Star luber instructions a tad vague

[96wa6]

It says, "Replace pressure assembly and tighten to suitable pressure."

Can someone tell me what "suitable pressure" means? Screw it down an inch? 2? Halfway? Or so it feels (fill in the blank)?

TIA

 

[Rick]

Will all depend on the lube temp, what lube, heated shop, bullet temp. That's why it only says "suitable pressure". All depends. Tighten the lube pressure until bullets are properly lubed. Some lubes and temperature conditions will require a lube heater.

 

[358156 hp]

Star instructions are often really vague. "Suitable Pressure" only means "until the lube flows freely through the sizer. The silliest part of this is that the lube piston is spring loaded, and regulates the pressure anyway. I usually just tighten the plunger a few turns past the point I can feel resistance from the spring, then just visually inspect the bullets as they come out to make sure the grooves are filled. You can usually tell when air is in the lube system because the bullets often make a popping sound as they come out of the sizer from the release of trapped, compressed air. And like Rick said, hard lubes still need heat, so if you're not getting proper lube flow, check that potential situation out before getting frustrated.

 

[96wa6]

Thanks all. I get it.

Screw it down a few turns past when I feel spring pressure and see if I get flow, lube a couple to see if it's enough flow. If so, go. If not, add pressure.

Only doing pistol slugs for now.

Gonna use Glen's Black poured in, which I read is pretty soft, but I have a heater attached, just in case.

 

[Brad]

Be careful with the heater. A little heat goes one hell of a long way. I can assure you that some lubes go from soft to molten in a heartbeat, that leads to messy bullets, bench, floor, and you.

 

[JonB]

" Screw it down a few turns past when I feel spring pressure and see if I get flow "

That is what I do with a soft lube like SL68B, no heat needed.
My other Star has Carnuba Red, that needs about 5 turns plus the heater.

 

[96wa6]

Brad:

Thanks for the warning.

It was very long ago that I started with cast bullets and lubing and never got into it too far before life intervened. But I do remember turning up the heater and creating a giant red puddle mess ...

 

[fiver]

and to make life even more miserable, over heated ceresin type lubes will just pump themselves full of air bubbles.
then leak out of any pore they can make for themselves before turning into a solid cool whip type consistency that won't fill a lube groove for love nor money.
not that big of a deal if you catch it early and let it solidify, get it all aired up [shrug] and you might as well melt it all out of the machine and start over.

shall we talk about over heating micro wax lubes?... LOL.