Mytery alloy

[shootinfox2]

Had an issue today. Supposedly an alloy of 10 pounds of lino with 100 pounds of pure.
Put an ingot in the master caster 40 pound pot. Instant spout freeze after temp got to 745. raised temp to 875, no luck. Shut down, emptied the pot and filled with isotope alloy 710 and back in business. Seperated the alloy for later investigation. negative for zinc by the acid test. Any ideas?

[PJEagle]

I would contact BNE for instructions on sending him a sample for analysis. He only asks for one pound of lead for each sample he tests.

[shootinfox2]

Will do.

[shootinfox2]

BNE pm sent.

[fredj338]

I would bet zinc, acid test or not. Happened to me once. Buddy was getting ww & turning them into ingots but NOT trashing the zinc ones. A 15# ingot in my 1/2 empty Magma froze the bp spout. He since changed his scrap melting method by turning the heat down so the zinc ones floated out.

[Dusty Bannister]

Did applying heat to the nozzle restore the flow, or did you not try that. Not sure how that works with a master caster. Just because the pot is hot, perhaps the nozzle is not quite hot enough.

Could ambient air temp be a factor?

[shootinfox2]

Used a propane torch to heat the spout. Very slow drip. After I emptied the pot and refilled with known alloy, still had to clear the spout and all is well now. Sent samples for testing to BNE. Maybe we can figure out the mystery. I’ll post results when they come in.

[kevin c]

If it is zinc, you may be able to salvage the alloy by diluting the zinc down. What I've read here suggests that a low percentage still can be cast.