Lyman Mag 20 and SAECO

[Savage99]

My mag 20 finally died. had it over 25 years. i found an old seaco pot in my back yard.
question: can these be re-built without to much expense?
i'm looking at getting a Lee Pro 4 20 lb, 70 bucks.
let me know what you think.
thanks
Ron

[fecmech]

I personally would rather have the Saeco than the Lee 4-20. They have a 1000 watt element and you can preheat your mols and ingots on the top shelf. There is not much to them except for the thermostat switch which can probably be found where they sell stove parts. Does it not work now??

[Kraschenbirn]

You might try the Cast Boolits search engine for something like 'Saeco rebuild' or 'Saeco Repair". A few year ago there were a couple of threads on the subject, detailing procedure, replacement parts (mostly from W.W. Grainger IIRC), etc. Btw...from someone who's been down both roads, if your Saeco can be saved, that's the way to go.

Bill

[44magLeo]

If you can clean up the Saeco enough to check the element for continuity and shorts. Try it out with the power cord hooked straight to the element.
If it works, then decide how to fix.
I've become a firm believer in the PID as a temp controller. Not expensive to build and work very well.
Then you can just plug your Saeco into it and cast away.
Another thing with a PID, you can use it to control other things, like a toaster oven for cooking powder coated bullets.
Well that's my $.02 worth.
Leo

[Dieter]

I’m rebuilding a Lyman 61 right now, near identical to the Saeco. It’s pretty straight forward. There’s a lot of info in here if you dig a bit. So far I’ve just been cleaning it up and repainting. I have only bought mica board, rockwool (insulation) and a thermostat. Good luck!