RCBS Pro Melt

[TXGunNut]

Had some moulds to break in today and remembered I had a new RCBS Pro Melt sitting to the side of the loading room. Awhile back I decided to see what all the fuss was about when Midway offered a slightly damaged one for a huge cost savings. Didn't see the dent in the side at first, it's on the far side when I cast so I'll never see it.
Decided today was the day so I unpacked and assembled the new furnace. All went pretty well and in a few minutes I had it plugged in and melting lead. Seems to melt lead a bit faster than my Lee furnaces but it's hard to say. I liked the pour control and after I got it adjusted for the flow rate I wanted I was pretty pleased with the results. I like being able to see the nozzle and watch things a little better. Cast about 120 keepers from my new NOE 312299 in a couple of quick sessions, cull rate a bit high but not surprised with new mould & furnace.
I almost miss the little sculptures my drip-o-matic makes but I'll learn to deal with it, lol.
Bottom line, is it three times as good as a Lee? I dunno, was pretty happy with the Lee and this is my first session with the RCBS. Temp seems a bit slow to adjust after adding lead but that's probably just subjective. Overall, I like it. I have an older Pro-Melt (gift from a friend) and I'll be shipping it back for repairs tomorrow. When it gets back I'll have dedicated pots for a different alloys.

[TXGunNut]

Hmmm....temp seems to be off about 50 degrees.

[Walter Laich]

I converted mine to pull down to open which is way better for me.
also built a PID for it and it holds the temp right on now
did build a wooden stand for it to sit on so I can see spout and top of mold. Much better that way and PID sits in the stand

[pjames32]

I added a PID to mine. Temps are much better and more consistent.
PJ

[Mica_Hiebert]

I have one ordered should be here soon. Gunna be miserable casting Temps out in shop once it finally gets here tho :-(

[4719dave]

Guys buy the alu cover and the mold tray I believe I bought it from a fellow here ..good stuff ..
The only problems I have is the monster 45-70 boolits . The controller is your best friend ..

[TXGunNut]

Guys buy the alu cover and the mold tray I believe I bought it from a fellow here ..good stuff ..
The only problems I have is the monster 45-70 boolits . The controller is your best friend ..


I'll continue to pour the big ones. Tell me about the cover and tray.

[dikman]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?275219-RCBS-Pro-Melt-Upgrades&p=3214241#post3214241

I found that the Lee is noticeably faster at melting lead.

[lightman]

You will enjoy that ProMelt! The only thing that I miss from my old 10# Lyman is that the mold heated up better sitting on the side of the Lyman's cast iron liner than on the ProMelts stainless one. Gotta get a hot plate.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I believe that I have solved the pre-heat cycle on the molds before casting starts. I came across a 8" square cast iron flat skillet with low sides in a thrift shop. I place the skillet on the 10" steel plate square on the old hot plate. With the burner set on high I can pre-heat a 5 or 6 hole mold much easier than the several ways I have tried in the past.Robert

[TXGunNut]

Just realized I sort of got a twofer on my new Pro-Melt. Sent in the rebate coupon ($75) and the cost to refurbish the old Pro-Melt is $100. If you count shipping costs I figure the second furnace cost me about as much as a Lee bottom pour. The old furnace has already outlasted two casters, I suspect it will outlast me as well. I suspect it's poured many thousands of boolits, hoping the guys in Oroville can tell me when it was made.

[TXGunNut]

Got a call from a nice lady @ RCBS today. They just wanted to touch base with me (and went to the trouble to find my corporate office's phone number) and go over a few things. I was a bit worried when she apologized for bringing me some bad news. It seems the guy who responded to my earlier e-mail forgot to tell me I needed to add sales tax to the repair price, their invoicing software won't allow them to adjust things. Silly me, I thought she was going to tell me my pot wasn't repairable.
I have dozens (and dozens) of RCBS products but have had few opportunities to avail myself to their CS folks. Once again, RCBS rocks!

[Mica_Hiebert]

buddy told me mine showed up and is waiting for me but i delt with sick kids all day and didnt get mine picked up.

[TXGunNut]

Take care of the kiddos, Mica. It's an awesome furnace but it can wait. Won't be able to focus on it until the kids start feeling better anyway.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got two of them. there great pots. A GIANT step up from a lee pot.

[leadman]

The Lee pot only holds a little over #15 of alloy and is 700 watts. The RCBS holds #22 of alloy and is 800 watts. Yes, I did empty the pot and add alloy that was weighed to determine the weight they hold.
A few years back RCBS changed suppliers for the commercial grade thermostat and it does have a fairly wide temperature range from on to off. Two of these new thermostats that I installed in my RCBS pot had about a 40 degree range. The old one had about a 10 degree range before it went bad after over 30 years.
I spoke with the supervisor at RCBS about this and told him that I made pid controllers and sold several because of the new thermostat. He said he would look into it but I don't know if he did or not.
Might want to check the temperature range on your pot.

