BJBarron Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 I got a questio. I just got a Lee mealting pot that is uaed and has lead in it already. I plugged it up to uae it when the lead got to temp and melted the spout started leaking not bad but a drop every 2 seconds or so. Any idea what is wrog and how I could fix it. It's the one the has a lever on the side and a rod in rhe pot to stop the flow of lead. Thanks BJ Barron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 BJBarron, All bottom pour pots will leak at some time. Usually when they start to heat up from a cold start. I have 3 of them and they all do that. So when you plug it in, I would watch to make sure you don't have a stream flowing. If it starts to drip, take a screwdriver and stick it in the slot at the top of the plunger. Gently turn it one way or the other while pushing the plunger down slightly, and it will usually stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Sometimes they get enough stuff built up that they won't stop dripping. Mine got that way yesterday. When i finished making my jig heads, I empitied out all of the lead. Then I took a flat screwdriver and scraped off all of the gunk on the sides and bottom. I removed the plunger and cleaned it really well. I cleaned out the sides and bottom with a wire brush on a drill, then I used a very small drill bit and by hand cleaned out the pour hole. I sprayed everything with WD-40 and wiped it down, then I refilled it with lead and fluxed the lead. This process usually holds me for close to a year till it needs a repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJBarron Posted September 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 Thanks guys. I'll give it a try after work today. I'll let yall know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyp Posted September 22, 2012 Report Share Posted September 22, 2012 Nature of the beast with bottom pour pots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted September 22, 2012 Report Share Posted September 22, 2012 This problem is why you spend a few dollars on a lee ingot mold! When I turn mine on I put the mold under the spout and let it drip, after a few pouring sessions I end up with 1lb and 1/2lb lead ingots to add to the pot instead of the lead ending up on my bench and then ending up in the slag pile. The ingot mold is also great for making alloys, melt pure lead in the pot and then make ingots until empty and then melt all wheel weight lead and do the same thing and just make sure you label the box or where ever you store your lead so you know which ingots are which, this allows to to put in precise amounts of different types of lead to make a harder jig or spinnerbait. For football head jigs I put seven pounds of wheel weight lead in to the pot along with 3 pounds of pure lead, what I get is an alloy that pours great but makes jigs that are slightly harder so they don't dent when they hit rocks constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cz75b Posted September 26, 2012 Report Share Posted September 26, 2012 Lee pots require disassembly and cleaning every once in awhile. One trick is to spray mold release on the rod tip, the entire rod actually and it keeps it cleaner, longer. Only feeding the pot clean ingoted lead alloy helps too. Crud gets trapped in the hole and gives you the drip. The screwdriver technique mentioned works most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WidowMaker Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 I always put a little bit of oil on the bottom deck to keep the lead from sticking and place a two or three inch section of card board toilet paper tube on the deck and let the card board act as a splash guard so the hot lead doesnt splash when it drips. When there is too much lead build up i throw card board and all into the pot and let it burn and melt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbrinlee Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 I had a problem with this yesterday. What I found was that I was running the pot too hot. I took the pot up to 6 on the temperature and ran a paper clip into the spout till it was clean and I got a good stream out the bottom. I then dropped the pot temp down to 4 and let it rest a few minutes. When the temperature was hotter I was getting the drip and once the lead cooled down it quit dripping. It would appear that the temperature caused a viscosity problem and allowed it to leak around the stopper in the bottom. Or at least that is my conjecture at the moment. Hope that helps. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmayes Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 I had a problem with this yesterday. What I found was that I was running the pot too hot. I took the pot up to 6 on the temperature and ran a paper clip into the spout till it was clean and I got a good stream out the bottom. I then dropped the pot temp down to 4 and let it rest a few minutes. When the temperature was hotter I was getting the drip and once the lead cooled down it quit dripping. It would appear that the temperature caused a viscosity problem and allowed it to leak around the stopper in the bottom. Or at least that is my conjecture at the moment. Hope that helps. Tony Hey Tony, when you turned your pot down to 4, did that make your lead to cool to pour? I have never poured on less than 6 or 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbrinlee Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 It pored fine for me. I ran about 70 1/32 crappie jigs before I had an issue again (think the lead was getting low also). Guys' I am not saying I'm right about this... just trying to explain what I did and trying to fit the observations with the results. If someone else runs some, let me know. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbrinlee Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 And by the way... 6 is usually where I poor also. I usually just live with the drip. This time the pot was new and my dad was running the jigs when it stopped. So I took some time out to help him get it back up and running. I use the higher end model of the Lee Pot and dad bought a slightly cheaper version to replace the Lee Pot he has had for the last 30 years. Let me know if it helps... I am really curious if this is a fix or not. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) Tony, I'm surprised you are not getting incomplete pours. #4 seems low to me where the lead will not pour. You could be getting extra heat from the initial #7 setting you had as it starts to cool down. I would bet if you start your pot up from a cold start on #4 and keep it there you will be running into problems. Let us know your results. I can tell you that bismuth will be good at #5 however bismuth has a lower melting temp than lead. Edited October 5, 2012 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbrinlee Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 you are probably right on the temp. We haven't ran any more since then. We molded about a 100 total then quit. We've been tying jigs ever since then. It takes a lot of jigs for us to get through crappie season. I now have plenty of time to tie jigs since the Ranger collapsed. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkvnmtr Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 I have a pot that when it was shipped to Mexico it was kind of twisted and the fitting where led comes out was loose. Before I realized what was happening I had lead insidebetween the cover and the pot. I had to take it apart twice to get it working correctly. The bottom screw that holds the rod guide now does not hold that good. When it gets loose it startes to leak. When I tighten it up it stops for a while. It is a bit of a problem but the shipping back from here and a new one to me costa as much as the pot so I just keep using it. My point is check the screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
