hot plate 750 watts

[quiknot]

i purchased a single burner hot plate this morning from wally world...750watts...not sure if that wattage is too low as it took a long time to heat up a few pounds of range lead...i fired up the coleman stove and had over 30# of finished ingots before i got 10# of ww's ready for ingot production....

question is: do i need a higher wattage?....saw a small fryer at 1300 watts.....but it did not have a temp control just one constant temperture setting...

thanks...

[duke76]

I use one of those burners from wally world and could not get it to work as I liked so what I ended up doing was bypassing the adjustable temp control so it was full on , after that I never had any problems.

[454PB]

Without some shielding around the pot to hold the heat in, a 750 watt element is going to be limited to small pots of alloy. I've used one to do 5 to 8 pounds at a time, but the melt time is long. In addition, most of the hotplates you find at wally world are not going to hold up for very long at the high temperatures required.

I think you would be happier and better served by one of the Lee electric pots. These operate at 500 to 700 watts (depending on the model), melt quickly, and hold the temperature well for casting. The difference is the shielding and the fact that the element is wrapped around the pot.

[Bret4207]

I've had no problem using a Wally World hot plate and 12 cup stainless measuring cup with 20-25 lbs alloy. I run it wide open and can get to my prefered slightly frosty booits in 20-25 minutes. Maybe the pot makes a difference? I 've been using the hot plate over 2 years without any issues. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[shooter2]

Most of these hot plates have a built in thermostat and will not allow it to get hot enough to do much with lead.

[quiknot]

maybe i need a lighter pot ..as now i use a cast iron pot...maybe too heavy to heat both pot / lead...

[Bret4207]

I checked this morning. My hot plate is 1100 watts. That would appear to be the difference. I use it every day, twice a day to heat a bucket of water in the barn with no problem, in addition to boolit casting.

[Marshal Kane]

maybe i need a lighter pot ..as now i use a cast iron pot...maybe too heavy to heat both pot / lead...

Suggest getting a propane powered turkey fryer to use with your cast iron pot. Can find them on sale for about $30 and they put out plenty of BTUs.

[mazo kid]

One of my lead melting hotplates is an old timey cast iron, double plate I picked out of the trash one morning on my way to work. I figured if it didn't work, I could recycle it. 16 years later it is still going, has the 2 knobs on the front with 3 heat settings each. The larger plate will get red hot on high. Putting a circular shield around the smaller plate (or a larger pan over it) makes it more efficient. Emery