Temperature controlled propane lead pot?

Hey Everyone,

I bought a Lee bottom pour pot a while back. Right out of the box it did not work. Unfortunately, the box had been on my shelf long enough that I could not exchange it. Lee offered to repair it if I shipped it to them. Instead I built a PID temp controller and bypassed the internal thermostat.

I quickly found that the little Lee is way too small for some of my work. I considered a propane fired 5 quart cast iron pot but I am spoiled having "set and forget" temperature control on my electric pot.

I set out to find a temperature controlled propane setup. No luck. So I started contemplating a DIY solution. Before I commit to the project and start spending money I thought that I would see if anyone here knows of an affordable off the shelf solution?

I found looking at parts and pieces that I can order the parts for 10 units and spend just a little bit more than if I ordered 3 sets.

Would anyone here be interested in a "kit" once I get it working as intended?

Thanks.

Stephen

I’ve been thinking along the same lines, since I’m in the industrial boiler business. But didn’t pursue it because of the cost I might incur. The pilot and linear gas valve and a way to control the system would probably drive cost to over what I would want to spend for that.

But if you come up with a kit that would be inexpensive I might be interested.

It would probably be less expensive to wire up a burner from an electric stove and control it with a PID.

I think controlling an electric heating element would be much easier. There are band elements that go on the side of a pot. If bottom pour the burner would be close to the bottom spout.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wv109323

I think controlling an electric heating element would be much easier. There are band elements that go on the side of a pot. If bottom pour the burner would be close to the bottom spout.

---

Yes, the current pot is electric and running a PID. It was easy. The propane pot will be a bit more complicated and a little more expensive.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hossfly

I’ve been thinking along the same lines, since I’m in the industrial boiler business. But didn’t pursue it because of the cost I might incur. The pilot and linear gas valve and a way to control the system would probably drive cost to over what I would want to spend for that.

But if you come up with a kit that would be inexpensive I might be interested.

---

I have a somewhat simpler method in mind. I will post some details when I get it refined a bit.

A linear gas valve (4-20 madc) and control system would cost you a lot! Stick with electrics. High wattage stove elements would work well controlled with an SSR and a PID. Most do not go the way of linear PID electric control on their Pb pots either because of the additional cost. On-off control is just fine for s simple Pb pot. (I design and sell industrial control systems for all kinds of processes and know the in's and out's of all sorts of industrial control schemes.) K>I>S>S usually works for everything.

banger

Look on some of the home brew forums for inspiration. I know I have seen detailed lists on whats need to make a pid controlled gas brew system.

Why not use the PID to control a relay that will turn a
furnace gas valve on/off. You could have finer control with a two
stage valve.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaguarxk120

Why not use the PID to control a relay that will turn a
furnace gas valve on/off. You could have finer control with a two
stage valve.

---

I was thinking a burner and relay from an old gas water heater. Think that I’d just need to either change the burner aperture thing for propane or unscrew the gas line from the outside gas fireplace and connect there at the risk of spousal disapproval. I assume that the tank is what goes bad.

Just occurred to me that an old water heater burner from a mobile home might already be setup for propane, I’m not sure.

Remember you have to have a pilot light to ignite the burner. The safety valve in the standard gas burner is looking for that small voltage from the thermopile/thermocouple all the time to keep the safety open. Other wise it will not allow the main gas to flow to the burner. You will have to rig around that. And loose any safety interlocks.

I would still recommend sticking with a high BTU electric element and SSR/PID on-off control system! Safer, easier, cleaner, and cheaper than a gas set-up.

Which Lee pot do you have? Lee has the Pro pot that has a 10 lb. cap. and the 4-20 with a 20 lb. cap.
A lot of the folks here find 20 lbs. good for most things. Some of the other makers have pots that hold more.
I have been studying using electric stove top burners. You can get them that have over 2200 watts on 220 volts. They make hot water heater elements at 4500 watts on 220 volts. So electric sounds the way to go.
Leo

If you must try it I have been repairing my propane fired cloths dryer. The burner uses an electric coil instead of a pilot light.
I'm not sure how the dryer controls the burner but it does turn the burner on/off to control the heat. I assume it has a temp sensor and a relay of some sort. Haven't had to fix that part, just the solenoids that turn to gas on/off.
If so then wiring a PID to the burner shouldn't be to big a problem.
Leo

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jaguarxk120

Why not use the PID to control a relay that will turn a
furnace gas valve on/off. You could have finer control with a two
stage valve.

