Best way to clean bottom pour pot.

[Dadswickedammo]

So the pot is new lee 20lb bottom pour run about 50lb through it done casting for a few weeks. I take good care of my equipment everything cleaned oiled and boxed after every use ready for next use. But the pot has some leftovers at the bottom and would like to service the spout to avoid clogging.

[Madoktor1]

I leave lead in mine and never let it run low. That keeps the trash away from the spout and helps with start up the next time. Mine stays about half full all the time.


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[Boolit_Head]

When I want to clean my 10 and 20 pound pots I drain them into ingot molds and when the last dregs are left I scrape them down with a spoon or ladle and move the leftovers away from the spout. It helps to have a small bit of lead left to capture the dross when it solidifies. Allowing a small amount of lead to be left tipped away from the spout about a quarter size when solidifies will drop out of the pot with a bit of help after it cools. It will also take the crud with it. If any is left after it cools turning it upside down and scraping again will get it out.

[No Blue]

Just leave an inch of lead in the pot. That will melt quickly the next use, and that will melt your ingots mucho fast. If you empty all the lead, takes lots longer to do the first melt because the contact area between the ingots and pot are small and inefficient.

If you are smelting COWW or other junk, do that in a separate pot on a gas stove or whatever heat source you got. Then ladle the clean lead from that into your ingot mold, leaving all the trash in the bottom of the smelting pot, and not in your new Lee pot. That's the trick to no drips, that and lapping the valve to the seat before you use it.

That way you'll be happy with your $62 Lee and won't have to blow another $260 getting an over priced Promelt.

[Moleman-]

I always just scrape the sides and bottom of the pot while it's hot with a piece of 3/4"x1/8" aluminum. Anything stuck to the sides or bottom then floats to the top where I scope it off with that same piece of aluminum that is formed into a crude scoop. Been doing that for almost 30 years now. I generally also leave it full or at least 3/4 full when it gets shut off.

[kbstenberg]

Normally I leave the pot full. After every casting session.
But about every 6th session I will empty the pot of lead. Strip all of the mechanism from pot. Use a wire brush chucked into my drill and scrape any and all surfaces inside the pot. To include the rod and the top quantity adjusting screw on my lee pot.
Next I take a pea size ball of fine steel wool. Push it into the inner spout area. and spin it with a screwdriver. To clean any gunk that has gotten into the spout. After that I get a small drill bit that fits into the bottom of the spout loosly. And work it in and out to clean any gunk that got past the stop rod.
The last thing I do before putting the pot back together. Is smear the tip of the stop rod with valve grinding comp. and spin the rod in its hole to ream the rod to its hole. For better drip control.

[dragon813gt]

Drain as much as you can out through the spout. Tip the pot so any residual lead runs away from the spout. Let cool and remove the residual lead by hand. Disassemble the rod and clean the pot however you wish. I have brass brushes that fit in a drill. One is the perfect size to clean the sides of the pot. The bottom and spout may take some work depending on buildup. You may want to lap the rod so it seats better.

Rule number one is only clean lead in the pot. Never use a wood stick to stir the lead. This will leave pieces that will eventually clog the spout. I use only metal utensils and wax if I have to flux. I don't use anything that will leave remnants in the lead.

[Mike W1]

Since I was introduced to the idea on this forum the only thing I'll use in my pots are clean ingots and beeswax. Had always done the clean ingot thing so the big difference has got to be the beeswax. The pots stay clean now.

