do you top your pot off

[troy_mclure]

before you turn it off??

Ive noticed a few pics that people fill their pot with melted lead then turn it off.


do you do this?

does it take the lead longer to melt?

[lurch]

As a rule, no, not specifically. Some folks will argue that a full pot makes it harder for moisture to get in the pot and cause rust. Maybe it helps, maybe not. Unless the lead actually "solders" itself to the side of the pot, there will be a small gap that moisture can get in. I've personally never seen the lead solder itself to the pot upon solidifying.

What I generally do is leave some (varies widely from time to time and mainly determined by how much is left when I decide to call it quits) in the pot to get a leg up on the next melt. If it is near empty, I might toss in another ingot or two if it strikes my fancy at the time. Having more metal in very close proximity to the pot walls speeds up heat transfer and will result in a quicker melt time.

[sheepdog]

Lead shrinks anyway so theres always a gap. I tend to turn my pot off about 10 to 15 mins before I'm done, casting all I can til the spout stops.

[Trey45]

When I'm done casting, I put all the sprues and obvious culls into the pot, unplug the pot, stir the pot, and cast some more until the spout freezes. I at least try to make sure the pot is over half full when I turn it off. No real reasoning behind it, just a quirk.

[Echo]

I usually top up during casting, and always throw my sprues back in as they are cut. I place an ingot on top of the pot to warm up, and handle it with channel-locks to place in the melt, replacing it with another ingot, until I start running out of elan. And I leave the pot on until I quit, usually leaving a small amount of alloy in the pot.

[dragonrider]

Yes I do, and I never empty my pot or let it get below half full. I put the sprues back into the pot right away. I have a second pot mounted above my casting pot that I use to premelt and add to the casting pot from it. This keeps the temp in the casting pot very even at all times.

[mooman76]

I do and I don't. Like dragonrider I keep the pot topped off while casting to keep things even. If you let it get low then you have to put a lot of lead in to keep going and that drops the melt temp down to the point you can't cast good and that breaks your pase you have going. When I cast from an cast iron pot I wouldn't top off because it was heavy to move around and put away. I don't use that pot much anymore. My Lee electric I leave on the bench and I will generally top it off if convienient when finished but not always.

[fredj338]

Not necessarily. I never let it get less than half & will add a 3# ingot or two (20#Lee) at that point. Then dump the remaining sprue & bad bullets on top fo rthe next go round.

[Fugowii]

Yeah,

I have no real reason except someone told me that's what they do. I'm just a noob so I go along with the crowd. It hasn't hurt anything so it must be OK. I wouldn't worry about it. I have a Lyman Mag20.

F

[AZ-Stew]

I fill my RCBS before I pull the plug. This ensures the pot will be ready to cast once the metal comes up to temp for the next casting session.

I pour sprues back into the pot every 50 boolits and refill the pot after about 250-300 handgun boolit castings (depends on bore size). This takes about 1.5 Lyman ingot mould castings (about 6-8 pounds (3-4 kilos for the Limies, Ausies and Kiwis)). When I put these in the pot I take a break and read Cast Boolits, take a few sips of beer and relax for 20 minutes or so in a chair that's more kind to my back.

When I'm finished, I put enough ingot metal in the pot to fill it when the pot's turned back on, pull the plug and let it cool.

Regards,

Stew

[RayinNH]

I always fill before I'm done casting. When you restart, if your pot is not full the heat that the pot puts out is just wasted on the upper part. All it is doing is warming your casting area, not alloy. At least that's the way it seems to me, of course I've been breathing lead fumes for 40 years :veryconfu...Ray

[captain-03]

I guess I am in the minority here ... I start with a full pot and stop when it run dry ... I will add the sprues back in as I go ...

[Kraschenbirn]

Depends. I've only got one pot and cast three three different alloys...30/1 for BP cartridge, Lyman #2 for handgun, and my "hard" alloy for CF rifle. If I know I'll be casting the same alloy next time I fire up the pot, I'll top it off before I shut down. If I'm planning to cast a different alloy next session, I'll toss in any accumulated sprue, flux throroughly, and drain whatever's in the pot into an ingot mould, marking the cooled ingots with a felt tip before storing them.

Bill

[Marlin Hunter]

(Lee 10lb bottom pour)
I do not do it. I tried it once. I did not fill it all the way to the top. It was maybe 75-80% full. When I heated it up the next time. The pot started to drip, then it started to pour. I could not close the drain, and had to put the ingot mold to catch all the lead. I think when the lead cooled it somehow lifted up on the drain plug operating rod. After about 3 ponds of lead came out, it stopped. I left the pot on, and it got real hot, but no more lead melted. There was still a solid block stuck on the top. I couldn't push it down into the bottom of the pot where the heat was. I did not want to burn up my pot so I turned it off. I used a propane torch to melt the lead, and to free the rod. I now leave no more than 1/2 inch in the bottom, unless I plan to change alloys, then I drain everything out. Leaving a little in the bottom helps melt the ingots the next time because the heat is distributed evenly.

[runfiverun]

i keep my pots full all the time. i top off while casting, keep it full while casting, and leave it full when off.
but i have one 20 lb full of 4/6 one 40 lb full of ww's and one 10 lb full of lino.
and a 4th 40lb for softer alloys.
plus 2 empty 10 lb lyman melting pots to speed things up when needed.

[prs]

I run two 20# bottom pour pots and typically stop casting with about a half load in each. Like another poster above, my pots tend to get gonorrhea if they heat up full. I do add spru strips back into the working pot, but do not add ingots to it because such fluctuates the heat too much. As the working pot gets to about 1/3 capacity, I switch to the other pot while new ingots melt in the previous. I suggest you use a safety layer of kitty litter or clay granules if you are prone to drop spru waste or new ingots while casting. The splash is not kind to bare skin.

prs

prs

[lurch]

prs,

Nothing like a promiscuous pot I suppose... [smilie=l:

[WHITETAIL]

I always keep my pot full.
As I cast I watch the pot and
when it gets down about 2
inches I add more lead.
This way you can keep at the
same temp.:cbpour:

[Shuz]

FWIW--a few years ago there was a fella posting on either the old "Shooters" site or perhaps this site, who we felt was an expert on repairing old furnaces like the Lyman's. His name was David, but the last name escapes me(as does a lot these days!). Anyway, he claimed that in his experience, it is easier on the heating elements if the pot is drawn down to about half full before shutting it off. I've been using this method ever since on my 3 Lyman furnaces and all have been running well.

[chboats]

I turn off the pot and put the sprues and obvious bad boolits back in and if it will melt completely I will flux it. I never refill at that time because frequently when I want to cast again I need to switch to a different alloy. No point in remelting a full pot just to empty it.

Carl