Lee 4-20 melter

tictactician

tictactician

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Victoria, B.C.
Did a search and didn't find much.
Looking for opinions on the Lee 4-20
Let me know what u think of them if you have used one seen one used. You get the idea. Lee bashers that have not used one please contain yourselves.

Thanks,
 
I do like the Lee 4-20.
It has a bottom pour which can leak sometimes.
I had trouble with dirt getting in the spout and had to clean it out; at the same time i also reamed the spout hole and polished it off to stop dripping.
I like the bottom pour but if you prefer ladle pouring you can always clog the spout.
I also like the fact that the pot is set high enough to use with hollow point molds.
The pot holds 20lb of alloy which is nice so you don’t have to keep feeding it, i wish they made a 50lb sometimes though.
The pot does not have a thermostat like some other melting pots but i keep track of the alloy with a lead thermometer and turn the heat up or down as needed during the casting session.
Overall for the amount of money it cost i would say the 4-20 pot is worth it.
Other melters that have a thermostat cost over $200 and if you really want there are drawings on the web on how to install a thermostat on the lee post for a few dollars.
Hope this info helps.
 
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I started out with the 10lb model and burned it out after 25000 bullets. Switched to the Lee pro 4-20 20 lb bottom pour and still going strong. 10000 under it belt so far. I pour everything from 100 grain to 500 grain bullets with it. Presently use it with 25 Lee bullet molds.
 
I've "wore" out 2 10lb'ers over the years. Both leaked most of the time. Bought a 20lb unit this time. Although I haven't used it much (yet) there has been no leakage problems and the increased capacity is great. Always seemed to be adding lead to the little guys.
 
I've been using one for years now, and my only complaint is the aforementioned leaking from the spout. I just clean out the spout from time to time, and no problems. I really like the capacity; 20 pounds of lead will last a while longer than 10 pounds.
 
I have to echo what others have said. For the price it is a great pot. The bottom pour works well as long as it is kept clean, if not it leaks like crazy. Keep a few paper clips bent into an L shape for cleaning during casting and a slot screwdriver handy for adjusting the spout when it starts to leak and you're good to go.

If it wasn't 28C outside I would be out casting with mine!

Cactus
 
I have been using the same one for roughly 10 years now, can even guess how many 1000's of bullets it has cast for me, probably close to 30K... But as a lot of people have said they can leak a bit from time to time... If you use clean lead the leakage issue can be greatly reduce... I now do all my wheel weight melting in a separate bulk pot...
 
I've used a Lee and a Lyman for decades and much prefer the Lee.
No leakage issues what so ever with the Lee, not so with the Lyman.
When it comes to casting the big boolits I would rather use the ladle as opposed to the bottom pour method...
 
I got a 4-20. It has been in use about three years now by myself and three buddies....hundreds, if not thousands of lbs of WW/pure lead/linotype smelted/cleaned and fluxed or melted and poured. It is used for making ingots and bullets.

I used to think it was dirt from raw wheel weights that clogged the nozzle. But think about it....any sand or impurities in the dirty lead is just vaporized, burned away or simply floated away as dross. Flux often using corn kernel sized pieces of candle, stir slowly but thorougly so that residue on the side and bottom are freed up to float.

Anyways, if the nozzle is stubbornly clogged, a paperclip will clear it easily.

It would leak sometimes when it was new, then I/we figured out that the melt temperature must be kept within a certain sweet range, between 6 and 6.5 on my thermostat. Perhaps a tiny nugget of lead that solidified could be preventing the needle valve from seating properly, hence the leak.

You should keep the melt temp hot enough kept the nozzle from clogging as well. When adding ingots, you have to give enough time for the pot to recover to its sweet temp range before pouring, otherwise lead will solidify in the spout. It is better to keep the melt at a high level...always close to the maximum capacity...so that adding 1 or 2 lb ingots will not change the melt temperature appreciably. As well, preheat ingots by placing them on the rim of the pot several minutes before adding to the melt.

Sometimes, to stop a leak or to increase melt flow, you may have to adjust the height of the needle by screwing it up or down as required.

Using the Lee melter successfully is a simple matter of using a little patience and a little technical common sense. Melting lead is not rocket science for gosh sakes.

I highly recommend the Lee 4-20 bottom pour pot.
 
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