ALL bottom pour pots need the spout poked clean with a bent wire shoved up from the bottom at times. This is normal for all bottom pour pots, Saeco, Lyman or Lee. None are exempt. The more balls and bullets you cast, the more often you need to poke the rod up from the bottom.
I have a little 5 pound steel pot (Lee, I think) sitting underneath the spout to catch drips. There is enough room in the 20 pound Lee to cast bulelts above this little pot. An empty sardine can would do the same, but I prefer the higher sides of the little 5 pound pot. I can cast balls or bullets for an hour or more before I stop and empty this little pot and the sprues back into the melt and perhaps clean the spigot with the wire. At times, there will be some dross hinder the plunger rod's movement and lead will drip quickly or dribble from the spigot. Turning the shaft with a screw driver while pushing, moves the dross out of the way and stops the dribbling. I then flux and stirr and scrape the melt and pot to bring the dross to the top. I just let it sit up there where it covers the melt and reduces oxidation and dross buildup.
Dipping is easier for a beginnner. Once mastered, bottom pours cast must faster. The rate of casting is fast enough to allow using several moulds, changing off to a different mould as the one casting becomes too hot & needs to cool some. Other moulds are pre-heating on the ledge of the pot, ready to start casting.
