Debris question

[William Yanda]

Friends:
Anticipating use of my Lee 4-20, I have searched the threads. Lots of info but if this question has been addressed, I didn't find it. I use a separate SS pot for "smelting".
I believe the consensus is that due to design, with the element encircling the pot at mid level or so, currents are set up which carry the melted lead up along the edges and down in the center. Some find that not all the foreign matter floats, but that some is trapped under the melted lead. The question is, has anyone tried tipping the pot, so that the spout is on the high side of the bottom, rather than keeping the pot level? Understood that a secure situation is necessary when dealing with molten lead, would not tipping encourage the "trapped under the melt" debris to locate at the bottom, while the spout is feeding from melted lead that is free of the debris?
Thanks for your responses.
Bill

[DLCTEX]

Try it and post the results please.

[Iron Mike Golf]

This would be a good experiment.

Having said that, I have doubts that convection currents are carrying debris to the bottom of the pot. I can see dumping metal into the melt might drag stuff to the bottom of the pot.

My SAECO 24 has the spout at the front edge of the pot. It sits atop a welder's blanket on top os a 5 gal bucket. It is not always level. Sometimes the front is a little lower and sometimes the back is. I never looked for a difference in the performance between the two orientations, but none jumped out at me.

What I did see make a different was making sure I scrape the bottom of the pot with a metal implement. If I scrape it with a wood stick and don't follow up with a spoon, I get more clogs. I also skim beforfe adding metal (ingots or sprue) and gently lower the metal into the melt. I use a spoon to do this with sprues. I also recharge when the pot is at about 20% capacity.

[largom]

I do believe that sometimes debris does enter the spout and go into our boolits. This is why I weigh every boolit and remelt those out of the average weight class.

Larry

[RydForLyf]

The problem is not that debris 'sinks' to the bottom, but that the debris is being 'trapped' between the heavy lead and the pot. If you can move the debris off of the bottom or away from the side, it will come to the top. The problem is finding a way to do that. Scraping 'UP' the sides of the pot is the best way to do this, but is not easily done 100%.

The best thing to do is start with a clean pot and keep it clean. If it gets dirty and you start getting junky pours, the easiest way to recover is to drain, clean and start over. I've never found a really good way of cleaning a dirty pot while it's full of lead.

To clean things out, I'll usually run the pot down and then dump what's left into ingot molds. I'll restart the melt with good clean lead and then add lead, keeping the new lead from touching the sides or bottom. Any junky bullets or ingots can be added as you go.

As long as the debris stays away from the sides and bottom, it will come to the top where you can skim it off.

Good luck,

Chuck