Sluggish range lead............

[3006guns]

My oldest son is up for a visit and has taken an interest in casting. He brought along 200+ lbs. of range lead purchased where he lives. We smelted it this morning and all went well. This afternoon the lead was put in my SAECO bottom pour pot along with a few wheel weights, fluxed, and he began casting with his new LEE .45 acp mold.

All went well for about the first 200 boolits, then more lead was added. Suddenly the metal began to turn sluggish. My first thought was that some tin was needed, so I added some 60/40 solder but with no real improvement. Just about that time the spout on the SAECO began plugging and nothing we could do would free it.

We were now reduced to ladleing out of the top and the metal seemed sluggish (like it was cold) even coming out of the ladle.

I loosened the spout adjustment and regained a decent stream of lead, so he kept casting. After awhile he got a tremendous splash...way too much force...so I adjusted the stream down again and suddenly the casting went smoothly again...for awhile.

I just came in from the shop after the spout clogged a second time. What in the heck did we do? All dirt, jacket material, etc. was removed prior to pouring into ingot molds and the lead was fluxed when put into the SAECO pot.

I want the boy to enjoy casting and start it as a lifelong hobby and I hope this doesn't ruin it!

[selmerfan]

Is the SAECO pot losing it's potency? Sounds like cool lead to me.

[edler7]

Perhaps the thermostat is in the early stages of failure...works a while, then doesn't...then works a while....

[Defcon-One]

It sounds like you pot was not up to temp. to me! How long did you give it after adding the new lead before you started casting again? I usually cast at 700 to 750 degrees F.

If you don't have one already, you need a thermometer to monitor the temperature.

[3006guns]

Thermostat is set at 725 and the pot has always worked well. Not to say it couldn't be the pot and I can sure check that out......but I'm suspicious because it always cast well with wheel weights and the new lead is troublesome. To the best of my knowledge the pot is working, but a bad thermostat IS a possiblity.

We waited about ten minutes after putting in new lead, but it was about five pounds.......quite a bit!

At this point I've asked the son to empty the pot as much as he can then we'll dump the remainder into an ingot mold. After it cools I'll check that spout and see what's going on and maybe sandblast the interior, then reseat the rod with some valve grinding compound. The the meter comes out and we'll check a few things "under the hood".

In the meantime, it's back to the gas stove and cast iron pot!:wink:

[MikeS]

I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like the 'new' lead has some zinc in it. When there's a very small amount of zinc in your lead, you might not even notice it for a while, then it will start getting harder to get well filled out boolits, the spout will freeze up, all the problems you mentioned. For some reason when in a bottom pour pot, the zinc tends to collect around the inside of the pour spout.

[WILCO]

Perhaps the thermostat is in the early stages of failure...works a while, then doesn't...then works a while....

That's my thought too. I had an old hotplate do that when I was using it for smelting/casting duty. Bought a new one from Walgreen's. Problem solved.

[3006guns]

I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like the 'new' lead has some zinc in it. When there's a very small amount of zinc in your lead, you might not even notice it for a while, then it will start getting harder to get well filled out boolits, the spout will freeze up, all the problems you mentioned. For some reason when in a bottom pour pot, the zinc tends to collect around the inside of the pour spout.

That was actually my first, horrible thought but there's no "oatmeal" appearance and all the lube grooves filled out sharply. That, plus all the scrap material appeared to be nothing more than the usual backstop "dredgings".

We're going out shooting today, but tomorrow I'll set up my gas pot/ladle and try it again. If the metal behaves itself then it has to be my SAECO at fault. If it turns "sludgy" again it has to be something in the metal. I sure hope not....the poor kid went to a lot of trouble to find lead where he lives and bought over 200lbs.!

Thanks for the help and advice guys!

[Ole]

A thermometer would sure tell you a lot about what's going on.

Do you know anyone locally that could loan you one?

[bumpo628]

That was actually my first, horrible thought but there's no "oatmeal" appearance and all the lube grooves filled out sharply. That, plus all the scrap material appeared to be nothing more than the usual backstop "dredgings".

We're going out shooting today, but tomorrow I'll set up my gas pot/ladle and try it again. If the metal behaves itself then it has to be my SAECO at fault. If it turns "sludgy" again it has to be something in the metal. I sure hope not....the poor kid went to a lot of trouble to find lead where he lives and bought over 200lbs.!

Thanks for the help and advice guys!

Even if it is range lead, it still could have some zinc in it. There are some frangible bullets that contain zinc. If the metal is still behaving sludgy in the gas-heated pot, then you might need to do the sulfur treatment.

[3006guns]

The problems were pretty straightforward and easily solved.

First, the thermostat IS faulty. Turning it reveals tight and loose spots, sometimes so hard to turn you think the knob is going to come off....so it's bad for sure. I checked an older thread and it seems Lee has a replacement that might work. I'll call on that tomorrow.

Second, this poor thing was rather badly treated by its former owner. I emptied the pot when I took possession but I guess I didn't get all the old dirt/crud out and it compacted in the nozzle so hard I had to DRILL it out. Spent some time really getting it clean and that made all the difference. These are great old pots. With a supply of replacement parts they should soldier on forever.

So, no zinc and my son is casting with it right now. I have no idea what the temp is, but the thermostat has it hot enough to flow correctly and all is well in the land of lead. Huzzah!:D

[WILCO]

Glad to hear it's figured out.