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I'm pouring scrap lead in my bottom pour Lee 20 lb. pot so to clean it up. I'm pouring into a "corn cob" mold. my problem is that the bottom spout will "freeze up" between pouring. then I have to wait till the heat come down to the tip so I can pour the next batch. I"m only pouring two or three "corn cob's" at a time. it's a 20 lb. pot and i'm only pouring 3-4 lb.s at a time. I"m trying to find a way to keep the bottom tube hot enought to pour a little quicker,
any one with ideas????
Pat
Propane torch applied to the spout will "jump start" the pour.
If you're melting dirty scrap in your casting pot, lots of non-lead garbage can find its way to the spout and clog it up. Run the thermostat wide open if you're pouring as soon as everything is good and melted. Also, adjust your spout open as far as possible. My recomemdation is to get a stainless-steel, two-ounce Au Jus ladle from Wallychinamart and ladle out of your pot, or consider a separate pot and burner for "smelting" scrap into ingots.
Gear
+1 !! "or consider a separate pot and burner for "smelting" scrap into ingots."
many things can and will work for this !! keeps the pouring later into boolit molds much less problematic ! not to say that you cant do what you're doing but ...as you've noticed the results to date
Since I smelt at least 60-80 lbs of depleted counterbalance devices at a time I moved up to a standalone smelting outfit, larger batches produce a more consistent alloy as well. Since the Lee bottom pour was my second pot I only use it when actually bottom pouring, a standard Lee pot works fine when ladle-pouring or other purposes.
I use one of those flexi-butane lighters to heat the spigot to get the lead flowing. Every time I add new "feedstock" I have to hit it for a few seconds with the flame.
Perfect flow after that!
I would NOT recommend smelting/melting dirty crappy lead and WW's in your bottom pour! You are asking for many problems down the line.
Buy one of the little Lee 4# ladle dipping pots for about $25-30. It is small enough you can melt small quantities of dirty stuff, flux/reduce/skim it, and pick the entire pot up and pour your ingots.....using leather gloves of course!!!!!!! I do it all the time. I use it to cast all my Sn/Bi/Sb special alloys in 1/2# ingots. I keep the bottom pour for ONLY 110% clean lead alloy.
banger