Lee turret press problems....

saskgunowner101

saskgunowner101

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Well, my turret press finally gave up on me and won't rotate itself anymore. For awhile it had a sort of dragging feeling and then it kept falling short of where it needed to be.

I tightened up the screw a touch that resides in the black plastic clamp that goes around the ram and it seemed to work....then yesterday it quit altogether. When I took off the plastic clamp all I can find for guts is a square plastic piece.

Anyways, what's a guy to do?? Any easy fixes for this?? What part might I have screwed up.:redface: Thanks in advance.
 
Sometimes lee gives you replacment parts right in the press kit... if not call them or email and explain the press is broken maybe if your nice they will send you free replacement parts.
 
Replace that little plastic piece and clean all those parts. Put a little 10w30 on your index rod and keep it clean. Sometimes some dirt or powder will cause a dragging feeling when it gets into those plastic pieces.

I usually quickly wipe any built up goop on the rod every so often and quickly wipe with a patch with some 10w30 on it.

There are some parts that will wear out, like with any moving machine/tool/etc. Keep a few extra of these small cheap parts on hand. They are cheap and wear out because they are designed to break before any more expensive parts break.

My turret runs great but I keep breaking the return spring in the Safety Prime attachment. :(
 
sounds like the square rachet is gone- tf3567-that's INSIDE the auto index clamp- probably made of nylon- there were 3 with the old 3 hole- what has happened is that the collar that slides the ratchet on the index rod has become enlarged( they all do with time) and will no longer turn the rod- until you get one, take off the index rod assy( ie undi the big screw that holds it to the ram) and rotate theturret manually- that's what a guy is to do
 
I replace the square rachet every 9 months or so, at .50cents a piece it's worth it. Also a small amount of silicone lube on the plate and on the indexing rod help. After 2 years I replaced the plastic collar that the rachet lives in.
 
that's roughly the same as the 3 hole- 3/150 otc- but the other halc og the ratchet i have is pot metal
 
t-star said:
sounds like the square rachet is gone- tf3567-that's INSIDE the auto index clamp- probably made of nylon- there were 3 with the old 3 hole- what has happened is that the collar that slides the ratchet on the index rod has become enlarged( they all do with time) and will no longer turn the rod- until you get one, take off the index rod assy( ie undi the big screw that holds it to the ram) and rotate theturret manually- that's what a guy is to do
Click to expand...

I might have a problem then....I only have one......time to look in the primer dump underneath. I'm already rotating the press manually:( ....talk about a slow production run. Thanks for all the input. I'll have to sob story to Lee and see what happens.
 
Check the turret casting!

saskgunowner101 said:
Well, my turret press finally gave up on me and won't rotate itself anymore. For awhile it had a sort of dragging feeling and then it kept falling short of where it needed to be.

I tightened up the screw a touch that resides in the black plastic clamp that goes around the ram and it seemed to work....then yesterday it quit altogether. When I took off the plastic clamp all I can find for guts is a square plastic piece.

Anyways, what's a guy to do?? Any easy fixes for this?? What part might I have screwed up.:redface: Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Oh Boy! I had the same problem last month. Went through the usual recommendations and replaced the plastic collar and the little square piece, only to have it get stretched out of shape again (glad i bought a 6 pack of em).
Check out this vid from the Lee website:

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/video.html

click on "reloading process demonstrated"
Notice the noise of the 1/4" shaft dropping after each cycle???? it has to drop free or the whole rig binds up. so I checked the casting of the turret I had just got and the square nut at the top of the turret shaft was binding in the casting, NOT ALLOWING IT TO DROP FREELY. I got the dremell tool out and just gave the inside of the casting a little ream job and 5 minutes later the press worked well. I have just bought my third turret for another set of dies and it needed touching up as well for the nut at the head of the shaft to drop freely.
I sure hope this is the problem: it took me two days of farting around and deliberating. The clue was in the video and that weird little clanging sound of the shaft dropping.
 
Make your own parts

I just broke mine too. It turns out the clamp was too tight. It actually has to be a little loose to work properly. What I did since I didn't have a spare was got a piece of lexan and chopped it into cubes. Then I drilled a hole in it and filed it square. Test the ratchet in the clamp and make sure it goes into the indexing slots and lube it. The lexan is thicker and stronger than the original ratchet and has a better feel as well.......should lee hire me or what?!?...;)
 
Can I borrow it? promise i won't break it.:) Just a joke. I had a problem with mine and it wouldn't index properly. The ballbearing in the top head was stuck out. It gets aluminum filings in it. The head should have a coat of oil when using it. Mine is a 4 hole and the ball cannot be serviced but the 3 hole can. Therfore i had to replace it. Thats what the dealer did for me.
 
mine wouldn't index and it was the small square black plastic nut.the kit came with a spare so i replaced it and it worked fine afterwards.
gotta get me some more of those parts...they're kinda cheap(the part not the press)...
 
Had a similar problem with ratchets recently

After speaking with Lee help person , we determined that some ratchets

seem to be a little soft and deform instead of holding their shape

Lee sent out some new ratchets and they worked perfectly.

Seems like they may have some batch problems with the ratchets
 
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