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Thread: Anybody else going back to their original Pro Melt?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    Anybody else going back to their original Pro Melt?

    I think my Pro Melt 2 is #68, I have tried both valve stems but a couple pots full after cleaning the darn thing drips. Oxides seem to build in the orifice and it stops sealing. I've looked at the original Pro Melt valve and the stem is completely different from the PM2. The Original tip is straight with a flat tip whose edge seals against the valve cone. The PM2 valves use a cone within a cone and I think there is too much surface area to seal well. I will try making a stem for the PM2 at some point but with the PM2 cool down it can sit in storage for a while.

    The thermostat in my original Pro Melt was toast when I bought it and the inkbird PID I got was counterfeit so I bought a new Auber PID. I also had to clean the pot of questionable alloy so I tore it down, removed the thermostat and replaced the strain relief on the power cord. I was able to run a pot full before trees came down and I had to work, not one drip but we'll see how it goes.

    You can see the spout better on the original Pro Melt than the PM2
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails OldProMelt.jpg  
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    Mal,

    My Pro Melt has not dripped once since it was plugged in for use in January 2011. I generously flux, candle wax and sawdust, and dip out the crud before pouring 3# ingots from 100# propane bottle bottom alloy melts. I do not add WW's or raw material into the 20# pot.

    Considerable flux, candle wax, crayons, and sawdust are added to and crud is removed from the pot as ingots are added for the each 20# pour into molds.

    I have had the Pro Melt spout "go cold" and have used a stick to force it up the spout - but not in a long time. Mostly, now, I use canned heat on the spout. It just doesn't drip.

    Perhaps an estimate of use is also comparable. I have cast a SWAG of less than one thousand pounds of lead alloy through that Pro Melt over 11 years...if I had to go back and add it up from my reloading manual. Maybe that is not a lot.

    Months of 20# pours or nothing. A few months of 50# pours or more. I am a Meat Hunter with property to shoot, kids & family, their friends and mine, handguns for pleasure and self-defense, and do not shoot competitively.
    Last edited by Land Owner; 09-26-2022 at 05:55 PM.
    If it was easy, anybody could do it.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    Thanks Land Owner!

    I got my original Pro Melt USED after all the new ones sold out in that 2+ year waiting period for the Pro Melt 2 to ship. I lost my Lee 4-20s in a fire and was trying to upgrade a little. Another desperate caster sold me this Pro Melt after he found something better. This one had the cord cut and a hammer used on the valve arm. I got a new liner and valve pin, bypassed the non working thermostat with a PID and proceeded to cast all the lead from the ashes of my reloading room. Not a drip! The "house alloy" was smelted outside first but I'm sure there were impurities because some of it stuck to the stainless pot like lead doesn't. The PID was wacky too so when 8 months after I ordered it, my Pro Melt 2 arrived, I jumped on it. Original Valve Pin, New Improved Valve Pin, they both leak several pots full after cleaning. I've been running Rotometals 3.5% Sb Lead with 1+% Tin the last 300+ lbs, the "house alloy" was before the Pro Melt 2, it's not the alloy.

    At some point I will make the old style of valve pin for the Pro Melt 2. Good excuse to get a lathe! I'll also move the electronics away from the pot heat so there's no more Cool Down. That extra 5 pounds of alloy was nice! The Pro Melt 2 is clean now so I have backup if I need and that alone will keep the original Pro Melt working if Murphy still runs things.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  4. #4
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    I'd keep a piece of wire handy to poke up in it no matter which one or spout you use.
    No matter how perfect it fits-- one little speck of dirt or crud on the mating surfaces will let it drip.
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  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy

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    Never left, it's all I have used since I bought in early "90's" GW

  6. #6
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    Walter Laich's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by G W Wade View Post
    Never left, it's all I have used since I bought in early "90's" GW
    +1
    bought mine used, added a flat aluminum shelf and a lid to keep heat in-- https://www.opennrg.com/product/rcbs...t-upgrade-kit/

    by-passed thermostat so I could use home made PID

    ► converted the handle so it would open on pulling down, much, much easier on my twice-repaired rotator cuff shoulder.

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/157294...57667763595628

    Only problem is after casing 500 .45 grain bullets the level of the lead in the pot has dropped
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Should be a ball on the stem and a cone in the pot. A cone-in-cone seal requires perfect alignment. The ball results in a circular seal, regardless of positional errors.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by justindad View Post
    Should be a ball on the stem and a cone in the pot. A cone-in-cone seal requires perfect alignment. The ball results in a circular seal, regardless of positional errors.
    The original Pro Melt valve pin had a straight section about 5/32" in diameter at the tip with a Flat End and a very slightly rounded edge. That edge seals against the cone with more pressure because the contact surface area is reduced. Why they changed it on the Pro Melt 2 is beyond me. I will rebuild the PM2 when I get time. Going to slug the 35 cal today, see if I can find where the accuracy went.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check