How hot will 500 watts get?

[thx997303]

Was wondering if anybody has any experience with a 500 watt hot plate?

I'm away from home, and am trying to setup for casting on the cheap.

Have a 1/3 cup steel measuring cup bent out on two sides, with a vice grip handle for a dipper.

Steel pots for melting, and of course a 9mm mould. Need to get an ingot mould.

So, would the 500 watt electric burner work?

[thx997303]

Oh shoot, just found this.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=46170

[Bret4207]

Yup, get the biggest open coil type you can find. A while back someone here took a range coil and ran some type of control on it. That sucker would glow red like any good range coil and was more than hot enough. But- that's 220 volt. Not something most have access to while traveling.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Anything will get hot enough if you pump enough electricity through it. Electricity has the tendancy to want to flow all at once, so the trick is to restrict the flow with resistance. So the answer to your question is YES technically, but how long you want it to last is the real question.

Coffee pot hot plates would work too, but they have those little thermostats built inline so they kick on and off to keep your pot warm when not actually making coffee.

A hot plate might be slow to heat to the required temperature to melt lead due to the exposure to room temperatures.

I'd just buy one of the LEE 5 lb. pots and a dipper for on the road use.

Lord, don't spill that hot lead on the carpet in a motel room- the Greenines willl report you, and then you'll have the EPA in there cleaning up a Supersite!

[montana_charlie]

500 watts will heat a small pot of lead as well as 1000 watts will heat a large pot of lead.
But, the 500 watt hotplate was probably not intended (when designed) to reach lead melting temperatures. Therefore, the temperature control (thermostat) will probably not allow the unit to get hotter than 500 degrees...if that much.
CM

[thx997303]

Ha! I'm not staying in motel rooms, so I don't have top worry about spilling lead there.

I'm on active duty in texas and have an apartmenrt here.

I ended up buying a 25 dollar two burner propane stove from wally world.

Is it normal for a 10000 btu burner to make stainless steel cherry red?