Is my lee pro 4 20 dying?

Tom

Well-Known Member
Fired up the pot today and it seems different. Normally I set the dial at around 7 to start the melt. Today, I heard it cycling, but had to turn it up to over 8 to get it hot enough to pour.
 

uncle jimbo

Well-Known Member
Not necessarily. Air temp, wind and the type of lead you are melting makes a difference. I know that my lee pot never melts at the same setting all the time. I use a cheap thermometer and how the bullets are casting and look, which is more of a factor to me that what the setting on the pot is.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Tom,

Mine started doing that same thing about 2 weeks ago.
Three days ago, the element went out.
Luckily I had a spare.
Took about 1.5 hours and me quoting a lot of scripture to get that element replaced.

Ben
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
when I first got mine it wouldn't go over 615*
perfect for mixing antimony in the alloy, and fine for ladle casting.
I finally pulled it apart when it wouldn't even get that hot and had to fix the connection to one of the heating elements.
I cleaned the adjustment strip and adjusted it a touch and gave it a go.
it went clear to about 1,000* and I had to re-adjust the strip some to get it down into a more normal range.
 

Walks

Well-Known Member
Raw Antimony ? I thought it needed at least 1000+ degrees to melt antimony.
Or do you mean RotoMetals "Superhard" ?
 

Ian

Notorious member
It isn't really melting, just dissolving into the molten lead. Tin helps it dissolve.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
antimony ore will melt into lead at around 600-625-F.
the trick is to break down the surface tension and patience.
I have done it with marvelux and wax.
 

Maven

Well-Known Member
Fired up the pot today and it seems different. Normally I set the dial at around 7 to start the melt. Today, I heard it cycling, but had to turn it up to over 8 to get it hot enough to pour.

When your Pro 20 does that, it may be that the contact points of the [bimetallic] thermostat need cleaning and possibly bending the lower one down a tad (which increases the temperature). I've done this several times with my Pro 20 and it restores functioning 100%.
 
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