Left the Pot on over night

[DeadWoodDan]

Not going into reasons why as it was accidental, but it happened Sunday late afternoon only to go back to garage Monday morning to leave for work and find I had left my Lee 20lb on. Didn't think to check temperature, I'm curious after the fact as it was turned down a good 100degrees less than what I run for casting. Alloy had a nice hard purple color on top. I went ahead and stirred it, not sure why if formed this layer that was hard on top? I know oxidation occurs just wondering if it was those elements that formed a barrier on top?

Normally I unplug both it and hotplate when finished. Going to have to start turning dial down also, not that I will forget this.

Lee pot did its job by building up a nice "castle" up to spout.

[Whiterabbit]

my pot turns purple while im casting. Or used to. heavy alloy content, a temp a bit high. Doesn't purplize so much these days.

My guess is a factor of time and temp. For you, all night.

May I guess your alloy is at or less than 92% lead?

[big bore 99]

Almost did the same here, but remembered. After that, I plugged it into a powerstrip along with the bench light. When done and turned the light out, the pot goes too. Hope it worked out ok.

[Baja_Traveler]

I'll venture a guess that the only thing you hurt was your electric bill, which here in Southern California could amount to quite a few bucks to SDG&E (San Diego Gouge & Extortion)...

[Hickory]

When I built my building that I use for reloading and casting I wired the outlet that I use to plug in my lead pot into, to the light switch.
So, when I'm done casting, if I forget to pull the plug on the pot, It will still go off when I turn out the lights.

[Whiterabbit]

using a 20A switch, I suppose? I've gone through 15A switches by putting them on power tool stations before like a table router.

I actually do NOT do this, by design. Reason being, if I'm welding or on the table saw or something, and I overcurrent, last thing I want is to be hovering near a spinning blade over over a pile of molten metal in the pitch dark.

I actually went through significant pain and copper to ensure my lights were on separate breakers. One dedicated breaker for shop lights, and one small utility bulb shared with non shop equipment (like garage door opener).

Unless your switch is a DPST or something where you have two circuits going through one switch....

[DeadWoodDan]

not really sure of the alloy content, but know its a mix of lino and WW

[Whiterabbit]

OK, if you mix one MFRB of COWW and one SFRB of type metal, you get something that's close to hardball. my calculations show it's typically antimony heavy and tin light. Like 6-10% antimony and heat treatable, and maybe .5%-1% tin.

If you take an alloy like that and crank your pot to 10, you'll get that vivid purple crust in an hour or two of melt. weak purple in 15-30 minutes, give or take. With a more reasonable casting temp, might never see it.

I'm betting it just takes more time to form at lower temp. Total speculation, but that's my guess.

[DeadWoodDan]

thanks Whiterabbit, Ill most likely through some 98% Pb and tin back into it after draining half the pot.

[upnorthwis]

My electric bill goes up $5 for every casting session (about 5 hours). Get ready for sticker shock with the monthly bill.

[dragon813gt]

My electric bill goes up $5 for every casting session (about 5 hours). Get ready for sticker shock with the monthly bill.

What is your electric rate and how many watts is the pot? I see no difference in my electric bill and it's usually an 8-10 hour affair.

I know some will say I'm to clean and organized. But this is why you put everything away when you're finished using it. I let everything cool down and put it all away. I may leave it out if I'm going to use it the next day. But I still check on it after cooling down.

[upnorthwis]

The price increase is only something I noticed whenever there was a casting session or two during the month. Pot is only a 500 Watt Lee. My number of hours/session is only an estimate as I've never looked at the clock. I typically use so little electricity that twice in the 30 years I've lived in this house, the electric company traced the line from the transformer to the house with orange flags. My guess is they think I'm splitting the line. Before they increased the daily rate, I was only paying $28/month.

[bangerjim]

That is why I use a 10GA 10 foot extension cord stretched across my back shop patio to my WorkMate where the pot is clamped down and sits!

Impossible to leave it on. If there was a way, I would do it!!!!!!!! That prevents it.

You just subtracted a couple years off the long life of the element.

banger

[Whiterabbit]

Elements are cheap and easy to replace. I wouldn't worry.

Anyone that wants to know exactly how much money it costs you to cast via pot, you can get a kill-a-watt from home depot

http://s7d1.scene7.com/is/image/officedepot/859714_vw_etz00_1013075097?$OD-Dynamic$&wid=450&hei=450

You plug in your rate for electricity and it will tall you all sorts of good stuff like current amperage, average amerage, rolling data on how many dollars came out of that plug, etc. There's a lot in there.

The plastic is a little cheap, so it will melt a smidge if you use it for a few months on your casting pot, but if it only softens a little, it still works OK. (I only know this because I used it for one winter on an oil heater)

[Screwbolts]

I second the Kill-a-Watt, I have the plane jane version and have used it for years. They are extremely handy when using a generator also. The Kill-a-watt can tell you cycles and voltage of the output from any outlet. That is a big plus to me besides being able to actually measure the energy consumption of anything that you have running threw it.

Ken

[gwpercle]

When I built my building that I use for reloading and casting I wired the outlet that I use to plug in my lead pot into, to the light switch.
So, when I'm done casting, if I forget to pull the plug on the pot, It will still go off when I turn out the lights.

My son wired a receptacle for me on my reloading bench in an outbuilding and did the same thing, turn out the light and whatever's plugged in goes off. Whenever I want to leave my Thumbler running over night , I have to remove all the light bulbs...that's a pain! But hey, I never looked at it as a safety feature ! Good job son.
Gary

[Motor]

My brother left his Lee 10lb pot on for a few days by accident. Never hurt it. It was empty.

Motor

[Whiterabbit]

I really look at it as a safety hazard. If you trip the circuit, do you really want to be in the dark near a pot of molten lead?

[DeadWoodDan]

truth be told it was my birthday, I spent the whole day in garage casting. Wife came out to inform me WE were going to dinner with my parents and siblings. I got in a hurry filled the pot with fresh ingots and did a quick flux, ready for the next session. Normally I clean off bench and pick up waiting for mold to cool and take back to house. She just got the best of me.....too bad b.c. i had a good rhythm going.

[ShooterAZ]

There have been houses burned to the ground because of this...be careful out there!

[Hannibal]

I'm always afraid I'll forget and leave either the hotplate or casting pot on, so I have created 3 different ways that EACH one should get turned off when I'm finished. Otherwise, I'll find SOME way to forget.

I'm not worried about the electric bill. I'm concerned about a fire.

[hickfu]

I plug my pot into one of those timer things that you can set for 1,2,4,6,8 hours That way if I have to get away for any length of time it will shut itself off. I have never had it set to more then 4 hours, most times 2 (after the lead gets to casting temp) when I hear the click... I know im done