i failed at smeltng...

[par0thead151]

if i can not get this setup working i will retrn it to harbor freight.
who sells turkey friers? how many BTU's is that?
is there any route i can go that would allow me to use natural gas as the fuel? i ask because my grill is right next to where i smelt(by right next to i mean a good 15 feet away and i could run a gas line from the grills nat gas line.
unlimited fuel cant hurt.
i will try not using a regulator and see if it improves melt time.

[angus6]

If I remember correctly when converting a propane bbq to n.g you drill the orifices to a bigger size , not sure if a hi-psi regulator would take care of it or not

[snuffy]

You're lucky yours didn't crack like mine did! First try at smelting/melting scrap lead resulted in the HF dutch oven going PLINK! It hadn't been on the turkey fryer for 5 minutes! HF replaced it, but a buddy had one, non-HF dutch oven that he had been using for melting sinker lead. He let me borrow it, then gave it to me. So I don't know if the replacement will crack or not.

My opinion is as others here, your burner is anemic, and the pot is too high off the flame. I dunno what my T fryer is rated for, but I can melt a 6 quart pot full of lead in under 30 minutes. I seldom run it at full open.

[RustyFN]

This is the one I have, $50.


http://bayouclassicdepot.com/sp10_propane_burner.htm
I can fill up the six quart dutch oven and scoop the clips when melted, fill in again to get a full pot and scoop again. In around 30 minutes I have a full pot. The pot will hold almost one full cat liter bucket doing it that way.
Rusty

[high standard 40]

Never use a propane bottle without a regulator. It is not safe. Just because some have done it without incident does not make it safe. Get an adjustable regulator and you can crank it up safely. There was a flash fire accident here with someone cooking with a propane bottle without a regulator. My advice would be don't do it.

[44man]

Never use a propane bottle without a regulator. It is not safe. Just because some have done it without incident does not make it safe. Get an adjustable regulator and you can crank it up safely. There was a flash fire accident here with someone cooking with a propane bottle without a regulator. My advice would be don't do it.

None of my Coleman conversion kits came with regulators, not even for the heater. Just a hose with the fitting for the tank. Use the valves on the appliance. My plumbers stove did not have one either, just a hose.
I would not use propane in or near the house or a building without a regulator or on my BBQ, but see no harm outside when melting lead. Just don't kick the bottle over.
I think propane uses a larger orifice because my kitchen propane stove never had a hot flame. I asked the guy that fills the tank and he said it was set for natural gas. It was supposed to have been right when I bought it. He cranked it to the other setting and the wife now complains when she burns food.

[Typecaster]

This high pressure Camp Chef single burner is rated at only 60,000BTU but can handle a 200 pound potload of WW in short order ! It melts the batch in my homemade steel "pots" faster than another 186,000BTU unit I had !

I think most of the burners are now imported from China and the sellers simply slap on a BTU rating that sounds good for quick sales !

Jerry—

I'm curious about a 186-MBtu burner, especially if your 60-MBtu Camp Chef outperforms it. For all practical purposes, LP-gas (almost never pure propane, but a mix of propane, butane and propylene) contains 91,500 Btu per gallon. Assuming you're feeding from a 20-lb cylinder, which holds 4.73 gal. of LPG, you have 432,795 Btu at your disposal. A 186-MBtu burner would drain the cylinder in less than 2-1/2 hours...was that your experience with that burner? If a cylinder lasted any longer than that (with the burner going full blast) there was some "creative" rating going on.

I'll echo your praise of Camp Chef products, but I'm pretty sure that they are imported as well...at least they were when I did a write-up on them for a magazine back when turkey frying was new and different. Quality products, quality people.

I use a Bayou Classic turkey fryer burner from The Home Depot that was on clearance because somebody filched some of the accessories. The company website doesn't list Btu ratings, but when I was smelting my stash it didn't take long, and it doesn't roar like a weed burner or a gas forge. Now if I could just disguise the smell of WWs cooking...

Richard

[44man]

Propane tanks do not have a lot of pressure. The gas is liquid and pressure changes as it gets used. The regulator maintains a constant flow. Sun on the tank or a bitter cold day changes things so a regulator is a good idea.
Natural gas is a steady flow at a more even pressure. A regulator only adjusts fluctuations.

[GLL]

Richard:

Some of my Camp Chef burners (we have twelve) are pretty old. The two newer models have completely different components so may indeed be from China. The welding on my older single high pressure burner does not look like the cheaper stuff from China though. A couple of my dual burner camp stoves with the new valve manifolds may certainly be imports but are still well made.

