How do you clean your electric alloy pot?

[BrassFerret]

Hello All
I have looked on the forums but maybe not as well as I should... How should I go about cleaning my SEACO electric pot? Is it necessary to do this once in awhile?

Thanks in advance!

[lotech]

Scrub with a brass or steel bristle brush. Do it outside, any dust raised in the process is not something to breathe.

[osteodoc08]

Some will use a brass brush. Be sure to wear a mask! I personally drain mine down as far as I can, scrub with a brass cleaning brush and remove all the junk. Remove the left over melted lead. I will then melt down another clean ingot and stir and clean with beeswax.

remember, using known clean alloy and only using wax (I like beeswax) will keep your pot healthy almost indefinitely. DO NOT SMELT OR FLUX IN YOUR POT. Use a seperate pot and all the nasties will stay out I your melt pot.

Paint stick stirs also are good for scraping the sides and bottom. Make sure they are DRY.

[Cmm_3940]

What is this 'clean' you speak of?

[BrassFerret]

Well, before I got more educated I did melt down WW to cast in to ingots, and the pot is a hand me down from a friend who stopped shooting. It must be pretty old and it has this crusty grey layer on the sides. I also flux my my 'casting melt' whenever a sludgy layer forms on the top of the melt, say after a half-hour after starting to cast...

[sghart3578]

About once a year I empty out all of the lead from my Lee bottom pour 4-20. I then fill with water about 2/3's. I turn on the pot and wait for it to boil. While it boils I scrub the sides with a new brass brush from Harbor Freight Tools (very cheap). When I think it is clean enough I dump it out and turn it off, letting it dry thoroughly.

I then add clean alloy and start another year's worth of casting. I should note that I occasionally use a small nail in some vice grips to clean the spout from the bottom when there is lead in the pot.

These days I flux my allow in a separate pot two or three times before adding it to my casting pot. This goes a long way towards keeping things flowing.

[robg]

one of the guys in my club cleaned his,never worked again.never cleaned mine in 15years it still works.

[merlin101]

What is this 'clean' you speak of?
I was wondering the same thing.

[leebuilder]

Plus one on clean alloy in your electric pot. Realy cuts down on the crud, i mean nasty crud. Use wood to scrap the sides before it cools down and shake out the crud is all i do. There is no avoiding it, just manage to reduce the amount. Hate to use a brush that dust is toxic.

[Mk42gunner]

What is this 'clean' you speak of?


I was wondering the same thing.

Me too. I brought both the new Lee 4-20 and the new to me RCBS Promelt home and filled them with clean alloy. I haven't seen the bottom of the pots in years.

Robert

[Le Loup Solitaire]

If you flux regularly and scrape the sides of the pot regularly as well you will diminish the buildup of crud, but periodically it is necessary to drain the pot and go after the accumulation of oxides and dirt that gathers along the bottom as well as the lower sides. I use a dremel tool and a small wire brush to get rid of the buildup. Don't breathe the dust. Unless you do this periodic cleaning the junky stuff will work its way into your valve and cause leaking problems.My bottom pour is a Saeco and I have kept it in good shape for years. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. LLS

[fredj338]

I've only cleaned a bp casting pot once in 30yrs, that was from zinc contamination. I never run my bp pots below 1/4 full, never smelt in them either. This keeps the spout free of dross, my pots don't leak, including the 2 lee.

[pworley1]

I have three pots, one is over 40 years old, none have ever been cleaned.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'd clean the pot when it's needed.

Last September, I posted about just such an instance.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?42865-How-to-clean-the-pot&p=2942588&viewfull=1#post2942588 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?42865-How-to-clean-the-pot&p=2942588&viewfull=1#post2942588)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

also, here is a great sticky, that is filled with links.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?50147-this-old-pot

[Geezer in NH]

100,000+ RB when I shot BP comp and now for RB and Boolits and never have cleaned the pot.

[dudel]

If you put clean lead/ingots in the pot, what's there to clean? If the sides get a bit rusty, I use a paint stick to scrape the sides when the pot has melted alloy. Any dirt comes to the top and scooped off.

[JohnH]

It's never even ocurred to me to clean the pot. Are you guys sure you ain't talkin' 'bout a slow cooker???

[Beagle333]

I never clean mine. I just add more ingots and occasionally more cat litter. (sometimes I spoon out the dust)

[Frank46]

I clean outside in the backyard. Use a mask as you do not want to inhale the dust. I have enough lung problems. I use the el cheapo wire wheels from lowes or home depot in a drill. 3" diameter and for the bottom the twisted wire ones used for cleaning rust. Both work great. Frank

[Handloader109]

Menoclean

[BrassFerret]

Thanks for all of your reply's! But it does not matter now, we had a very bad electrical storm here over the weekend and one of the 'appliances' that got hit by lightning was my trusty SAECO pot!!! It is truly gone! Now I need to go out and replace it...not many choices here in SA. I am leaning towards the Lyman Big Dipper as I prefer ladle casting...

Thanks again for eveyone's replys........much appreciated!