[Ed in North Texas]

"I almost miss the little sculptures my drip-o-matic makes"

Now THAT is funny! Admittedly, you need to have used a "drip-o-matic" to appreciate it.

[Mica_Hiebert]

Picked my pro melt up today, don't know when I'll get a chance to fire it up tho, had a fiasco with my mower today that had me running around parts shopping for 3 hours, getting ready for my daughters t-ball game, then start my work week tomorrow.

[Ranger 7]

Actually, the cost difference is double!
I can purchase 6.2 Lee 4/20 pots ($63.99 each) for the price of 1 RCBS Pro Melt.
I have 2 Lee 4/20 pots (running for 7 years now) and 1 Lyman Mag 25 (Running for 3 months). The Lyman has a built in PID and I built a PID for my Lee pots.
The Lyman IS superior to the Lee pots, however it also costs more: $63.99 verses $225.00

[TXGunNut]

ive got two of them. there great pots. A GIANT step up from a lee pot.



I'm looking forward to having a second Pro-Melt. Won't be retiring the Lee pots as the standard pot will work well for ladle casting 20-1 BPCR boolits, Drip-O-Matic for custom blends or pure lead. I think the old PM will run 50/50 and the new one WW's. Filling the pot with alloy after a casting session seems more efficient than filling it before you can start. I need to finish my lead shed; running out of room in my loading room, lol.

[lolbell]

"I almost miss the little sculptures my drip-o-matic makes"

Now THAT is funny! Admittedly, you need to have used a "drip-o-matic" to appreciate it.

I thought the little sculptures were cute, but, I don't miss the things at all. Getting a ProMelt has made my casting much, much more enjoyable. I used that *$%^#@ Lee for nearly two years threatening to give up casting every time I tried to cast. It was a constant battle fiddling with the temp and spout trying to stop the drip and maintain a usable temp. The ProMelt solved the problems. I just plug it up lay a mold on it and when mold is up to temp, alloy is too. It holds a good steady temp until you add another ingot, then it takes about 4-5 minutes to be casting again.

[Jackpine]

I am also a member of the Lee, switched to Pro Melt fraternity. Maybe I am just not very nostalgic, but I do not miss the sculptures or the plugged nozzle or the recovery or ...................... Don't get me wrong, I put a lot of lead thru the Lee and for the money, think it is a great buy, but after using the RCBS, it would be VERY hard to go back.

I cast a lot of 500 grain bullets and the recovery time was terrible. I solved that problem with a cheap hot plate and a 4 qt cast iron pot, with cover. I pre-melted with the hot plate and did not let the casting pot got below half full.

The Pro-Melt was laying on the garage floor of a gunsmith friend of mine one day. I assume he had taken it in trade on something, and he sold it to me so cheap, I would be embarrassed to admit what I paid. I still use the hot plate to premelt, have added a PID and do not let the Pro Melt get lower than 1/3 down. I can cast the big bullets almost non stop and keep a temp of + or - degrees.

Add me to the list that gives praise to RCBS customer service. At the risk of getting flamed by those who think the company that makes the blue equipment (and yes, I do have two of their presses and other equipment made by them and think the guy that owns them is a marketing genius) I will rate RCBS above them. The reason the blue company has such a good CS rep, is that most folks who own them have called CS and gotten free repair stuff. I have presses, powder scales, powder measures, primer tools, pot, lube sizer, sizers, molds and a couple dozen of their dies. I have been using RCBS stuff for about 50 years and have had to call their CS dept, maybe three times. Their stuff is lower priced and so well engineered and made, that you seldom need to call them, but when you do, they are impossible to beat.

Jackpine

[DerekP Houston]

Actually, the cost difference is double!
I can purchase 6.2 Lee 4/20 pots ($63.99 each) for the price of 1 RCBS Pro Melt.
I have 2 Lee 4/20 pots (running for 7 years now) and 1 Lyman Mag 25 (Running for 3 months). The Lyman has a built in PID and I built a PID for my Lee pots.
The Lyman IS superior to the Lee pots, however it also costs more: $63.99 verses $225.00

I'll still use my lee pot for alloying and melting sprue plates. Got tired of getting my hand dripped on by the lead constantly. Even with a glove that gets hot!

[Mica_Hiebert]

Finaly got to play with my new pot tonight. It works great, def going to need a hot plate, the ring around the pot doesnt get as hot as my lee dipper pot does. it was my first time using a bottom pour. If you start out with the pour limiter wide open the splash back is terrifying I got the pour and mould height set right for my NOE 360-180 and was making nice bullets then swapped over to my lee 475-400 mould them big bullets are def going to take a little more practice to get right. Went to pour a few more with my NOE mould and some ******* set it down on a candle and no amount of cleaning could get it to throw unwrinkled bullets, gunna take a few heat cycles to get it to act right again.

