Smelting with hot plate/zinc

[bcr]

I have been smelting my WWs with a 1000W hot plate from Walgreens in a 2 qt. saucepan.

I've scooped out a handful of WWs that I presume are zinc. What I am hoping is that my hot plate doesn't get hot enough to melt the zinc anyway, but I don't have a thermometer yet, so I haven't checked that. Can anyone address that?

How will I know if any zinc got in my ingots?

[zxcvbob]

Your hotplate easily gets hot enough to melt zinc. (I have the same setup) If any zinc melted in your lead, it'll cast about like oatmeal -- it's real obvious, and not pretty.

You don't really need a thermometer. Hand-sort the weights to start with; toss out any that are obviously zinc or iron. Cook everything else, and as soon as the lead is fully liquid instead of looking kind of grainy (it's called the liquidus) you can fish out any weights that will not melt using a slotted spoon, just like you do the steel clips.

[lwknight]

If you get zinc melted in it you will certainly know by the oatmeal dross that will not go away no matter how many times you skim it off.

[bcr]

OK, thanks. So if my melt/ingots are real shiny and smooth than I don't have a problem?