The 186,00 BTU Chinese unit I bought to test did not consume propane at a rate any greater than our
the 30,000BTU Camp Chef camping stoves ! Very interesting !

That 60,000BTU high pressure burner sounds like a 747 taking off and puts out a LOT of heat !

"I LOVE THE SMELL OF WHEEL WEIGHTS IN THE MORNING"

Jerry

[Typecaster]

Thanks, Jerry, I thought so (re: propane consumption).

I do have concerns about "burner noise" because we Kalifornians who live in the hills and have exotic hobbies don't like to draw attention to ourselves.

Richard

[Baron von Trollwhack]

RustyFN and several others show a good typical set up for using a fair amount of scrap periodically to make your ingots. Couple of things to consider.

My setup and pot is similar and holds about 60 pounds of ingots. Thus I make 60 pound lots and keep separate as I melt all the plubnumious scrap by the potful. Leaving a bit of melt in the pot does in fact help the later melts go quicker. Sometimes a bit of cardboard wind shielding is helpful, as is a lid cocked to help hold in the heat and let off smoke, the smoke will carch fire sometimes too.

Tell your neighbors it's for the children, I mean, for fishing sinkers. 0 is watching. no shorts while cooking, long sleeves, goggles, gloves; you know the reason, try to have lots of cheap molds or hold an ingot party. Viva turkey cookers, collards too !

BvT

[Fixxah]

Here's my setup. I need a bigger pot though.

[jawjaboy]

This high pressure Camp Chef single burner is rated at only 60,000BTU but can handle a 200 pound potload of WW in short order ! It melts the batch in my homemade steel "pots" faster than another 186,000BTU unit I had !

I think most of the burners are now imported from China and the sellers simply slap on a BTU rating that sounds good for quick sales !

I am sold on the quality construction of the Camp Chef ( Made in Utah) but it is pricier than Harbor Freight and WalMart !

Jerry

Where's those fancy rectangular ingot moulds in that pic?

.

[GLL]

jawjaboy:

Check this thread ! You must have missed it

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45817

Very old cast iron muffin pans plus rust equals nice 1.5 pound ingots !

The larger six pound ingots are from custom welded steel moulds from jawjaboy!

Slight rust is extremely beneficial !

Jerry

[Ghugly]

If you have it handy, natural gas is the way to go. Smelted 400 lbs at my kids house. His wife went over the gas bills, convinced that the monster was burning money, and couldn't see any difference from the months with no smelting. You need a bigger flame to do the same job, but it sure is cheap.

[ghh3rd]

I just got a Bayou Classic burner 185,000 btu ($49 at Lowe's) and a 20lb tank of propane. I couldn't believe how quickly it melted a half dutch oven full of WW - perhaps about 10 min. That thing puts out a ton of heat. Yesterday at lunch I came home, fired it up and tossed a 33 lb chunk of lead (about 1x10x6") on end. It took a few minutes but soon looked like a stick of butter melting from the bottom. 33lbs of ingots later I was back at work.

To bad I bought a burner. Rght after I used it my brother in law said he has three and would have given me one.

Randy

[par0thead151]

If you have it handy, natural gas is the way to go. Smelted 400 lbs at my kids house. His wife went over the gas bills, convinced that the monster was burning money, and couldn't see any difference from the months with no smelting. You need a bigger flame to do the same job, but it sure is cheap.

ok im interested. please tell me what i need to go with the nat gas route.
i have 1500# of wheel weights to smelt, so i need efficiency. and if i can get more at 20 cents or less a pound i will pick up another ton. IE a lifetime supply.

[par0thead151]

bump for those who use natural gas and are willing to share their setup info with me
thanks

[RustyFN]

The tank I use is from the BBQ. I had it filled and smelted two different times, around 800 pounds of ingots and still have a little left in the tank. That's with the 185,000 BTU one in the picture.
Rusty

[par0thead151]

well maybe i will just get a upgraded burner then as i have a blue rhino tank like the one posted above this post. i had no idea they lasted that long in terms of poundage able to smelt per jug. it costs 18$ to refill in my nec of the woods.
so 40$ in fuel to melt the lead is not too bad.
on a more promising note, i got my lee 6 cav mould today, and the promelt 20#er furnace, and a RCBS thermometer. now i just need handles for the 6 cav mould...