LEE PRO 4-20 Not Impressed!!!!
- Thread starter gnmontey
- Start date
Midnight Rider
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ......the Vanishing Point .
Like many budget products , Lee is built to meet a certain price point....sometimes you get what you pay for .
digitalblue
CGN Regular
- Location
- GTA unfortunately
Get everything hot and melted down and use a flathead to spin the valve "stem" to seat the valve.
Also, how clean is your lead? I've had issues with dirty lead causing the valve to stick slightly open.
Also, how clean is your lead? I've had issues with dirty lead causing the valve to stick slightly open.
Yup.... did that N times as per the instructions. As soon as I opener her up such that you could actually pour something it refused to stop dripping in the closed position.
The lead batch is very clean.
M
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BattleRife
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- of No Fixed Address
Mine dripped a little when it was new. It doesn't much, if at all, any more.
Potato boy
Regular
- Location
- North of the mountain
Same here, the drip was short lived, the imperfections must have filled, lol
Been using mine for a couple years now and leaks quite a bit of the time. Found that the screws used to attach the rod were threaded in crooked. This made it impossible to put them in straight so I had to replace them with a full length rod right. Had to be careful not to hit the coil inside. This helped quite a bit with added weight screwed to the part with the handle mounted on it. Still leaks occasionally but not as bad. Also used grinding compound on the rod and seat to ensure proper seating.
Haven't cast anything in a few months but mine hasn't leaked accept for the odd drip here and there, i keep a lee ingot mold under it to catch any drips. For the price i knew what i was getting and it works perfectly for me. If i was rich i would certainly look at higher end pots but for now i'm very happy with mine. I started with the lee 10 pounds pot and that drips alot more then the 20 pound pot.
shootist1876
Member
I have the opposite problem.
My Lee pot finally plugged up solidly and nothing comes out.
Despite my best efforts to dislodge whatever is in there, I was unable to and finally gave up.
I removed the handle bail and valve stem and use it with a Lyman "egg" ladle.
It's remains a reliable melter though.
My Lee pot finally plugged up solidly and nothing comes out.
Despite my best efforts to dislodge whatever is in there, I was unable to and finally gave up.
I removed the handle bail and valve stem and use it with a Lyman "egg" ladle.
It's remains a reliable melter though.
That happened to mine once as well. Fixed it by removing the stopper handle, getting the pot hot, pouring out any remaining lead, twisting the stopper with a flathead screw driver, and then removing the stopper with pliers. Poked a wire through the spout hole and cleaned off the stopper on a damp sponge, much the same way you clean the tip of a soldering iron. Reassembled and it worked fine with no drips until I processed some dirty lead.
When these things leak I think it is due to something other than lead getting caught in the spout. I get a hard slag that sticks to the pot and I scrape it off with my skim spoon. I think it's that slag that gets stuck in the spout.
