How to prevent rust?

[MikeS]

Hi All.

I just got a new Lee 4-20 pot. This gave me an opportunity to take apart my Lyman Big Dipper which has been taking a lot longer to heat up than it should. Well, other than the very thick coating of crud on the inside walls of the pot (which with lots of scrubbing I managed to mostly remove), the outside of the pot which is normally covered by the heating element, and the outer housing of the pot assembly had a nice coating of rust on it! I'm guessing that between the rust coating on the outside, and the crud coating on the inside, that's why it took my pot longer than normal to come up to temp. So after soaking in Evapo-rust (I love that stuff!) to remove the rust, and scraping out the crud I now have a mostly clean pot. But the question is: How can I keep rust from forming on the outside of the pot short of disassembling it every so often to soak the pot? Remember I live in So Florida, and leave the pot outside, where rust is a constant problem. I was thinking of giving it a coating of LLA, and letting that dry good before reassembling, but was concerned that it would smoke, or worse when I went to use the pot. I was also thinking of getting some BBQ paint, and painting the outside of the pot (remember what I'm calling the outside of the pot is actually inside the pot assembly when it's put back together), but was again concerned about smoking, or worse when using the pot. Any suggestions?

[Dale53]

MikeS;
There is NO way I would leave an expensive piece of equipment outside. Take it inside when you are finished casting. Problem solved...

I had a utility barn built several years ago to relieve the pressure on my garage. I had a dedicated casting station built inside the far end. It has worked wonderfully well. Nothing rusts inside in spite of the wettest spring in history this year.

Just a thought...

Dale53

[jsizemore]

Big enough ammo can and a bunch of silica packets.

[MikeS]

Well, it's not exactly 'out in the elements', but rather under a roof, but still not inside in an air conditioned environment. Down here it doesn't really matter if it's outside, in a trunk, or even in a shed, if it's not in Air Conditioning, it's all the same, it will rust!

Unfortunately I don't live in my own place, but rather I live in my mother's house, so I have to live by her rules, and the lead pot(s) are not something she wants in HER house! Luckily neither pot is very expensive, so if I can get a couple of years out of each, I'll be happy. Heck, I get grief from her about the casting stuff being outside, she's embarrassed that the gardener has to see that horrible stuff I put in her backyard! But then my mother is neurotic, she cleans the house before the cleaning girl comes so the house will be presentable when she gets there! Believe me, if I could afford to live elsewhere I would, but being on disability makes that almost impossible.

And where we live is almost as neurotic as my mother is, I have to keep my motorcycle in the garage, as they're not permitted to be parked in the driveways! You're not allowed to park on the street overnight, the home owners association has people that go around and inspect the homes, and inform you when you must clean your sidewalk, or cut your lawn, or if you have anything stored along side your house that can be seen from the street, etc!! I always piss off the guards, as when I ride my bike I always go around the gates, rather than pay them $35.00 to get the proper gate opener! If you want to change your landscaping you have to submit a proposed layout with the proper fee for them to look at it, etc. I HATE GATED COMMUNITIES!

So for now the lead casting stays in the backyard, the reloading in my bedroom, and the motorcycle in the garage! And my photography is on hold, nowhere for a darkroom here :( (I'm just glad she lets me keep my film & paper in her extra freezer so I'll have it for when I can setup a darkroom again!)

[XWrench3]

you are in a tough spot! that is for sure. i have been to florida, and i know how humid it is there. not fun at all, especially for a northern boy. what you need is a coating, that will withstand the heat, and will not let moisture get to the metal. bbq paint, i believe is pourous, if it is, it will not stop the rust. any normal paint you put on it, will simply burn off. so that leaves you with no easy fixes. many moons ago, we used to use a lot of kal guard coatings (motorcycle industry). if i remember correctly, they (back then) had a coating that required heat to cure, and afterwards, it created a hard, impervious friction reducing coating. it was called "gear saver", if i remember correctly. i know that kal gard has turned a lot of its efforts towards the firearm businesses. i would look them up online ( www.kalgard.com ), and give them a call, and explain you situation. i would be willing to bet they would have a soloution for you. if i remember right, there was SOME smoke while their product cured, but after that, it was a done deal. if that is the case, you could run a heavy extention cord out into the yard for an hour or so while the "baking" was being accomplished. and then you would be all set. give them a call, they were always very helpfull to us back in the day.

[Gtek]

Putting your situation off to the side. Phosphoric Acid brand name (OSPHO) hardware store, rubber gloves, plastic container, stainless toothbrush, paper towels. Put OSPHO in squirt bottle, spray, scrub, spray, scrub. Do not let dry on surface. It will turn a nice dull gray with a little clouding when done. Sandblast then OSPHO is the best way, but scrubbing will get you close. It will last a long time, does not seem affected by heat. I am down here in FL and been dealing with it for 50 years, at least we do not need to shovel it out of the driveway! Gtek

[MikeS]

Putting your situation off to the side. Phosphoric Acid brand name (OSPHO) hardware store, rubber gloves, plastic container, stainless toothbrush, paper towels. Put OSPHO in squirt bottle, spray, scrub, spray, scrub. Do not let dry on surface. It will turn a nice dull gray with a little clouding when done. Sandblast then OSPHO is the best way, but scrubbing will get you close. It will last a long time, does not seem affected by heat. I am down here in FL and been dealing with it for 50 years, at least we do not need to shovel it out of the driveway! Gtek

I was under the impression that Ospho was simply a rust remover. Are you saying that it will inhibit rust as well? I've already removed the rust using Evapo-rust, so could I just give the pot a couple of coats of Ospho to keep it rust free?

[plainsman456]

You mean there is not a small spot in the garage that you could store the pot?

[Gtek]

Iron Oxide to Iron Phosphate (inert), Their instructions is to spray on and leave, not good for me. Leaves to much crud, black stuff. I have adapted the way I desrcibed after years of building airboats and restoring automobiles. Gtek

[MikeS]

You mean there is not a small spot in the garage that you could store the pot?

Oh, I'm sure I could find a small spot in there. The problem is that if it's in there it's subject to others messing with it, moving it from here to there (my daughter, mother, the handyman, etc.) and being in the garage isn't any better than being in the backyard as far as rust is concerned, so I might as well leave it where it is. If the garage was airconditioned, that would be another story.

[CATS]

Is there space for a upright metal locker in the garage? Shelves and a key lock, which would be out of sight and thus out of mind.

[MikeS]

You mean there is not a small spot in the garage that you could store the pot?

I'm accused of taking up too much space in there as it is! We have a 3 car garage, I have a motorcycle, a motorscooter, a vibratory tumbler, and 4 storage tubs (the small ones that Walmart sells for $5.00 ea). There is no room for any cars in the garage, and I get blamed for that! Besides the casting stuff is better off in the backyard as there's really no advantage to keeping it in the garage, and it would make more work for me, as I would have to carry it around the house to get to the garage which involves going thru 2 locked gates, and if I was going to do that I would have to take everything in/out each time, pot, lead, board to protect table, etc. And as I said before, the pot would rust just as quickly in the garage as it will in the backyard, so there's no real gain.