Do y'all drain your furnace after loading a half batch?

[WildcatFan]

...or do you let it just dry in there? I just ordered a Lee 20lb furnace.
Thx

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

The only time my Lee 20 lb gets below 3/4 is when I am changing alloys.

My buddy has an old Seco (probably bought in early 1960's), and it is treated the same way.

[Beagle333]

Keep some in there (at least 1/4 full) or it'll take (seemingly) forever to melt down the next pot. (airspace doesn't transfer heat from the sides of the pot to the ingots very fast.)

[kbstenberg]

I drain my pot after each session. Because I clean the inside and valve.

[KYShooter73]

Only drain when Im changing alloys, which is rarely.

[Casting_40S&W]

Keep at least one inch of alloy in it, to prevent the spout and valve seat from rusting.

[WildcatFan]

Ok, so most of y'all just let it harden in there. Exact opposite of what predicted. Lol. It doesn't hurt the drain I guess, huh?

[Tatume]

Not only do I not empty my pot, but I refill it when I'm done. That way it's ready to go next time. Just plug it in, come back 20 minutes later, and start casting.

[ElDorado]

And if you do drain your bottom-pour furnace, I recommend that you drain it until there is an inch or so remaining, and then pick it up and pour the remaining alloy out of the top. You may have grit or other foreign matter floating on the top of your melt that can get stuck in your spout and cause drips if you drain it through the bottom.

[KYShooter73]

It wont hurt it at all. Been a while since I read the Lee instructions, but I think it recommends you leave lead in the bottom.

[Shiloh]

No.

After it has cooled and pulled away from the sides, it gets a shot of penetrating oil if I am done for the season.

Shiloh

[hickfu]

I only drain mine when I want to clean it. I dont change alloys ever.... My alloy is 9.5 to 10 bhn when air cooled (which is good for pistol calibers) and 19 or so when WQ'ed. If I need it somewhere in between I will heat treat to the number I need.


Doc

[Bohica793]

Not only do I not empty my pot, but I refill it when I'm done. That way it's ready to go next time. Just plug it in, come back 20 minutes later, and start casting.

Exact same approach here. I fill it and skim it prior to shutting it off.

[Walter Laich]

Exact same approach here. I fill it and skim it prior to shutting it off.

Been doing this for years. When I'm done, refill pot, though I've been filling it as I go along, skim the crud off and let it cool for the next time.

I do notice a bit of head pressure difference from where I left off the last casting session and the new one with a full pot. But that's why the put the adjustable flow screw on the pot

walt

[500MAG]

The thing that causes problems with the drain is using your casting pot to smelt in. You can get all types of junk clogging the drain. Only clean, previously smelted, alloy in mine and I leave it full.

[Mal Paso]

And if you do drain your bottom-pour furnace, I recommend that you drain it until there is an inch or so remaining, and then pick it up and pour the remaining alloy out of the top. You may have grit or other foreign matter floating on the top of your melt that can get stuck in your spout and cause drips if you drain it through the bottom.


Yep! And surface tension can hold a bunch of crud on the bottom. I found quite a layer of powder on the very bottom first time I cleaned. The valve tip seems to collect oxides too. Other than cleaning I leave the pot full.

[MT Gianni]

I drain when I change alloys. When it has cooled I write the alloy with a permanent marker on the top of the lead.

[NoZombies]

I have several pots, and instead of changing alloys in the pot, I change the pot I'm using. could be expensive if buying retail, but 3 out of 5 of my pots were bought for $20 or less at gun shows.

[JWFilips]

I'm still new to casting ( Just started this past January) When I started out it seemed I had to drain my pot each casting session and clean it because I kept getting crud in the spout.

After being helped by the super folks on this list I found out that I needed to clean all my metals in smelting sessions then compound my boolit alloy from those clean ingots in a final clean & smelt. Now since then I'm only putting very clean boolit alloy in my bottom pour pot & I don't put wooden stiring sticks on the bottom of my pot ( only steel).

Fresh clean boolit alloy is added as needed to keep the pot full and any sprues & such go into a different container to be smelted & cleaned again in the future ( that alloy is oxidized why put it back into the pot ) Since I learned this, I have clean boolits & a clean & clear bottom pour spout. This is just my proceedure and it works great for me. Clean metal in clean metal out. Suspicious metal in , well sooner or later you will be draining and cleaning the pot.

[plainsman456]

I try to leave about an inch or so.

Does seem to melt the next batch faster.

[blikseme300]

I am of the school that refills the pot prior to ending the casting session. I also switch smelters for different alloys. Currently I operate 3 smelters and use the same PID controller for all of them. Getting ready for another casting session is simple.

I agree that only adding clean alloy is the way to go. I use a separate smelter for preparing and cleaning alloy prior to casting ingots for later use. Bottom pour can be very frustrating if junk is allowed into the smelter so keeping things clean is a must.

[bangerjim]

Not only do I not empty my pot, but I refill it when I'm done. That way it's ready to go next time. Just plug it in, come back 20 minutes later, and start casting.

+1 in this procedure. I always "build" my alloy for the next session B4 shutting down. I cast a small 1/2# ingot and write the hardness on it to remind me what is in there for next time.