---

That is closer to what I am looking at.

PID, solenoid valves and orifices will get me three settings: Pilot, low heat and high heat

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 44magLeo

Which Lee pot do you have? Lee has the Pro pot that has a 10 lb. cap. and the 4-20 with a 20 lb. cap.
A lot of the folks here find 20 lbs. good for most things. Some of the other makers have pots that hold more.
I have been studying using electric stove top burners. You can get them that have over 2200 watts on 220 volts. They make hot water heater elements at 4500 watts on 220 volts. So electric sounds the way to go.
Leo

---

I have the 10# Lee and definitely need something closer to a 60# capacity. I have a 6 quart cast iron dutch oven, PID and a turkey fryer lined up. I have a ladle on the way. Now to find the other pieces :)

I'm a bit unclear on what you're going to use the 60# capacity temp controlled pot for.

Are you going to process lead (in which case 60# could actually be considered small) or are you going to cast from it? If casting, do you have or plan on having a bottom pour set up or is that what the ladle is for?

ETA:

I process in a >250# capacity pot over a high BTU propane burner. I cast out of a 22# bottom pour fed by a 18# feeder pot mounted over it. So long as I have ingots of casting alloy, the two pot set up means I don't run out of alloy or have big temp or head pressure swings in the casting pot's melt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kevin c

I'm a bit unclear on what you're going to use the 60# capacity temp controlled pot for.

Are you going to process lead (in which case 60# could actually be considered small) or are you going to cast from it? If casting, do you have or plan on having a bottom pour set up or is that what the ladle is for?

ETA:

I process in a >250# capacity pot over a high BTU propane burner. I cast out of a 22# bottom pour fed by a 18# feeder pot mounted over it. So long as I have ingots of casting alloy, the two pot set up means I don't run out of alloy or have big temp or head pressure swings in the casting pot's melt.

---

I have lead scrap that is too big for a 20# pot as well as scrap from bullet swaging. The latter is little "hairs" of lead that are produced in the swaging process. Because of the bulk I cannot drop more than a few ounces at a time in my existing pot. Not a huge deal right now as I only have 150# of it. It will become an issue when I go and pick up the other 1850#........

I actually bought last year a gas solenoid for a similar task. The plan was to use it on my outdoor deep fryer / beer brewing setup. I figure a cheap PID controller set to on-off function with about 3°C hysterisis band would work just great. Either that or use it in PID mode with the control period extended to about 30 seconds. But I haven't actually built it yet so it's just a theory, still.

I think that you're talking mainly about a pot for processing, not casting bullets directly from scrap?

My understanding is that the fine temp control is good for casting but, with the exception of dealing with zinc WW's, not critical for processing scrap or blending casting alloys. My casting pots are PID controlled, but the big processing pot's propane burner just has the manual valve on the regulator that I have three positions for: off, wide open for fast melting, and low for keeping the melt liquid (varies a bit depending on weather). I don't do WW's anymore so zinc is not a concern.

If you're casting from the pot that's a different story, though I've been advised against using anything but very clean, known content scrap lead directly.

Good afternoon,

I understand the “wanting a large propane pot” this is the unit a friend of mine built. Keeps 2 guys hopping. It holds over 200 pounds of hot lead!!
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/asse...6&d=1488776966

We can make over a ton of ingots in a day.....these ingots are 3 1/2 pounds. Doesn’t take long to make a huge pile. This is 3 pots full we leave a 1/3+ in the pot to speed the next melt.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/asse...6&d=1488776876

For actually casting boolits the best “no fuss no muss” is a 40 pound pot from Magna with a PID controller and the stand/mold guide. I have a PID from Hatcher that does duty for a LEE pot and the Magna. I also use it when using the MagnaCaster. All round best system I have come up with for home casting in volume. Last year was about 1400 pounds of finished boolits.

Hope this helps you out. It took me a long time to get a system down to process raw lead into boolits. Good luck with your project!!

Bullseye67