UPDATE 01-21-2019 CUSTOM BAND IS INSTALLED AND WORKING:
CUSTOM HEATER BANDS FOR THE MASTER CASTER ARE DONE. IF YOU WANT ONE READ BELOW.
After several months of work, waiting for the order to be produced and then testing it a couple of times before commenting, I have now installed and tested the new heater band from Tempco and put a couple of casting sessions on it. It works great! The extra wattage makes the recovery time when adding lead substantially better than the stock band. Less likely to freeze the spout and you can add enough lead to gain ground on what is in the pot with much less management.
Installation is almost identical to the original band, the only difference is that the wires come out near the thermostat box opening which makes things easier to rewire. The connections to the band itself are way more robust. Wiring and overall design are identical to the original type of band:
120/240 wiring (series or parallel so it works with any MC, same as original)
1600W (800W x 800W, 100 more per side than original)
12" Wire leads (way more than enough)
Band internal diameter: 5.590" (The band was made for the exact diameter of my pot, they should all be the same but ALWAYS CHECK YOURS. It needs to be +/- no more than .25" absolute max.)
The part number if anyone wants to contact TEMPCO to order one or more is:
MPP04139
I'm giving this work away freely to the entire cast boolit community as a thank you for everything I've gotten from it over the years. I have no desire to resell these heater bands. Tempco can make them as needed for us. And by the way, their sales and engineering people were fantastic and great to work with. I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone who needs a custom heater band solution.
Magma is also welcome to this part number if they would like to upgrade their machines. I'd only ask that they let me know if they decide to try them.
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ORIGINAL POST FOR REFERENCE:
Has anyone found a good alternate source for a heater band that fits a Master Caster pot? Mine and a friends both died on nearly new MCs from about a year ago with only a few casting sessions and since Magma isn't going to warranty them it would be great to get a different brand or better heat band. My old MC is still working perfectly after many years and untold numbers of boolits made.
Magma is out of stock of their own heat bands with more coming in... "soon" and they will want $140+$20 shipping for them.
Recommendations? Has anyone replaced their with something else? Mine is 220v and my friend's is 110v but it looks like many of the bands I've seen in parts catalogs are dual wiring.
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