Jig Man Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 As some of you know I have been having issues with my new one. It was replaced and I have had the same issues (on and off lead stopping flowing, etc). One of their engineers worked with one and called me with his results. He said the cycling on and off was normal (not mentioned in the sparse manual). He suggested higher temps would solve my problem. I did a test yesterday making 1/8 oz Midwest Finesse Jig heads with the temp set on 850°. I waited 'till it shut off and started pouring. It never faltered. With it being 94° I decided to do a second test this am while it is only 72°. I did the same pouring with it set on 750°. It was pouring just fine while shut off. When it kicked back on it was still pouring for maybe 30 seconds then the lead stopped coming out. In a couple of minutes it was pouring again. It seems to me that it will only operate satisfactorily on or close to the high setting. My question to you guys is, "Is this the way you operate yours? If not please elaborate. I'm going to have to make a decision as to whether or not to keep or return it. Thanks in advance for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 For soft lead I set the temp @ 750 degrees.For harder lead w/ antimony .I use a hand pour ,small pot which raises the temp of the harder lead to 900 degrees. BTW Jig man- what is your lead source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 I use mine at 750 for easy pours and crank it to max for hard pours. At 650 it doesn't work. I mean it gets hot, but its not enough. I either run pure lead or pure lead with 10% Roto hard alloy depending on the casting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 750 for me too, and like Smallmouthaholic, I have a different pot for hard lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted June 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 OK thanks a bunch. I did another run at 800° and it worked just fine. I guess I will keep it and get to work on that 1000 Ned heads waiting to be poured. 4 hours ago, smallmouthaholic said: BTW Jig man- what is your lead source? This is printer's lead so it has antimony or some other alloy in it. If someone at RCBS would have put a paragraph or at least a good sentence in the directions about coming on and off and maybe needing a higher heat setting I don't think I'd have had the issues as I can read the King's English pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 Lino lead can have a BLN rating of 12-22- which is too hard for low temps of 800/850-been there ,done that w/lino lead. You want pure soft lead(BLN 5) from Roto metals for jigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted June 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 I haven't bought lead for over 20 years and don't plan to live long enough to have to buy any more. I have close to 100 # of soft lead from X Ray rooms from hospital remodels. I'm wanting to get rid of this other stuff and it seems to stay working at 800°. I've only got about 50 # more to use up then I can go back to the soft stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallmouthaholic Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 Ah ha- free lead is the culprit but not always the best answer. You can smelt(mix x-ray room lead 75% to 25% lino lead and significantly lower the hardness so it's more workable lower pot temperatures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLT Posted June 22, 2017 Report Share Posted June 22, 2017 750 for good lead, 800 or so for wheel weights. For the 3/8 and below, good lead, anything above that gets a little "bad" lead mixed in to stretch it out. Have to watch using to much "bad" lead, because jigs will not weigh what the mold reads they should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted June 23, 2017 Report Share Posted June 23, 2017 Yep, the lead is the problem, not the pot. I will say this, the hard lead will serve you well with the mold you are using, especially on the smaller sizes. I use a 60/40 mix of soft to hard for just about everything but for football jigs and spinnerbaits I use a 70/30 mix of hard to soft but I use a different pot for those because switching out 20lbs of lead for a dozen spinnerbaits or football jigs just isn't worth it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