[Retumbo]

I too have recently got a few pounds of best wax. Love it in the pot. Love it on my molds

[JWFilips]

I used to clean mine Constantly....Then I realized what I was putting in to it was dirty alloy! You got to scrub your alloy before it goes into the casting pot! Since then it has been years!
See Below:

Heregoes..... I am VERY fussy with my ingots. From the sounds of it, Iwould NOT WANT some of the ingots that some of you produce. Not cleanenough for my guns.
Here'sthe basis for how I do it: I want as close to PURE alloy as I canget. NO GRIT remaining. NONE. Every bit of grit that you allow toenter an ingot becomes abrasive that wears out your barrel. At acommercial lead processing plant, they use very expensive ceramicfilters that get all grit out. We hobby smelters can't afford theexpensive ceramic filters, so we have to FLUX like crazy to get thelead as clean as possible.
So,here's my system:
1)I always leave the last inch of molten lead in the pot from theprevious smelt. I allow that to cool, and mark what it is, with aSharpie. Next time I smelt that alloy, I put that disk back in thepot, which maintains 100% contact with the smelting pot, andtherefore melts fast, giving me a good lead puddle for theboolits/range lead to melt into. If you skip that step, the edges ofthe range lead have little contact with the smelting pot, and willtake longer to start melting.
2)I add a couple of inches of range lead into the pot, and allow thatto come up to temperature and melt. I DO NOT fill up the smeltingpot........ To do so would introduce too much copper jackets andother debris that needs to get skimmed off. I do my adding in layers,and that goes very fast. Add/Skim/Add/Skim, etc. Continue adding andskimming the big stuff off the top until you have a pot pretty full.The previous comment about the strength of the stand is worth payingattention to. One summer day a couple of year ago, I was smelting 200pound batches and was horrified when I noticed that the stand leg hadstarted to sink into the hot top, and the stand was dangerouslyleaning. I had to be very careful to not knock it over while fluxing.Once you have a safe pot full of molten lead, with only the BIG STUFFskimmed off, it's time to start fluxing.
3)The fluxing is the process or technique for separating the grit andother small debris from the metal. You want to end up with as clean ametal as you can, for the sake of the longer life of your guns. Thelead is not only heavy, but very dense.The larger stuff that you skimmed off had enough flotationabilityto float itself to the surface. Thesmaller grit does NOT have enough flotation to push itself easilythrough the dense metal.That's what the fluxing techniques does........ it opens pathwaysthrough the dense metal for the small grit to make it's way to thesurface.
4)Stirring and the addition of fluxing agents assists with makingpathways. It also, and this is an important aspect offluxing........... it also provides "bonding agents" forthe small grit particles to stick and adhere to, clumping them intobigger pieces, for easier removal. So, stirring with anything, ametal spoon, a wooden stick.... when done correctly, will open eddycurrents (think whirlpool action) that will allow the grit to makeit's way to the top for skimming. And, agents like sappy pine, motoroil, pine sticks (dual purpose), old candle wax, parrafin wax, etcact as perfect fluxing agents for the other part of the fluxingaction. Pine saw dust is just about one of the best fluxing agentsyou could use. It's sappy enough to provide the sap agent that allowsthe grit to stick to it. And, the small particle size assists withcreating nice pathways to the surface, when stirred into whirlpoolsthrough the lead. Hard wood saw dust isn't as good, but better thannothing. Get bales of pine sawdust at your local feed and grainstore. They use it as horse bedding. You could also use pineshavings, but it's not quite as good as pine sawdust.
5)I grab a handful of pine sawdust, and toss it onto the surface of themolten lead. I use a stainless steel slotted spoon with a long handle(bbq type spoon) and start stirring right away. I stir right to thebottom of the pot, pulling up all the grit I can from the bottom.Keep stirring.... The sawdust will eventually become charcoal, andwill soon burn into ash. You want to skim the charcoal and all thegrey powder grit that floats to the top off the lead with the edge ofyour spoon, beforeit turns to ash.Go slow with moving the edge of the spoon through the lead, and youwill see that it's easy to pick up the skimmed material. Pull itslowly towards the edge of the pot, and turn your wrist, and you'llsee the grit (grey powder) in the spoon. When you are done with theinitial sawdust flux, the top surface of the lead should be somewhatshiny. However, the lower portions of the lead are still nasty! I dothis sawdust flux about 4-5 times, or until I start to see dramaticreductions in the amount of grit I am picking off the surface. Forsome really sandy range lead, I have been known to flux with the pinesawdust as many as 10 times before moving to the next step. Be asfussy as you want to be. It's your lead! And, your guns!
