First attempt at making ingots a bust

[Bo1]

Apparently my lead from the indoor range has too much junk (jackets) in it.
I tried for an hour and a half to melt on a electric burner, with no luck. Then I moved it over to my propane burner. With it wide open for two and a half hours, I only had about an inch of molten lead under the 6 inches of non-melted stuff. Then ran out of propane. I'm guessing that not enough lead is getting to the bottom of the pot to melt.
May melt some WW in the morning to get more molten lead in the bottom of the cast iron pot, then slowly add all of the splintered stuff from the range.
May also try to borrow a torch from my neighbor to add some heat to the top as well.
Any other ideas?

[R.M.]

My guess is you need a bigger burner, or a smaller pot. Range lead is all I use, and have never had a problem.

[snuffy]

Any other ideas?

Yup, more heat. Depending on outdoor temp and size of the pot, you need a minimum of 20,000 BTU to melt scrap lead. It's not so much the max temp as it is volume. A lot of heat for a short time or a little for a long time.

It's winter time, up here in the frozen tundra, even with my turkey fryer at 40,000 BTU, I would not consider trying the smelt outside right now. It'll get down to the mid teens tonight, might make 20 tomorrow. Add some wind to that, I'd barely be able to melt lead in this;
58333

[Bo1]

My burner is a 40,000 btu, and the pot is a cast iron Dutch oven (sort of) about 14 inches across, and about 10 inches deep.

[nhrifle]

When I have run into that problem, I just light the Bernzomatic torch and heat them from the top down. Does the trick every time.

[Bo1]

On second thought, maybe it is my burner. It's not a turkey fryer burner, it's a fish cooker burner like the ones you get a cabelas.

[snuffy]

My burner is a 40,000 btu, and the pot is a cast iron Dutch oven (sort of) about 14 inches across, and about 10 inches deep.

That should be plenty of heat. What was the temp, I see you're from LA, it shouldn't be to darn cold. Was there a lot of wind?

That dutch oven is about the same size as mine. It should work better. If it was windy, baffles or a skirt around the pot to concentrate the heat helps efficiency.

[Hounddog]

About 80% of all my lead is from range scrap so I know how tough it is to melt down. The two things I have found that help speed me up is to start with a few lbs of lead before I put all the scrap on top. I normally toss in a few ingots from a previous batch. Second, is to really turn over the scrap in the pot. Once the scrap hits the liquid lead they melt real quick. I use a steel prybar to mix the scrap and get the empty jackets to the top to skim off. It takes a bit of arm work but turning over the scrap helped to speed me up a ton.

[220swiftfn]

I'm wondering if you're getting choked by a low pressure regulator.........


Dan

[10x]

instant heat
google tiger torch..

[RayinNH]

It does make it easier to have molten lead at the bottom. When adding to the pot add 1-1 1/2" of material. Let it melt then skim off the jackets and dirt. If you add too much a once it becomes difficult to turn over and expose the material to the molten lead on the bottom of the pot...Ray

[2ridgebacks]

Was it windy at all? That really slows down my melt. You need still air in my experience. Anything that you can do to raise the temp of the lead for free (think warmer air temps in general) is a bonus.

[crawfobj]

I usually make an aluminum foil wind block if its too windy. Makes a dramatic difference in the pot temp.

[mdi]

When I have run into that problem, I just light the Bernzomatic torch and heat them from the top down. Does the trick every time.

Me too. Sometimes the pot needs a little head start...

[Willbird]

About 80% of all my lead is from range scrap so I know how tough it is to melt down. The two things I have found that help speed me up is to start with a few lbs of lead before I put all the scrap on top. I normally toss in a few ingots from a previous batch. Second, is to really turn over the scrap in the pot. Once the scrap hits the liquid lead they melt real quick. I use a steel prybar to mix the scrap and get the empty jackets to the top to skim off. It takes a bit of arm work but turning over the scrap helped to speed me up a ton.

The jackets are 80 percent copper 20 percent zinc for the most part, have you ever had the alloy pick up any zinc from the jackets ??

Bill

[Bo1]

Thanks for all of the info, and advice. Started again this morning. Took all of the junk off of the top, and everything melted well. Added my wheel weights to molten led, and got a nice batch of ingots. Can't wait to get some casting stuff, and start making boolits!!!

[snuffy]

Another thing if your pot has a cover, using it in windy, or low outdoor temps can save a lot of heat loss from the surface. It can also save your bacon if there's a live round in there, the explosion can scatter a lot of hot particles and molten lead.

I bought a harbor freight weed burner. Forgot exactly how much but about 30 bucks? It hooks up to a 20 pound tank, so you'd need two tanks to use it while the main burner is in use. It'll shoot quite a flame, playing it on the top of the heap nearly doubles the heat and cuts the time in half.

Looked it up, on sale now for $27.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-with-push-button-igniter-91037.html

One caution, playing a bare propane flame on exposed lead CAN generate lead fumes, "IF" held on the lead after it starts to melt.

The trick to melting large quantities of scrap lead is to get the whole pot hot from top to bottom. Then the lead inside the pot can come up to melting temp. Forgive the real basic thinking, BUT even though you may know this, there might be others reading this that are thinking about doing some recycling of scrap lead.

The tip given above is a good one, I call it "contact lead" Molten lead in contact with the bottom of the pot. In my smelting set-up above, I leave about 1.5-2" of lead in the bottom. It's real hard to get much more than that out with a ladle anyway. BUT, be careful when dumping more scrap lead into molten lead, if there's any water in it that gets pushed under the surface of the melted lead, you'll get a steam explosion, nicknamed "a visit from the tinsel fairy"

[DLCTEX]

I made a wind deflector with galvanized flashing and it really helps hold the heat to the pot. Just a circle around the burner and as high as the sides of the pot.

[Hounddog]

The jackets are 80 percent copper 20 percent zinc for the most part, have you ever had the alloy pick up any zinc from the jackets ??

Bill

I haven't noticed any transfer of zinc from the jackets to the lead melt and am able to remove the jackets intact. I use a big ladle with holes in it to skim and scoop off all the jackets.

[RayinNH]

I'm willing to bet those zinc jackets are actually aluminum...Ray

[jetsfan-24]

what worked well for me when i smelt is i cut a 55 gallon durm off about 16 inchs for the top and drilled holes in it and put a handle on it in the center to lift with makes a real nice wind screen and it saved alot of propane