Freon tank too light for smelting?

[ole_270]

I've got a couple old freon tanks, the ones about 3 gallon size. Cut one up yesterday thinking I could replace my old cracked cast iron bucket with it, but I'm wondering if it's too thin. Measured .040 thick walls. It sits on top of the chimney support my cast iron bucket slips down into, lacks maybe 1/4" diameter of going in. Thinking I could either weld trunions to the walls, or drill and install bolts for the same thing if it acts like its going to slip into the chimney under heat and weight of lead.
Anybody using one of these?

[sparky45]

I imagine some do; I cut up a BBQ Propane Tank which works nicely.

[dragon813gt]

The tanks are differing thicknesses depending on which refrigerant they hold. R410A are thicker than low pressure tanks for R22. But I still wouldn't use them for smelting. They make good swinging targets for the kids to shoot at.

[Springfield0612]

I used a cut propane tank as well. It worked great

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[Dragonheart]

You should be able to find an out of date propane tank for free. They make an excellent smelting pot that will allow you to get in excess of 200 pounds of ingots from a single cooking. If you lived in the Katy, Texas area I would be happy to give you an old tank.

[lwknight]

I believe that the refrigerant tanks are too thin whether ( Freon, Puron,Genitron,Igloo,Supco, or whatever). The bottom will get red hot where nothing is touching it and can begin to vaporize the lead/alloy. Once you have a melt, it probably will not matter so much but the thin metal will not spread the heat evenly.

[country gent]

I consider .040 on the thin side for a smelting pot with controlled even heating it may work well. If you wand a shoulder to support a easy way that will also strengthen the top edge of the pot is to use 1/4" x 1" flat stock and form a ring to fit on top edge of pot and weld in place. This will support the top this edge where to pot is the weakest a lot and give the shoulder to support it where you want. I use a cut off propane tank with a ring from the tank welded on for a full dia foot print over the burner. Works like a dream and holds plenty of lead.

[Mytmousemalibu]

My 1st smelter setup was the bottom half of an R-134a tank that i ran off a forced air charcoal burner. Not an optimal setup by any means but it worked just fine and the pot was in no way showing any signs of giving up. Its probably about 16ga. thick steel. If you manage to compromise a steel pot like that, you probably have other problems or are one talented individual. That said, a heavier gauge, more sturdy pot would be a better way to go.

[Dragonheart]

Any tank alone is not going to work well. When added a sheet steel skirt 1/2'" from the outside walls and extending down to the base of the tank I achieved more efficiency as well as making the tank more stable. The time to melt down a pot of range lead was cut in half.

[CastingFool]

I use a helium tank cut in half as my smelting pot. I imagine it's about the same as a refrigerant tank. It is thin, but I don't melt more than 50 lbs at one time. I do have a couple of old propane tanks to cut down, just haven't gotten around to it.

[ole_270]

I thought it was pretty thin, now if I hadn't thrown out that old propane tank a few years ago.

[Virginia John]

I use a refrigerant tank because it was handy. You just need to be mindful about what you are doing.

[jimkim]

I'd cut a skirt( even with the top and an inch or two past the base) from another tank and weld it to that one. That should reinforce it enough to handle anything you run into.

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[LenH]

I had a Freon tank cut in half here at work. That old band saw did the trick. I have used it 8 or 9 times with no problem. The only trouble with it was when I tried to
put 2 isotope cores in it and was not big enough. It will melt 60# of range lead nicely.

[Handloader109]

I just made a BBQ grill from an old harbor freight air compressor tank. The medium vertical tank they sell for about $150 currently. It would have made a great smelting pot. Looks around, ill bet you could find one cheap

[kmrra]

those tanks are more than sufficient for smelting. I personally like cast iron , just seams to melt faster , you can find a cast iron pot for a little of nothing. I tried a stainless pot when I first got back into casting and it took for ever to get the pot hot enuff,

[Dragonheart]

Propane tanks are only good for 12 years before needing to be re-certified, so there are lots of these out of date tanks available for free. The tank metal is plenty thick and can hold 200+ pounds of lead. As mentioned if someone lives close to me I will be happy to give you one.

[bangerjim]

Propane tanks only. Reefer gas tanks are much too thin and flimsy.

There are thousands of out-of-date propane tanks around!!!!!!!!!!!!

[OnceFired]

I just got a hold of a bunch of spent R134a tanks. If anyone wants one, in the central Texas (Austin) area come see me.


Lotsa empty R134a Freon by TexanAmmo, on Flickr

[shootinfox2]

Just did 200 pounds of range scrap. Don't let tbe level get too low and it works fine. Mine is on a 23 burner natural gas burner. Melts 50 pounds in about fifteen minutes from cold.