Least Drippy Pot

[405grain]

I've been using a Lee Pro 4 20 pound bottom pour pot for over a decade now and it's getting old. I've cleaned it out and rebuilt it a couple of times now, and it works for awhile, but then slowly returns to its driptastic bad habits. I think it's time I start saving up my coin for a new pot. What are your recommendations for the most reliable, and least drippy bottom pour pots? These could be modern ones that are off the shelf, or vintage models that Grandpa bought back when they invented electricity. What are your thoughts?

[Misery-Whip]

Ive got an older lyman 25 i got off a member here 6 months ago. No drips no electronics, only problem it was empty...but kinda expected such.

The lee heats up faster but the lyman is easier to find the desired temp. Find one of these.

[Winger Ed.]

Depending on what you put in them, and how you flux--
the leaking and the need to clean/poke up in the spout is pretty much the same.

The heavier the linkage & such is bearing down on the needle is about all there is to work with on them.
The heavier the needle sits, it has to get more dirty before it drips.

About the only way to totally eliminate the problem is go to a ladle dip pot
and move away from a bottom pour type.

[elmacgyver0]

I have an old Lee bottom feed pot, think it holds 10 lb.
if it starts to drip a bit, you just rotate the needle a bit, not rocket science.
Never seen it as a problem, maybe I'm not all that OCD or whatever they call nitpicking these days.

[deces]

Like Winger Ed said, a quick rap fixes all.

[1eyedjack]

Lee 20 lb pot added a wooden 1" x 1"x 3 inch piece with a 1/4_20 tee nut attached to it along with a very thin lock nut on the exposed end of the valve rod. Give it a twist or two when the dripping starts.

[405grain]

Maybe I should clarify the situation. I've tried poking up the spout hole to clear any debris, resharpening the rod tip, twisting the rod farther in, adding weight to the rod, adding a spring to push the rod down, etc. I'm not looking for ways to stop the Lee pot from dripping because I've already tried all these methods. I just have to face it; my pot is worn out. When I first started out casting back in the 1980's I was using a ladle to pour my lead. As soon as I started using a bottom pour I could make bullets twice as fast, and of higher quality. For me, bottom pour is the way to go.

I could just get another Lee 20 pounder, but before I do that I wanted to hear what other brands people are using, and if they are better pots. Thanks in advance.

[Sam Sackett]

I have a Lee 10# pot and I’ve never (Oops, shouldn’t have said that) had an issue with dripping. I think making sure that all the lead that goes into the pot is really clean is the key. I also flux with wax every time I refill the pot.

Maybe I just lucky.
Sam Sackett

[rockrat]

My RCBS works pretty good with very little dripping and the same with my Saeco (lyman 61) 10 lb pot which is about 50 years old

[Mk42gunner]

My Lee Magnum Melter hasn't dripped yet.

But if you absolutely desire another bottom pour pot, the original RCBS Promelt isn't bad. I bought mine used several years ago, it occasionally drips, but not much.

The only other bottom pours I have personal experience with are the Lee 4-20 and the Lee ten pounder (Production pot IV I think). The 4-20 dripped even after lapping; not too bad if using as a bottom pour, and would eventually self limit i.e. drip enough to block the flow if used with a ladle.

The ten pounder is the only one I have ever had a deluge with, and it happened multiple times. It now lives in an aluminum turkey roasting pan. I do like how visible the spout is on it, but that is about it.

Robert

[deces]

I believe you can all your parts for the cost of shipping.
https://leeprecision.com/parts/bullet-casting/electric-melters/pro-4-20lb-parts/

[stubshaft]

I converted my bottom pour Lee 20# to a solid bottom and ladle cast. I did have an old Lyman pot that did NOT drip but the dang heating element burned out.

[Springfield]

My Magma never drips and it is 15 years old. My Rcbs Pro-melt rarely drips, but I added a small spring to it for a bit more pressure on the valve. My Lee's dripped most of the time back when I had them.

[Gobeyond]

The rcbs pro melt 2 bottom pour is on sale at natchezss.com for the lowest price I’ve ever seen now. Good repute.

[BamaNapper]

I used a 10 lb Lee pot for a couple decades and it never dripped. Nothing but ingots from wheel weights, and always kept half an inch of lead or more in the pot. I never ran anything up the nozzle, and never had to twist the rod. Then I read where the pots should be emptied out and cleaned occasionally. I did just exactly that, and the drips showed up on the very next pot. I bought a new pot, no drips, and I will never let it go empty.