6)Once I have achieved some level of cleanness with the pine saw dustfluxing, I switch over to paraffin wax, which is finer agent, andwill get more of the smaller particles out. Old candles are alwaysplentiful. Yard sales are a great place to get them for almost free.I cut them into peanut sized pieces, and toss a piece onto the top ofthe molten lead. The candle wax will start to melt, and then, becauseof it's lower flame point, will burst into flame. Be aware it willhappen, and don't get startled. The paraffin will consume itselfalmost completely (no ash), so be sure to stir whirlpoolsaggressively as soon as you can. Skim off whatever grit thatdevelops, and repeat as many times as you feel that you need to toget to as clean as you'd like. I like to flux with paraffin wax 4-5times. By then, the metal is pretty darn clean by my fussy standards.(including the pot surfaces, which I have been scraping the wholetime)......
7)When using your ladle to remove the lead from the smelting pot, pushthe ladle through the surface of the lead, and allow the ladle to"back fill" with only shiny metal. Even though you havedone this immense amount of fluxing, you will always see someadditional crud floating to the surface as you ladle, and you want toavoid introducing that into the ingots you are making. The backfilling technique with the ladle is the best way to keep the grit outof the ingots you are making. When you get to a point where the gritreally starts to be a nuisance, and it will...... do some moreparaffin fluxing.........
8)Continue making ingots until you get down to that 1" or so oflead left in the pot, and stop. Or, if you have more to smelt, stopmaking ingots when you have a couple of inches of lead still in thepot. That will give you the good lead puddle for melting.
Notes:Some folks have used motor oil as a fluxing agent. I have used it intests and find it smelly and full of carcinogens. It works OK, but Istill prefer to use the candle or store bought paraffin wax. Thestore bought version is usually sold in the jam making supplies areaof the store. Comes in a one pound package of four blocks, and isvery pure, and translucent clear. It's more expensive than cheap usedcandles. I'm already saving money making my own boolits, and I feelno compulsion to go extra cheap on fluxing agents. I want/demand veryhighly clean lead to run through my guns. Don't be in a hurry whensmelting. It's hard on the back, and hot on a summers day. I findthat by pacing myself in a slower pace, I get better alloy because Iam taking care to flux well. You cannot flux alloy too much..........You just can't. The more, the better/cleaner the alloy will be. Byconstantly stirring, you will keep any tin and antimony in the mix.You can't really skim out those metals, nor do you want to. However,if you stop stirring aggressively, and perhaps have the heat toohigh, you will allow the tin and antimony to come out of solutionwith the lead, where it will float to the surface in it's typicalyellow/gold and purple hues. Don't skim off the yellow/golds or thepurples. Turn the heat down a bit, and stir those back into the lead.
Myadvice has been primarily relating to range lead because that's whatyou asked about. The same process is used when I smelt clip on wheelweights. However, it's especially important to add weights slowly tothe molten puddle to avoid accidentally melting in any zinc to thepot. Zinc will float, but only if you have added a thin enough layerto allow them to float. If you bury zinc weights under 60 pounds oflead weights, and have the pot too hot, you will get zinccontamination. So, my advice for adding new material to the potslowly and in thin layers holds true whether for range lead or forwheel weights.
I'vetouched on many of the points that others have made, but I don'tthink anyone else has covered it as completely, in one place as Ihave. My system isn't perfect, but it works really well for me. I getgood clean alloy. And, I know my bores (barrels) will have longerlives from the extra trouble I take getting the clean alloy.
Perhapsthis post/thread might make a good sticky. I'd be happy to amend mypost should anyone think of anything additional idea that wouldimprove my system even more. We have many great casters here. Andtheir system works for them. I take no exception to any of that.However, in my quest for CLEAN alloy, my system gets me there.
Duke in Maine

[Dadswickedammo]

Nice!!!!!!
I really like the idea of clean lead. I have about 100lb of ingots from different sources going to flux them again and again. Also have about 100 lb pure lead ingots going to flux a handful and see if I get any dirt if so flux em all.
Thanx