From: none@none.com99   
      
   On 10/12/2025 8:26 PM, Snag wrote:   
   >    Hey Bob , what do you know about Lyman model 61 bottom pour lead   
   > pots ? I scored one at a yard sale last Friday for IIRC 30 bucks - older   
   > unit I think because it has the cast iron base  . The mica at the power   
   > plug is destroyed but I managed a temporary fix for testing . It heats   
   > and melts the lead , but it dribbles . Is there a recommended way to   
   > clean up the valve area to stop that dribble ? This unit is going to   
   > make it viable for me to cast with the aim to sell a few bullets/balls   
   > to friends and neighbors . Not for profit but more to enable purchase of   
   > more casting supplies for whatever comes down the road ahead .  .   
      
   Lead oxides build up in pots over time.  I believe the steel also scales   
   up under the extended time at temperature.  At higher temperatures its   
   more reactive.  I do not have a Lyman bottom pour pot, but I have an   
   RCBS ProMelt 20lb bottom pour pot and a Lee 10lb pot bottom pour pot.   
   Its almost impossible to stop the dribble.  I just put a bar mold or a   
   catch pan under the spout to catch the drips.  After a partial   
   disassemble and cleaning of scale, oxides, and whatever else is there   
   the dribble is typically very little or nothing for a little while, but   
   it comes back.  Now I usually only clean my bottom pour lead pots when   
   they stop flowing as well and it affects the quality of my castings.   
      
   I've seen guys on tackle groups swear up one side and down the other all   
   you have to do is clean it, or theirs never drips, but there is somebody   
   who never has that problem or who's claimed solution fixed it forever.   
   Like the guy who's racing pad bass boat never chine walks or even hints   
   at chine walk at any speed from 0 to 200mph, and he hits those speeds   
   with a bigger boat and a smaller motor than anybody else.  LOL.   
      
   P.S.  I had a bass boat that didn't chine walk at any speed, but it was   
   a twin tunnel.  Not a common racing pad design.  It ran like it was on   
   rails.   
      
   Anyway, depending on who you believe it might be possible to reduce the   
   or eliminate the drip, but it might be easier to just accommodate it.   
      
   A long time ago before I switched over the the RCBS ProMelt pot for my   
   primary test melter I did reduce the drip on one of my Lee pots by   
   increasing the weight on the lever arm that closed the valve.  It was   
   not 100%.  It was just better.   
      
   For larger castings I don't bother with any of my electric melters.  I   
   use a propane turbo burner, and a cast iron pot I found somewhere that   
   has a pour spout.   
      
   --   
   Bob La Londe   
   CNC Molds N Stuff   
      
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