This is just my experience. I flux, stir, and do my best to keep the crud out of the pot. In my thinking, lead is the heaviest thing in there so any contaminants should float to the top and away from the needle. The needle and seat shouldn't see anything other than the alloy you're casting with, so they should stay clean. A second 10# pot on my shelf is for pure lead for the muzzleloader. It's been there at least a decade and has never leaked either.

[swamp]

I have 3 of the RCBS Pro Melt pots, the original ones. Haven't had any problem with them.
swamp

[TNsailorman]

I owned an old Lyman and it would drip once in a while but the key seemed to be to make sure to close the stem on the seat firmly each time. When I would get into too big of a hurry and not do that, it would drip a littlle, not bad though. After the Lyman gave up the ghost, I did not replace it for several years as I was dipper casting from a pot. But that got to be more work than I wanted, so I finally bought a Lee 4 20lb melter. I found that it would drip a little also. So I polished the seat and rod and it helped but did not cure. But I had changed set ups and the new set up worked fine for me. I just let the small drips cool and harden a little and put them in a small cup and poured them back into the pot when it came time to refill with lead. I never let the dripping bother me all that much. I sure came to like the Lee as it did a bang up job and at a very decent price. I know some criticise the Lee for dripping but I never let it bothered me much and if I ever need to buy another pot, it will be the Lee. james

[Snakeoil]

I have an original Promelt that might drip if I start it empty and it has to melt ingots in order to fill. But as a general rule, it rarely to never drips.

Having seen the Lee rod (valve) and the RCBS rod, what is apparent is that the Lee is a larger diameter. That means more surface area to collect crud and possibly less pressure across the sealing surface if the nozzle seat is a wide as the tip of the rod. I think that if you turned down the Lee rod tip to be more like the RCBS, it might not leak. If the seating surface of the nozzle is shot, then you could either resurface it in a lathe, or just buy a new one. They screw in.

Something I do when I drain the pot after casting is clean the seating area of the nozzle using a Phillips screw driver.

[Bigslug]

Found the RCBS to be a vast improvement over the Lyman. Only rarely will it drip slowly, and dealing with that is just a matter of opening the spout wider and flushing it clear.

[GregLaROCHE]

I know some people lap the valve and seat on Lee pots. Mine needs to have something happen to it soon. Does Lee sell replacement valves and seats ?

[405grain]

(Highly sarcastic & grossly exaggerated) :razz: My pot has gotten to the point where it's splattering everything, including me, with lead sparkles as it builds a stalagmite in the drip pan. I could basically just keep filling the mold blocks from the never ending stream of lead pouring from the pot without actually operating the valve handle. To clean out the pour spout I just dump a handful of nuts and bolts into the pot and let them pass through the spout. OK, so it's not that bad: but it's annoying, and I've already rebuilt the pot several times. I did learn something extra from this thread. I'll remove the rod assembly and cap off the spout on this old pot. Then I'll use it as a mule for melting and cleaning up scrap lead to make into ingots.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve seen that people sometimes put extra weight on the handles of Lee pots. Seems logical that it could help.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have two Lee bottom pour pots and don't have any dripping problems, unless I use some dirty alloy or incorrect fluxing/stirring techniques. With that said, I do kinda wish I would have bought a Magma 40 lb pot, instead of a Lee pot, when I first started casting.

[Rapier]

The best fix for a Lee is an RCBS. I tossed my four lee pots and got an RCBS Pro Melt decades ago.
All bottom pour pots drip, because any sand goes to the bottom when you melt lead, the sand blocks the valve stem seal. You need to empty the pot and clean the inside of the pot and the valve parts with a bronze or brass brush. The Pro Melt does the same, it just seems to take a bit longer

[BamaNapper]

All bottom pour pots drip, because any sand goes to the bottom when you melt lead, the sand blocks the valve stem seal.

Maybe you speak from your experience. But physics class, and my experience, says differently. I skim off the dirt and sand when I melt berm scrap. It seems to float quite well.

Density of molten lead: more than 10 g/cm3
Density of heaviest sand/rock: almost 3 g/cm3
Ratio is about 4:1
Density of beer: 1.05 g/cm3
Density of a wooden golf tee: 0.25 g/cm3
Ratio is also about 4:1

Physics says a grain of sand will sink in molten lead just about as often as a wooden golf tee tossed in a pint of lager. :D

But it's all a moot argument. Bottom pour pots drip, some less than others, and we all look for ways to combat it.

[toallmy]

Lee will send you what ever you need to rebuild your pot quite reasonably priced .
But it won't become a Magma or a RCBS