[jimkim]

I have two Lee Drip Master X's, and a Lyman Mould Master XX. I use the Drip Masters to keep the Lyman fed.

Sent from my VS880 using Tapatalk

[w5pv]

I have an old Lyman that I am thinking about sending back for the up grades,need to contact Lyman, it is stating to need TLC every time you use it.

[clum553946]

ive got two of them. there great pots. A GIANT step up from a lee pot.


I totally agree!

[Fernando]

Well after all the reading and not being lucky enough to find a used steal like others stumble on the Midway flyer
had them on sale with a free shipping code plus the rebate and I figured it was the best I was gonna do.
Guess I'll find out how bad my Lees were , Have 2 and just worked around the drips and used sprues and
dialing as a PID - worked for me since I'm not that good of caster or handgun shot but still got passible slugs.
After 25+yrs of playing with this stuff I figured I'd give it a try.
Boy this place costs some money:killingpc

[TXGunNut]

Just remember, Fernando, it's money well spent! Stumbling across deals sometimes takes years. A good sale will put it on your bench in a few days and you'll be using it, not looking for it.
Got my ProMelt back today, pretty happy with my investment. Complete rebuild apparently consisted of a new power switch, temp control, heating element, pot, valve, hardware and insulation. Should work just as well as the new one sitting on my bench now, just lots more character.

[Lloyd Smale]

if it cost 10 times what a lee pot cost it would still be worth it to me.
Actually, the cost difference is double!
I can purchase 6.2 Lee 4/20 pots ($63.99 each) for the price of 1 RCBS Pro Melt.
I have 2 Lee 4/20 pots (running for 7 years now) and 1 Lyman Mag 25 (Running for 3 months). The Lyman has a built in PID and I built a PID for my Lee pots.
The Lyman IS superior to the Lee pots, however it also costs more: $63.99 verses $225.00

[Fernando]

The big brown truck is due today - smelted some fresh alloy yesterday and have a new accurate mould to run
through it's paces.
My green stuff has always been quality and have no doubts this will be nice.
Going to try my hand at making some lube while I wait for the delivery dude.
Should be a happy day

[Doggonekid]

Started out with a coleman stove and a RCBS 5 LB pot. Changed up to a electric furnace from Lyman out of the 60's. Once again changed up to the RCBS Pro-Melt. Love that machine. They aren't cheep but the kids have all moved away and I have a little more time and money than I use too. Looking into a PID. Maybe this winter when I do most of my casting. My rule is to cast all winter and shoot all summer.

[TXGunNut]

Plenty of time to research and buy/build a PID between now and "casting season". My new Pro Melt seems to maintain a pretty steady temp. I know the PID does a better job but just haven't talked myself into it.
Still haven't put my refurbed pot back together, maybe next weekend.

[DerekP Houston]

Plenty of time to research and buy/build a PID between now and "casting season". My new Pro Melt seems to maintain a pretty steady temp. I know the PID does a better job but just haven't talked myself into it.
Still haven't put my refurbed pot back together, maybe next weekend.

lmao I guess all texans call it quit when the heat gets above 100f. I'll be waiting until I shoot through my supply until I cast again. Unless I get a new mold or am dying to try a different load...

[Mica_Hiebert]

I only got to play with mine one time but I really liked it. Got a buck of home renovations taking up all my time rite now.

[BwBrown]

I cast my first lead slug out of a Lee pot more than 40 years ago, been using then ever since... until a year ago.
Found a ProMelt on the 'bay for a great price "for parts."
When it arrived, I opened it up, put a wire back on the power switch and Bingo!!!

Wish I'd found it 40 years ago. Sure helps a body appreciate a great product!

[yenningComity]

Is a PID really that huge of an improvement on the pre melt? Haven't used mine yet, but was hoping to get by for awhile without one.

[VHoward]

No. You really don't need one with the Pro Melt. It is nice though.

[DerekP Houston]

Not necessarily on the promelt, but I bought mine for my Lee 4-20 and just carried it over. It certainly makes a difference on my toaster oven for keeping it consistent. Really helps me dial in the temp on some molds, as my h&g prefers to run hotter than the Lee molds.

[yenningComity]

Not necessarily on the promelt, but I bought mine for my Lee 4-20 and just carried it over. It certainly makes a difference on my toaster oven for keeping it consistent. Really helps me dial in the temp on some molds, as my h&g prefers to run hotter than the Lee molds.

that is good to know. Still haven't gotten the oven yet, but soon.