Danger with Lee Lead Pot

[plateboater]

Owe three people some pills and walleye heads. Windy today and was trying to get caught up. I was pouring and the spur hole for spot did not shut off. Lead poured out until pot was empty......could have BEEN VERY BAD. I had no choice but to let it pour out. I did not want to get burned. I have always used a wood piece under the pot just for this emergency. I have poured my guess 10K plus jigs from the pot. Will call Lee tomorrow and get replacement and send this one back and see if they can fix for back-up.

View attachment 9

 

[hookup]

Owch - you OK?

Gook thing you have that wood down or you'd be rebuilding your desk top.


I offered to upgrade on of the wife's baking trays and took to old on to set the Lee's on while pouring. When lead splatters or pours the tray catches everything w/ no burn.

 

[slammingjack]

Had that happen to me once, Spooky.... Send mine back to Lee and they fixed it under warranty and got it back in a week. Works better now

 

[plateboater]

I am fine......agree with SCARY! Just will not be able to pour for a bit

 

[Jay Wirth]

Now your bench has extra character ;-) I doubt there is anything wrong with the pot - maybe just some crud in the spout (which is now flushed out)

That happens sometimes when heating up a pot. I always put an ingot mold under the spout when heating - this will catch the spill. If I do get some drips try using a screwdriver to jiggle the screw slot at the top of the spout needle. One final recommendation after using the pot is to empty the melting pot about 1/2 before turning it off.

 

[plateboater]

Not sure and scared the crap out of me Jay.......shipping back!

 

[Kdog]

I keep a tuna fish can to catch drips and an old dog food bowl for skimming, the dog food bowl has been used to catch a runaway pot more than once.

 

[plateboater]

Good call kdog.....I am going to take that idea

 

[LedHed]

pb
Sounds like you leave lead in the pot when your done - then reheat to start up again. What might be happening, while the pot is cooling, is the plunger is contracting, and not seating (check it while the pot cools). So when you fire it up the lower half of lead (where heating element is) melts and pours out. You can push and turn the plunger (be extremely careful) right before that happens. Or you can empty the lead at the end of each pour session. Seems like the older the pot - the more the plunger hangs up...
This is not recommended. I still leave lead in the pot - but stick around while it heats up. When the drips start I use the back end of a (dedicated) spoon to plug the spout until the majority of the lead is melted and I can turn the plunger freely to make sure it seats.

 

[Kdog]

Good call kdog.....I am going to take that idea

The Tuna can holds a couple pounds. The food Bowl would probably hold 30 pounds or more. Mostly I use them to keep things semi neat. I tried a sardine tin to catch mini drips (and its great except hard to just dump drippies back into the pot) but I keep loosing it.

 

[Fatman]

Been using the cookie sheet under the pot for a long time!! and still have a metal cup under the spout. Not having a dedicated pouring area I have to clean my pot after every use so I can put it away, but that's how I've been doing it for 30+ years and it works for me.

Glad you didn't get burned!!!

 

[BucktailJiger]

Most important thing you didn't get burnt !!!

 

[plateboater]

New lead pot from Barlows arrived today!

 

[hookup]

Put it to use

 

[LedHed]

Stay safe!

 

[plateboater]

Gotta get a few jigs out to a couple guys