refill the pot at the end of the casting session or wait till next time to fill it

[Texas by God]

Except once a year or so when I dump it out after running it near dry( like last time) I’ll add a couple of ingots in after I unplug it and throw washed dug up bullets/ balls in there too.

[jsizemore]

It makes no sense to heat the same full pot of lead twice to cast with it once.

[Bazoo]

I do a little of everything. Most of the time I refill it when done, especially if I'm using wheel weights by the pot full instead of smelting. When I have ingots I keep the pot a out 3/4 full. Kinda pends on my notion what I do. Magnum melter doesn't seem to notice if I smelt in it or not.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

My pots (3) each hold about 80lbs of alloy. There are seperate pots for hard rifle 92:4:4, BPCR 96:3:1, and pistol 94:4:2 and ingots of alloy ready to feed each. I cast about 10lbs then return the sprews to the pot and top up the pot to full. At the end of casting I top up again and flux ready for next time.

[Froogal]

Well, I feel like the odd man out... I use a little Lyman dipper pot and when finished I typically dump any leftovers into the ingot mold. I have always just assumed it’s better not to store it full especially since I’ll forget what alloy is in it. I change alloys pretty well every time I cast so I figured it’s better to start fresh. Maybe I’ll have to try leaving it full and see if I notice a difference.

No. You're not the odd man out. I usually do just one casting session per year. THAT session covers several weeks, but when I'm done I want the pot to be more or less empty so I can store it away, and leave the work bench open for other projects. An empty pot is a lot easier to set up on the top shelf than a full pot.

[robg]

leave about an inch of lead in my 10lb pot .left it full once ,when i started it up the lead at the bottom expands and pushes the cooler lead up and opens the valve .learnt the hard way with a bench covered in lead.i also have my pot sat inside a steel oven tray now to catch splashes drips etc.

[Mk42gunner]

I normally fill the pot when I'm done with that session.

My Promelt stays filled with wheelweight alloy, the 10 pound Lee with pure. The 4-20 that the Promelt replaced with what ever will melt to make snagging sinkers.

I just bought a Lee Magnum Melter that currently has WW in it, when I start playing with softer mixes I may have a different answer.

Sad thing is I'm about out of my current batch of WW, I'll need to find some more soon.

Robert

[gbrown]

I have different pots for different alloys. I am a ladle pour guy. Got one for pure, one for hard, and one for ww. I just let the remnants cool for the next session. Battling health issues, can't wait to get over my present state and get back to casting. Got a couple of new molds to play with. All my alloys are smelted into different shapes--corn bread sticks for ww, muffin for pure, and small Lyman for hard (rifle).

[500Smith]

I like to have about 80% full in my Pro-melt. Just a little room for scrap.

[AndyC]

Seems there are benefits either way we do it - interesting to see some of the reasons.

I just leave mine where it is, other than adding the sprues back in.

[David2011]

I’m in the “run it low” camp, just in case I want to cast a different alloy.

[kevin c]

I empty mine.

I thought I'd be switching alloys frequently, but it turns out I only cast a lot of one boolit for one gun in one application. So, no need for me to drain the pot to put in a different alloy. But I do because I don't leave my casting equipment permanently set up. Draining the pot means being able to move it without an extra 20 odd pounds, and moving it sooner, as it cools much faster (I could freeze the lead quickly by adding a lot of ingots of the same alloy, but it'd still be hot for a long time).

Robg's observation about valve opening on reheating is an interesting cautionary tale. I wonder if it depends on heating coil location relative to the height of the lead plug in the pot.

[Land Owner]

I leave mine ~80% full and put back miscellaneous "lost" sprus, rejects, and road kill WW's for the next session.

Also, for those with "slow to heat" pots (my Pro Melt takes about 35 mins. when full to heat from ambient), add candle wax or crayons as flux and set it on fire! Or, add heat to the top of the melt with a butane or propane torch. Whichever way, add heat from the top down to shorten the melt time of the whole.

[Petander]

I keep my original Pro Melt at least halfway full. At all times. I often leave it half after casting so I can tweak the next day alloy.

I bought it well used 20 years ago... can't find those any more...

One reason I think,preventing overheat it may last longer,the other is pour pressure gets lower.

[dverna]

I leave the Lyman furnace about 50-80% full
I leave the Master Caster about 25% full. Not good to leave this one full.

[Winger Ed.]

I think,preventing overheat it may last longer,.

That's my reasoning.
As for paying 4-5 cents or whatever for electricity to heat the almost full pot a second time--
If that saves me a few hundred dollars by not having to replace it, I figure it's a bargain, and I'm OK with it.

[GARD72977]

I leave the Lyman furnace about 50-80% full
I leave the Master Caster about 25% full. Not good to leave this one full.

Why does it matter if you leave a master caster full?

[Sam Sackett]

I always add at least enough new alloy to get the level above the heating element. I think it's easier on the unit and it heats up faster the next time.

Sam Sackett

[Mal Paso]

I leave my pots full melting the ingots enough to get good contact with the sides but still see ingot shapes on top . With the Pro Melt 2 I'm using the ingots to bring down the temperature of the melt and shorten cooling time.

[Hossfly]

I start adding ingots when notice flow starts to slow. When thru casting will fill completely and start with full pot so will have time to get molds up to temp on next session.