So...Got the thermometer today....ugggg

[lablover]

Got the thermometer today so promptly fired up the 10LB bottom pur Lyman and it was already set on what I normally cast at....Yea, after the pot got to temperature I threw in the thermometer and bout SH*&T myself. 820 DEG

YIKES, so thats good news that I now know my pot news to be set like to 3 for 700 deg. I had it on 4 to 5 and that gave me 800 deg. So, big question..And fear. How do I know I didn't melt a bunch of zinc? I got my lead from a member here who already smelted it from WW for rough sheets of lead. I re smelted it here and started running it.

Being a total newb I'm in a panic I ruid all my lead that I ran thru the pot so far for my casting....No wonder I could not keep the mold cooler for any period of time

Aghhhhhhhhhhh

[DerekP Houston]

Got the thermometer today so promptly fired up the 10LB bottom pur Lyman and it was already set on what I normally cast at....Yea, after the pot got to temperature I threw in the thermometer and bout SH*&T myself. 820 DEG

YIKES, so thats good news that I now know my pot news to be set like to 3 for 700 deg. I had it on 4 to 5 and that gave me 800 deg. So, big question..And fear. How do I know I didn't melt a bunch of zinc? I got my lead from a member here who already smelted it from WW for rough sheets of lead. I re smelted it here and started running it.

Being a total newb I'm in a panic I ruid all my lead that I ran thru the pot so far for my casting....No wonder I could not keep the mold cooler for any period of time

Aghhhhhhhhhhh

It would look like oatmeal in the pot, not smooth lead. If you bought the lead on here I'm 99.9% sure you'll be absolutely fine. I've forgetten about my pot and left it on before...just wastes electricity and you loose a bit from oxidation. I'd cast another batch and if they fill out fine, blast away!

[Seeker]

I use a thermometer but don't really rely on it for a true temp. I just use it to keep at an even temp. that pours and drops nice boolits.

[centershot]

Buy a P.I.D., you won't regret spending the money. First thing I found when I fired up the pot with mine?........My thermometer was reading 140* LOW!!!

[lablover]

I will say when the pot was set at NUKE temps it sure casted nicer boolits.

So, that being the case I need to get my Mold temps hotter I assume. I had it at 400 isn but now with the pot so low it's casting ugly boolits. I'll raise the mold ten and see how she flies

[Kraschenbirn]

Guess I've been fortunate as my Lyman thermometer seems pretty well calibrated....so long as the probe is, at least, 50% submerged in the melt. Once the level of the pot gets past a certain point, the reading on the thermometer begins to drop. If I'm really trying to 'fine tune', I use a Harbor Freight infrared thermometer to monitor the surface temp of my melt.

Bill

[lablover]

Soooooo HAppy

Had to go cast some more to see if I was loosing my mind. My Mold spoke to me tonight. It likes to be real hot...480 deg and the lead at 750 and it makes the best looking boolits ever!! They look like Jewelry I swear!!!

Woooohoooooooo

Joe

[stubert]

Sounds like you have a brass mold, I have a 4 cav. NOE drilled for a temp. probe and mine likes 450 - 475 deg.

[lablover]

Sounds like you have a brass mold, I have a 4 cav. NOE drilled for a temp. probe and mine likes 450 - 475 deg.


Nope, Alum mold..Tried several temps and it fills out best at the higher temps. 4 cavity

[Yodogsandman]

Did you check the calibration by getting a reading in boiling hot water (212*F)?

[lablover]

Did you check the calibration by getting a reading in boiling hot water (212*F)?


I will now :) Great idea

[runfiverun]

I wouldn't bother, you got a number to work with.
who cares if the thermometer is off 50-f?
what are you gonna do about it?
repeatability even if off, on, good, bad, or indifferent, is going to give repeatable results.
if they are good results then I'd just want to repeat them no matter what the numbers on my dial said.
if they were bad then I'd move/change something and try again.

[Doc Highwall]

Like run says, it don't matter if it is off, as long as it repeats. Now you have to write all the information down for each mould and alloy.

Here is a post I made with pdf attachments for both casting and heat treating that you can down load and print out.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?303293-Casting-and-record-keeping

[lablover]

Doc, thanks for the file link. Awesome to have

I'm not going to worry too much about if the RCBS thermometer os right on the money. I found the numbers my mold and alloy like to be at so I think I'm going to leave well enough alone.


