Small safety tip

[Catshooter]

One of our members here tells a story of plugging in his lead pots and going into the house until they were ready. When he came out his shop building was fully engulfed in flames, it burned to the ground.

Made me think. Just what would happen if all the lead in my pot suddenly ran out and went . . . where? So now, when I heat up my little pot (10 pound Lee) this is what I do :

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo235/Catshooter45/Misc/IMG_4912.jpg

The little pot will hold all ten pounds if for some reason it deceided it was coming out.

Just a thought.


Cat

[fishhawk]

thats not a bad idea to do with any bottom pour pot. i can just get a tuna can under the spout on the lyman mold master pot. won't catch all of it but enough that it will plug up the spout if it starts to run. steve k

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
GOOD IDEA!:Fire::Fire:

[alamogunr]

I know I'm pretty dense, but how does catching the flow from a leaky spout prevent a fire? I understand the tuna can up close to the spout but the pot under the Lee 10 #'er looks like it would just fill up and empty the pot. Early on I had a leaky Lee drip all over my bench but it didn't set anything on fire. I know I'm missing something. Help me out.

John
W.TN

[Dennis Eugene]

Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Tennessee
I know I'm pretty dense, but how does catching the flow from a leaky spout prevent a fire? I understand the tuna can up close to the spout but the pot under the Lee 10 #'er looks like it would just fill up and empty the pot. Early on I had a leaky Lee drip all over my bench but it didn't set anything on fire. I know I'm missing something. Help me out.

John
W.TN hot lead running out in a stream might run into something flamable starting afire. Hot lead just dripping may cool befor running into something flameable, but then again maybe not. Could it be you just got lucky? Dennis

[Catshooter]

you ani't dense John. My idea my never help anything, but the concept is that if the lead starts pouring out, that much concentrated heat could be bad. Very bad. There's a whole bunch of calories in that lead.

If the pot is just doing it's normal slow drip, no sweat. And pouring your pot over the bench top wouldn't be a concern either. But if a liquid stream can find it's way to something that can ignight that'd be different.

Odds are definatley against trouble, but it can and does happen.

Just a tip for any who might find a use for it.


Cat

[alamogunr]

Points taken. I don't normally leave my pots plugged in and heating while I leave to attend to other things. I did catch myself leaving a toaster oven on with boolets in it overnight. It was on very low temperature since I was only heating them for tumble lube. As Dennis said, I just got lucky. I am prone to being distracted. I'll file this away in a prominent place in my small brain and hopefully remember it at the appropriate time.

John
W.TN

[geargnasher]

Good tip, Cat. If my 20-pounder heated up with the pintle out of position it WOULD be a problem with my setup, wooden floor and all. I should have bought a clue after Lloyd's terrible mishap, but it's sinking in now. The rule of never leaving a pot unattended has kept me out of trouble so far, but even when in the immediate area it isn't like I watch it constantly. I have a nice little 1-quart cast iron saucepan that doesn't get used much, I'll be following your tip in the future, thanks.

Gear

[btroj]

Is there such a thing as a small safety tip?
I have had a pot drain while hearing up. Luckily I had an old cast skillet under the spout. Made a nice, big ingot. No mess, no burns.

Good idea Cat. We all need to be reminded about some of the hazards involved in our hobby.

Brad

[Catshooter]

Yea, I try to not leave a pot unattended, but life happens. This works for me.

The only big pots I have have no holes in them. The only way they could drain is to crack but that would/could be a disaster as they are 100 pounders. Scary stuff. I can hardly imagine what 100 pounds of molten lead would do inside my tiny shop. Which is why I would only fire them up outside.


Cat

[mooman76]

My first electric(Lee) pot I left on for several days. Not because I am prone to forget things but because I thought turning it down all the way would turn it off. It did solidify of coarse but when I went out in the garage a couple days later for some reason I just thought I had to touch the hard lead. It was hot enough to burn my finger but not bad. Don't do that an more. I guess that's another safety tip for the new guys.

[Swindler1]

All of the outlets on my bench are wired off of the light switch that way if i forget to shut the pot down (and it has happened) the power is of until I come back and turn the lights on.

[nextone2]

As far back as I can remember I have had a cookie sheet under my Lyman pot. With the lip on it I am sure it would hold all the lead in the pot. I have never had a problem but would never cast without the cookie sheet in place.

[Southern Son]

I have had my Lee 20lb pot empty itself. The mix was nearly up to melting temp. and I got called into work (big disadvantage of living right next to where I worked), by the time I got back 45minutes later, I had about a big flat ingot, on the bench, all tangled around the base of the pot. That won't happen again, I moved.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Thanks Cat.

