How much power (watts) for a lead pot

[boltaction308]

I am building a lead pot that will hold about 50 pounds. Its 6 inch inside diameter and about 6 inch tall. It has 1/4 inch wall thickness and a 1 inch thick base welded in.

The question is how many watts should I put on this. I can get heater bands that are 1000 watts, how many do I need?

Also, should I make it bottom pour or not?


Thanks

[Dave Bob]

2 should be sufficient, Magma uses a 1500 watt band for their 40lb pot.

Why such a thick base?

Bottom pour would be great but its a little more involved.

You going to use a PID?

Dave

[454PB]

It depends on the efficiency of the pot....how well insulated, depth, and diameter. The Lee Pro-4-20 uses 700 watts. Theoretically, if your pot is as efficient, you would need about 1800 watts. In the real world, probably more.

If I were building this, I'd use three 1000 watt elements.

[runfiverun]

magma recommends a 30 amp service for their 40 lb pot, it's not for continuous draw just for start-up.
that's about 3600 watts total available.

[blikseme300]

My experience based on building a number of larger pots has been to apply 30-35Watts/lb and to insulate using Kaowool to improve efficiency. I do recommend bottom pour but that is just my personal preference.