What is in my lead?

[splotch]

Hi- got some lead gaskets from sewer pipes in an old school tear down - I have been using it for over a year with no problem. Yesterday I was melting some to clean it up, and I kept getting this yellow gold flakey stuff ( a lot of) I kept skimming it off and fluxing but it kept on coming. I worked at it about an hour with no end in sight. So I poured it out and let it cool.I noticed after it cooled it had a blue color to the lead only on the side that was poured out last. Any idea as to what it is and how to clean the lead.Thanks

[lightman]

Those colors are common to pure lead thats maybe heated a little too hot. It will show up on both the melted lead and on the ingot.

[BK7saum]

Sounds like it was lead with tin. Did the melt get hotter than usual? Tin oxidizes out as a yellow gold oxide.

[Rcmaveric]

Over heated pure lead. Those perfect pretty purplish blue ingots is what pure lead looks like. If it had anything else in it you would have had a crystalized finish on the ingot.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[RickinTN]

Sounds like the yellow goldish stuff is tin that cooked out, leaving you with pure lead. I try not to get over 750 degrees while smelting so as not to cook it out.
The purplish color like others have said is pure lead.
Rick

[fredj338]

But some tin is a good thing. I wouldn't want to be "cooking" it out by turning the heat up.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Patience while heating the cauldron.

[roscottjr]

I too have got the gold and purple colors but I use a pid to control my lead temps and never got over 704 according to the pid. Due to life issues it has been a few years since I last smelted or cast but when I last smelted and cast it was also my first time and my ingots as well as bullets looks great. Now its like something has changed. I get those colors in my melt both when using the pid and when going the old fashion way with a thermometer. I have tried higher temps, lower temps, and even fluxing more but those colors are still there. Also, when I smelt WW there always seems to be a little left that hardens like dross but I have fluxed and skimmed.