I've been struggling with this idea myself. I want to change the set-up of the bench my pot is on, and one of the ideas I'm thinking of is a removable "tree" under the spout that would be like a dual trough - running off to both the left and right of the pot - so that any spill would be diverted to multiple ingot moulds on the sides. I haven't quite got it figured all the way out yet... I have the 90-lb. Magma pot, so I need something with a bit more capacity... :shock:

[selmerfan]

All of the outlets on my bench are wired off of the light switch that way if i forget to shut the pot down (and it has happened) the power is of until I come back and turn the lights on.

I have a similar setup. I have a power strip on the bench that all of my bench lights are wired into. I HAVE to turn it on to have decent lighting at the bench, and that's what I plug my pot into. That way I shut the lights off without turning the pot off. It's just a Lyman Mini-Mag that I ladle cast from, but as we all know, life happens.

[Freightman]

Left my 20# drip-o-lator on all night, didn't leak one drop. I guess it only leaks when I am around to annoy me. It sits on a steel top steel desk so it would only make a mess.

[cajun shooter]

I had a Lee Pro 20 let go of it's entire control lever and there is no way to stop it. It was filled and I had sat down for my casting when it let go. It dumped the entire pot all over my bench and floor. The screws that hold it all together are small sheet metal screws that are just barely into a thin lip on top. Very bad design and I wrote Lee a long letter to no avail. They did not respond other than sending a new pot. I did not open the box and purchased a RCBS PRO Melt. Casting became fun again.

[casterofboolits]

Do not, and I mean do NOT leave too much lead in the Magma master Caster pot and start it up the next day without keeping an eye on it. The lead on top of the pot held the valve open while the lead on the bottom melted.

Of course the lead ran into the arms that held the mould and I used half a tank of the tourch gas to melt all the lead out! :violin:

[theperfessor]

I have an aluminum cafeteria tray that I sit my Lyman 20 lb furnace on. This sits on an all steel welding table, on a concrete floor. Not much chance of a hot metal ignition fire as the tray would catch all 20 pounds, and it's handy since the lip of the tray catches drips and other lead debris during normal casting and stops splashes and puddles from hitting the tops of my legs (I cast sitting down).

Picked up the tray at a flea market.

[Fire_stick]

Thanks for the post Cat. I really had not thought of the event happenning. Although I do have a healthy respect for the art of casting bullets. It still scares me somewhat. I guess that can be a good thing.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Do not, and I mean do NOT leave too much lead in the Magma master Caster pot and start it up the next day without keeping an eye on it. The lead on top of the pot held the valve open while the lead on the bottom melted.

Of course the lead ran into the arms that held the mould and I used half a tank of the tourch gas to melt all the lead out! :violin:

Thanks! Now, I'm REALLY motivated to come up with my lead-spill handling system! :coffee:

[Jech]

I have had my Lee 20lb pot empty itself. The mix was nearly up to melting temp. and I got called into work (big disadvantage of living right next to where I worked), by the time I got back 45minutes later, I had about a big flat ingot, on the bench, all tangled around the base of the pot. That won't happen again, I moved.

I had a similar situation happen to me...lesson learned! Never again! Fortunately for me, I was already in the habit of put a yard-sale-special cookie sheet under the pot for depositing dross skimmed from the alloy surface. Everything just pooled in that sheet and on the pot's base. Had break out the hobby torch to get it all off :groner:

[Bula]

My Lee Drip Pro-20 sits in a steel cooking pan purchased from my local thrift store. Pan is about 10X12 and maybe 2.5" tall. Shallow enough to not impede my casting. Best $.50 security i've purchased to date.

[BeeMan]

Wiring the melter power to the light circuit was mentioned as a way to ensure the pot was off when the lights are turned off.

This approach has its own safety risk. If the pot trips a breaker, you can be in the dark with a pot of molten lead. Lights belong on a separate circuit.

IIRC, there are switches available with an internal light indicating the switched circuit is live. Use one of these to switch the outlet circuit and mount it next to your light switch

BeeMan

[sargenv]

In my casting shed, the only thing that can burn is the wood of the shed, fluxing parrafin, and cotton rags I use for various things. I have my Lee 20 # put sitting on an aluminum 1/2 sheet pan of the type that professional bakers user. Under that pan, I have two cotton towels that those same bakers/professional cooks use for oven and pot holders, and then I have a wooden bench under that. The capacity of the pot will not be enough to completely overrun the 1/2 sheet pan. It has served me well.

Yep, I've had a Magma 40# pot empty out the bottom.. was a comical scene with me trying to cool down the stream.. that didn't work out well and I swore the whole time that I chipped the lead free from the bottom side of the pot..

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I have my pot screwed to the bench in four places. I cannot accidentally knock it over. I have a small frying pan under the spout. It will only hold about 1/2 of a pot but it will have to work for now. I try to keep an eye on the pot whenever it is in a melted state.