Joe

[dubber123]

Don't have your thermometer touching the bottom or sides of your pot either, it can give a high reading if it is where one of the heating coils runs close.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Don't have your thermometer touching the bottom or sides of your pot either, it can give a high reading if it is where one of the heating coils runs close.

I definately agree with dubber123 about not letting the probe rest on the pot bottom or rest against the sides of the pot. You want to know the temp of the lead in the pot - not the temp of the sides or bottom of the pot. You can hold the therometer in the lead for about 10 - 15 seconds by the dial end to find the lead temp.Robert

[lightman]

This thread prompted me to check my thermometers. I had an RCBS that was purchased back in the 90's that dissapeared so I bought a TelTrue from NOE recently. Then the RCBS reappeared, imagine that! Well I suspended them in a pot of water and brought it up to a boil and gave them about 5 minutes to register. The TelTrue was right on and the RCBS was close. The TelTrue is adjustable and I don't think the RCBS is. I was happy enough!

Kinda funny, but while I was waiting on the water to boil I decided to test my Beer Fridge thermometer in some ice water. My Wife came home to find me in the kitchen with all of these thermometers and ask if I was expecting hot flashes or something? Women???

[Doc Highwall]

Hot flashes....My wife does not have hot flashes...............................SHE HAS POWER SURGES!!!!

[Mk42gunner]

I hate to burst a lot of peoples' bubbles; but just because a thermometer reads correctly at boiling water temp, does not mean it reads correctly in 600 to 800 degree lead alloys.

The cheap thermometers that are sold for casting use are best used as a guide, not an absolute reading.

To be properly calibrated a gauge needs to be checked across its range, not just at one point on the lower end of the scale.

Robert

[Walter Laich]

I found the temp that works for me. Seems to be a reasonable temp for melting lead alloy so I figure it's close.

like others have said I now have a number to which I can refer from here on out.

[bangerjim]

You did NOT ruin any lead.

Just re-melt it and add some Sn if you think it needs it. Overheating lead will not harm it. The Sn will oxidize at your 800F+ temp, and you probably skimmed the "gunk" off which had all the Sn in it, so put some back in.

Pretty hard to ruin the stuff we cast!

banger

[OS OK]

This thread prompted me to check my thermometers. I had an RCBS that was purchased back in the 90's that dissapeared so I bought a TelTrue from NOE recently. Then the RCBS reappeared, imagine that! Well I suspended them in a pot of water and brought it up to a boil and gave them about 5 minutes to register. The TelTrue was right on and the RCBS was close. The TelTrue is adjustable and I don't think the RCBS is. I was happy enough!

Kinda funny, but while I was waiting on the water to boil I decided to test my Beer Fridge thermometer in some ice water. My Wife came home to find me in the kitchen with all of these thermometers and ask if I was expecting hot flashes or something? Women???

My stuff magically disappears every time I have the thought…"I better put this in a safe place!" then when I buy a new one and have the same thought…"Sometimes I find the old one!"
"I need to 're-think' my 'thinking'…I think! … :bigsmyl2:
charlie...

[Walter Laich]

I use a Harbor Freight infrared thermometer to monitor the surface temp of my melt.

Bill

The IF thermometers don't do well on shiny surfaces; it's just part of the IF circuitry.

[OS OK]

The IF thermometers don't do well on shiny surfaces; it's just part of the IF circuitry.

Thanks for that Walt, I had reservations about that and It made me mistrust that gizmo. Seems that it prefers a flat surface as in color and shine or glossiness. Sorta limits it application if everyone understood its limitations, I think it's is about the infared spectrum ….it ain't a fix all 'this is the true temp sort of instrument'…considering the limitations huh?

OS OK

[ShooterAZ]

Doc, thanks for the file link. Awesome to have

I'm not going to worry too much about if the RCBS thermometer os right on the money. I found the numbers my mold and alloy like to be at so I think I'm going to leave well enough alone.




Joe

Get a notebook and keep records of all this stuff, mold temp, pot temp, alloy etc. It will help you when you have a bunch of different molds and alloys.