the right speed.

[hunter74]

Great tips Ausglock! Where do I get this mould release? Do you have a link?

[hunter74]

http://www.bayoubullets.net/hi-tek-500-plus-mould-release-call-donnie-at-225-324-4501/

This product? Do he ship aerosol cans overseas, you think? Look like a great product

[Ausglock]

Ask HITEK Joe. he makes a non aerosol version. you mix it with water or acetone or Metho etc etc.

[6bg6ga]

I've never had to use any release agent in my Mark IV. Obtaining the correct temp has a lot to do with it.