RCBS Pro-Melt

[hornady]

After years of constant fiddling with Lee Lead pots. I finally broke down and bought the RCBS, This thing is light years a head of the Lee pots I have owned. Yes it is 5 times the price of a Lee 4-20, but the $50.00 mail in rebate from RCBS dose take some of the sting out of the price. If you are an occasional caster, and don’t mind the constant inconveniences, that come with the Lee. By all means get the Lee. But the difference between the RCBS and Lee are like Night and Day.

[imashooter2]

So what does it do that the Lee pots don't to justify the cost?

[Recluse]

So what does it do that the Lee pots don't to justify the cost?

It lasts.

For bottom-pour, the ProMelt is definitely superior to the Lee furnaces. It costs more, but you won't have parts falling off the way you do with the Lee pots.

As you may have seen on the Cast Boolits board, I've reached the "point of no return level of disgust" with my Lee Pro 4-20 pot and will be going back to the Pro Melt.

I had the bottom sheet metal screw simply fall out the other night with a pot full of molten alloy. The screw just fell out. While lifting the handle. The result was no way to easily/quickly/safely align the plunger back into the hole, so I had 750F alloy pouring out onto the base, beyond the ingot mold, onto the casting table and onto the floor.

And not a damned thing I could do about it.

The sheet metal screw just fell out.

I called Lee up the next day and screamed for half an hour. They offered to send me a new sheet metal screw.

If you plug up the Lee pots and use them for ladle casting, as I am now doing, no complaints. But if you want a reliable, safe bottom pour pot that you can count on every time you fire it up, you get what you pay for--and you pay little for a Lee pot, and that is exactly what you get.

They're fine while they're working, but when they start giving you problems, best thing to do is either plug them up or throw them away.

--Recluse

[imashooter2]

I'll agree that the RCBS pot seems to be made with a higher grade of fit and finish. At 5 times the cost, it should be. But I don't have parts falling off of my old Lee pots either. I guess it is a Chevy versus Cadillac sort of thing...

[sourdbay]

RCBS is still providing a lifetime warranty on the Promelt! Kinda brings a tear to your eye when someone complains about their Lee pot falling apart. Over 10 years of casting 400-500 pounds of lead a year and no problems. I do completely empty my pot, clean the sides and the needle pin at least once a year. You would be surprised how much "crud" you get sticking to the steel from even the cleanest lead.

[MT1]

What is the best way to clean the crud out of the pot?

[imashooter2]

Not let crud get into it to begin with.

After that, drain, cool, fill with water, heat to boiling and scrub with a wire brush. Drain and repeat.

[hornady]

Over the years I have found the worst thing you can do with any casting furnace is use the commercial low smoke Flux in them, you can use many things to Flux in the electric pots. But these powder fluxes seem to have high sodium contents and promote rust and oxidation in the pot.