Lead turning colors....???

[lowery100]

Hi, I am new to the forum and fairly new to casting. I have been lurking here for a while and now I have a decent reason to post... I think.

I am melting wheel weights as I have done several times before. About one hour in, my mixture started turning gold and then purple/blue. I can not seem to skim it off. When I do skim, it turns right back to this strange color. The only thing different with this bunch of wheel weights is there has been a lot(about 10%) of stick on weights with their adhesive backing. Any ideas? I am getting my lead to about 650deg. on my Coleman stove, does it need to get hotter to burn some chemical off? Thanks for any suggestions.

[webby4x4]

I just asked the same question here about an hour ago... http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=52958

Haven't received the answers yet, but you might want to check there too, just in case the answer gets posted on that thread.

Rick

[billyb]

Purple color indicates higher pure lead content, gold color tin. Don't worry about the colors mentioned, dosen't hurt finished boolets. Bill

[Nora]

If it is powdery or looks like dirt, skim it off. If it's any other color, keep it stirred in, it's part of your alloy. You may want to turn the heat down just a tad too if it's separating fairly quick.

[lowery100]

Thanks everyone!! Webby4x4, wow, what are the chances two people would have the same issue at the time. We should go get us a lottery ticket.:grin:

I was afraid I had some sort of toxic mix on my hands...[smilie=l:

[jsizemore]

I turn the heat down and put a couple of handfulls of WW in to bring the temp down fast. When all is melted again, skim clips and trash,flux and start pouring ingots.