Heating an empty pot takes forever! Adding a small bit of beeswax to a dry pot with lead in it speeds things up due to accelerated heat transfer of the wax.

bangerjim

[dragon813gt]

Only time I empty is when changing alloys. Which is once or twice a year when I'm making batches of hunting bullets. I do leave a little bit of lead in it. I cant leave it full because I need to remove the PID thermocouple for storage. I don't want to melt an entire pot with no control. Granted it's what I used to do but I like setting the PID and not worrying while I do other things.

[capt.hollis]

I never drain mine , only thing I do is keep the spout clean with a 90• bent needle. When that spout starts to get junk in it the quality of your bullets will go down considerably .

[luvtn]

I bought a 10 lb lee. I haven't used yet. I keep hearing/seeing the term PID (pelvic inflammatory disease?)with no definition. Help! What do you smelt in if not your furnace?
lt

[mpmarty]

I bought a 10 lb lee. I haven't used yet. I keep hearing/seeing the term PID (pelvic inflammatory disease?)with no definition. Help! What do you smelt in if not your furnace?
lt
A cast iron dutch oven over a propane turkey fryer.

[ElDorado]

I bought a 10 lb lee. I haven't used yet. I keep hearing/seeing the term PID (pelvic inflammatory disease?)with no definition. Help! What do you smelt in if not your furnace?
lt

Read this sticky and then do a search on "PID". There are other good threads out the on the subject.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?115724-Project-PID-on-Lee-Pro-4-20-furnace

Also, use a separate pot or furnace for smelting. Many casters may smelt hundreds of pounds at a time, and use large dutch ovens or turkey fryers for smelting.

[ElDorado]

Fresh clean boolit alloy is added as needed to keep the pot full and any sprues & such go into a different container to be smelted & cleaned again in the future ( that alloy is oxidized why put it back into the pot )

This is news to me. I have always considered sprues to be clean alloy, and throw them right back in the pot when I add ingots. Why would a sprue after casting be any more contaminated than the ingot before casting. Am I missing something here?

[dragon813gt]

I keep hearing/seeing the term PID (pelvic inflammatory disease?)with no definition. Help!


Straight from a google search:

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process control inputs.

The PID controller calculation algorithm involves three separate constant parameters, and is accordingly sometimes called three-term control: the proportional, the integral and derivative values, denoted P, I, and D. Simply put, these values can be interpreted in terms of time: P depends on the present error, I on the accumulation of past errors, and D is a prediction of future errors, based on current rate of change.[1] The weighted sum of these three actions is used to adjust the process via a control element such as the position of a control valve, a damper, or the power supplied to a heating element.

In the absence of knowledge of the underlying process, a PID controller has historically been considered to be the best controller.[2] By tuning the three parameters in the PID controller algorithm, the controller can provide control action designed for specific process requirements. The response of the controller can be described in terms of the responsiveness of the controller to an error, the degree to which the controller overshoots the setpoint, and the degree of system oscillation. Note that the use of the PID algorithm for control does not guarantee optimal control of the system or system stability.

Some applications may require using only one or two actions to provide the appropriate system control. This is achieved by setting the other parameters to zero. A PID controller will be called a PI, PD, P or I controller in the absence of the respective control actions. PI controllers are fairly common, since derivative action is sensitive to measurement noise, whereas the absence of an integral term may prevent the system from reaching its target value due to the control action.

[Bigslug]

I always drain the pot back into ingot molds and put it away empty - never know what alloy I'll be playing with next.

[Ohio Rusty]

I always empty the hot lead into ingot moulds. It seems that dirt or impurities gan get stuck to the bottom and sides of the pot. After it's empth and cool, I scrape the sizes and bottom with a wood paint stick to get off anything stuck inside.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[quilbilly]

Besides casting boolits, I have been casting custom fishing jigs for 30 years with Lee pots. I learned the hard way multiple times (I am a slow learner) to always leave at least 1/4" of lead melted at the bottom of the pot. Never let it run dry. This extends the life of the pot as well as preventing foreign object from causing drips that will splatter and burn you. Leaving 1/2" is even better. This may cost the loss of part of a specific alloy you are using but that is just the cost of business.

[Shuz]

One of the guys who used to re-build furnaces a few years ago, opined that in his experience, the best way to go, that gave best furnace element life, was to draw the furnace half way down before shutting off. I have followed this advice for over 20 years now and my Lyman Mag XX only recently had the elements die. I got tired of waiting for Lyman's new furnace so yesterday I bought an RCBS Pro-Melt, that appears to have been only used "by a little old lady from Pasadena on weekends"!

[fredj338]

I never empty the furnace, never. I also never have issues with the Lee pots dripping either. Those that empty often are only alloying crud into the spout. I leave mine half full + when I turn it off.

[wallenba]

I just recently began leaving about an inch deep in the pot. It really does speed up the next re-melt, and does not seem to harm anything.

[DeanWinchester]

I've been using the same lyman pot for nigh four years now. The last time I saw the bottom of the pot was four years ago when I was taking it out of the box.

[BAGTIC]

What kind of stuff are people finding in the bottom of their pots that is so heavy it will not rise to the top if the pot is kept scraped/stirred?

[HATCH]

On my master caster I might run it down till 1/4 if I been busy and hadn't paid attention to pot level.
Only time my MC pot was empty was when it was new.
After I am finished for the day, I fill it back up again.
I never change ingots type on the MC

[retread]

Leave mine clean and full for the next session. I use a Lee 20 lb bottom pour and no longer have a dripping problem.