Cleaning Lee pot

[78CJ]

This weekend I drained my 10# bottom pour pot. I was starting to notice some crud showing up and want to clean up the pot.

How is this best accomplished?

Thanks

Ryan

[versifier]

Take it outside and use a small fine wire brush or some steel wool. Be very careful not to breathe in any of the yellow residue, and be sure to wash it off of your hands as soon as you are done. Gloves really aren't a bad idea either, and try to avoid getting it all over your clothes. Lead oxide is rather toxic and can be absorbed through lungs, skin, and digestive system, whereas metalic lead can only get to us through the digestive system and is nowhere near as soluble as its oxide. It is really the most serious health hazard casters have to deal with, unless casting tempertures exceed 900*F or you eat any antimony, but being aware of it keeps exposure to a minimum and the danger negligible. As with most toxic substances, kids (and any young and growing mammals) are at the greatest risk due to the vulnerability of their developing nervous systems, so don't do it in front of a young audience.

[Buckshot]

...............Some have reported boiling water in it. I never tried that. I wonder if spraying water in a hot pot (like from a plastic spray bottle) would work. Maybe the expansion /contraction differential would cause the junk to fall-flake-blow off :-)? Other wise I've done it like Versifier. Wire wheel on a drill motor. Amazing the stuff that the lead sits on top of, isn't it?

.....................Buckshot

[Murphy]

I've cleaned my Lee lead pots 2 ways.

One, by the wire wheel and an electric drill. It worked out pretty well all in all.

Then I read here about boiling it out using plain tap water.

Of the two methods I've tried, I much prefer the boiling water method. It's simple, and there isn't any 'dust' involved. Just fill the pot to close to the top as you can. Plug it in, turn up the heat as high as it will go. All you'll need other than plain old water is a wire brush you can find at Wally World or just about any hardware store. The one that looks like a tooth brush. (Pardon me if I have assumed you wouldn't realize that before beginning the project.. :) ). Let the water start heating, start scrubbing the walls of the pot. Soon the water will start to boil. Let it boil until all the water is about gone. Pour out the remaining water. Let the pot dry and see what cha' think.

Just my two cents worth.

Good luck,

Murphy

[Rob Helms]

I boil my pot with water to clean it. I definitely would not introduce water into a hot lead pot. To boil out a pot start with it cold. fill the pot less than half full with water. Set the thermostat to about 4 to start with and watch it. Remember water boils at 212% F lead at 650-750% F . Water at 600-700% boils very vigorously. You don't want the pot to boil over. With a bottom pour pot you want to make sure the water does not leak out of a dirty valve. Add water if necessary to the pot after it is boiling. Boil the pot for 10-15 minutes and carefully pour the water out of the top of the pot. I usually do this 2 or 3 times a year to my pot.

[Rob Helms]

I boil my pot with water to clean it. I definitely would not introduce water into a hot lead pot. To boil out a pot start with it cold. fill the pot less than half full with water. Set the thermostat to about 4 to start with and watch it. Remember water boils at 212% F lead at 650-750% F . Water at 600-700% boils very vigorously. You don't want the pot to boil over. With a bottom pour pot you want to make sure the water does not leak out of a dirty valve. Add water if necessary to the pot after it is boiling. Boil the pot for 10-15 minutes and carefully pour the water out of the top of the pot. I usually do this 2 or 3 times a year to my pot.

[Bucks Owin]

Sounds like a winner Murphy, I'll be trying that once the new pot I ordered for my old Production Pot gets cruddy.....

(I decided one day that I could "improve" the seal of the leaky spout valve by "lapping" it. Soon after, I installed a plug in the bottom after messing up the pot and have used a dipper with it for years.... [smilie=1: )

(Thanks Thanks to Rob too!) :mrgreen:

Dennis

[D.Mack]

I just use one of Waksupi's custom made ram-rod, pot cleaners, endowed with early american pixey dust, for sale at a web-site near you. Actually it's just a hardwood dowel. I get the pot ready for casting, then insert the dowel into the lead, and drag it along the bottom and rub the sides. this seems to break loose any thing stuck to the sides and bottom, and can be skimmed off the top with a spoon. I do this when I start, and occasonally after adding additional lead to the melt, and I no longer have trouble with crud getting into the nozzle. Just be sure the stick is long enough to keep your fingers away from the pot, as it canget hot pretty quick. I've had it explaind to me that the carbonization of the dowel attaches itself to the crud, I don't know, I only know it works. DM

