Quick question on bottom pour pots.

[Changeling]

When you are pouring bullets and want to stop for the day does it hurt anything to leave a few pounds of lead in the pot and just start it up again when you want (Lee Pot).

[Wayne Smith]

Nope. In fact your next melt will be easier with lead in the pot.

[snake river marksman]

I just read the instruction with mine and they recommend doing that.

[cptinjeff]

+1 on above.

Only things to think about:

Are you going to use a different alloy next time?

Do you need to lable it (with a pice of tape with the mix written on it)

[jhalcott]

CPT, That IS my problem. Not knowing what alloy mix I'll need the next time. So I usually empty the pot when the casting session ends. I have 2 pots now and one is always used for a Lyman#2 mix. The other one gets pure, lino or mystery metal.

[Down South]

I mostly use WW + 2% tin so I top my pot off at the end of a session. I keep a pile of ingots that are already alloyed with the tin. when I get close to running out of those I'll drain what's left in the pot into my ingot molds for a fresh supply. If I decide that I want a different alloy, I'll heat up the pot and pour it all back into ingots then mix up my other alloy. I usually clean the pot at this time too. I try to clean the pot about every three fillings.

[fredj338]

Probably the reason that so many casters complain about the Lee pots dripping. I have never emptied mine, never. I leav it at least 1/4 full when done. THis not only speeds up melting time next session, but keeps crud from getting down into the spout & causing leaks. If you want to change alloy, leave at least 1/8 of the pot full & go from there. I solved my alloy issues by buying another pot. I use 25-1 mix for LHP so it stays filled w/ that. The 20# gets ww or 50/50 ww/range scrap. Easy enough to change, if I have ww, run it to half then add range scrap ingots.

[sqlbullet]

I always fill mine back up before I unplug. I don't let it all melt, but if it is half full in a 10lb pot, I drop in 3-4 ingots and then unplug.

[Shuz]

This topic was discussed a few years ago, and the conclusion I drew from that exchange was that it is best to allow your pot to remain about half full when shut down. Supposedly it is easier on the furnace elements and keeps crud from plugging the pouring spout and facilitates the next start up, as mentioned earlier. I've been using that method for many years now and have been very happy with it.