[versifier]

While I am intellectually certain that it's another good idea to clean out the lead pot with water, a little incident last fall that left me and my shop wonderfully decorated by the tinsel fairy leaves me a bit uneasy about getting water anywhere near it. [smilie=1: Yes, I know that there's no danger if there's no lead in it. I'm just paranoid, I know, but I don't do drugs and a man's gotta have something to be paranoid about, doesn't he? :mrgreen:

[yodar]

theres another hidden advantage to putting water in a cold pot and bringing it to a boil

Almost all our fluxes are hygroscopic and/or acidic.

Borax & Boric Acid for example.

Sal Ammoniac flux becomes hydrochloric acid

Marvelux for instance will corrode (as in RUST) your pot unless you boil it out to get rid of residual flux SALTS left in the pot. The salts will attract water if not washed out, and become corrosive.

I used the brass brush untill I found out about that secret and have used boiling water ever since/ I also spray the pot insides with Midway Drop Out mould release, It's worthless on moulds but excellent in pots and sprue plates

yodar

[Leadlum]

Tried the water trick tonight; and it worked good. Alot better than the wire brush method I had been using. Thanks for the tip.

[454PB]

I've been using Marvelux in my Lee pots for 20 years, and none of them are rusted.

[6pt-sika]

You know what , I knew about the boil out cleaning thing . But for the six years I've owned my two pots I've never cleaned them out :(


I've always seemed to have good luck with what i cast . But I think wednesday or thursday when I'm off I'll clean them both :neutral:

[Ranch Dog]

Great... now something else for me to try :coffee:

[rvpilot76]

I just disassembled my Lee Pro 4-20 and took the pan itself to the bead blast cabinet and let her fly. If you can seperate the metal pan from the rest of the unit, I would do that. Much easier, and the pan comes out a nice matte silver color.

Regards,

Kevin

[Ranch Dog]

Finally got around to cleaning my Lee Pro 4-20, or at least one of them, and the boiling water worked like a charm! I had about 1/4" of lead in the bottom, I wish I had dumped it now, and added water. I set it on "4" and in a couple of minutes it was at a rolling boil. I added more water almost to the top of the pot as it wasn't blowing at all, just rolling. I scrubbed it with a brass brush and then poured it out. Water was black and the inside of the pot now looks almost new! I wiped a light coat of gun oil on the clean metal.

[Marshal Kane]

I've been using Marvelux in my Lee pots for 20 years, and none of them are rusted.You are very fortunate because out near the coast where I live, Marvelux will draw moisture on anything it touches. Once, on a rainy day, I left my stirring spoon with Marvelux residue on it out of the pot. You should have heard the HISS it made when I started to stir my alloy. Scared the dickens out of me. In order to avoid rust, I clean off all residue with a damp rag and wash the utensils after every casting session. One thing I like about Marvelux is that it doesn't create smoke.

[454PB]

If I plunge the cold stirring spoon into hot alloy, it will hiss, sputter, and even eject some hot alloy. I've learned to lay the spoon on the top of the pot and warm it first.

[Marshal Kane]

Didn't plunge the cold spoon into the hot alloy, slid it in gradually to allow it to heat up. Nothing happened until a bit of slag on the spoon touched the alloy. Believe moisture was building up in the slag. That's when I noticed that tiny beads of moisture were also on the spoon. Same thing happens when bits of slag are left on the rim of my lead melting pot after casting. Will find beads of moisture on the rim the following day. Learned to carefully clean anything that has touched Marvelux with water. Think a lot has to do with trying to cast in an open garage on a rainy day. Marvelux works a lot better for me if I cast in the summer. Thanks for your response.

[cottonwood]

I use warm water and backing soda to clean my pots. I use a small brush to get the badly crusted stuff. with the water and soda there is no airborne dust.

[luvtn]

Where do you dump the toxic water that you have created? I have a well, and I won't be using that method.
Luvtn

[44man]

Not needed at all, just dump the black junk out. Fill it and go. A stick to rub will work too. So just dump it.