ventilation

[Ironhorse McClain]

came across 300 lbs. of wheel weights and would really like to get some ingots cast soon,problem is,it's too dern cold to open my garage door right now.I thought about installing a standard range hood over my casting table and venting it to the outside.Any pards out there got any feed back? Thanks

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733]

You better install something 'cause WW have all kinds of junk on them, dirt, grease, paint, dog piss. Plus all the rubber tire stems, chewing tobacco, and general garbage that ends up in the buckets. Makes for a lot of smoke sometimes.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

A range hood will work ...... sorta. There has to be a source of "make up air." You actually need a 24" box fan in a doorway in conjunction with your range hood. The gasses that can be produced by your lead pot can be/are quite toxic (you already know that).

While the range hood will assist in removing the toxic gasses and smoke, it WILL NOT completely function without "over pressuring" the room. You have to have the source of make up air.

 

Coffinmaker

[Noz]

This does not take the place of adequate ventilation but you can reduce the amount of smoke and fumes by floating an inch of kitty litter on top of the wheelweights in the initial processing. The kitty litter absorbs the noxious stuff and can easily be disposed of. Use fresh litter for each new pot of WW.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

Another +1 for pressurizing your room. Look at the specs on your range hood for the cfm (cubic feet per minute) rating for the fan and get a bigger fan bringing fresh air into the room. This will help ensure the blower/fan in your hood is being used to the best of its ability.

[Guest diablo slim shootist]

the whole thing sounds iffy to me -wear a gas mask too!

[Assassin]

Ironhorse, wait until it warms up, lead is nothing to play with. The side effects of bad ventilation are not worth taking a chance.

 

 

LL'

[Smithy]

The best ventilation for me has always been (WW or not) to use an attic fan or its in house equivalent located to the side of the melt drawing air/smoke away from the melt. So in your garage if you could have the small door open with this fan at floor level drawing the smoke out, backfilling with fresh air through house air and air through cracks in the rest of the garage you should be in business as the attic fan moves a sufficient amount of air to make that happen. Smithy.

[Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440]

For WW I ONLY cast in the garage, just inside the open bay door, and would NEVER do it inside an enclosed space, no matter how well vented. Too much grease, rubber, crud and crap that is nasty. Now casting bullets from clean alloy, I use a range hood with an enlarged hood space modified by adding aluminum flashing metal all around it, doubling the interior volume or more, (much deeper than factory kitchen hood), and directly vented outside with a BIG, unrestricted duct) over my master caster. Even then I go easy with the wax flux and ignite that quickly to limit smoke. But process WW, NO WAY!

 

Now, if ya have a GOOD FRIEND who owns one of them "salamander" type forced air kerosene heaters you could borrow (I would say "buy", but that would blow the economics of smelting 300 lbs of WW all to heck) to blow warm air on YOU while ya worked in the open garage, yer WW smelting might work ok on a calm day with little wind to mess with pot temps.

[Iron Pony]

Hate to say it Ironhorse but bundle up and deal with the cold is probably the best thing to do. As others have said ww just has too much crap associated with it do smelt it in any type of enclosed space without mega exhaust. I'm lucky in that I dont have to use ww and my winter casting set up is a 20 lb bottom pour pot on a small table DIRECTLY in front of a window at the back end of the enclosed porch. I have a 2 foot box fan about a foot behind it exhausting to the outside. That window is open fully and one at the opposite end of the porch is open all the way as well. I get very good flow from directly behind me to the great outdoors; smoke from fluxing doesnt hardly get above the pot before its sucked outside.

 

On a positive note I think our "winter" bullets come out even better then "summer" bullets so I like to cast long range stuff when its cold. That and you really reduce the risk of a drop of sweat ski jumping off you nose into a hot pot.

[Fairshake]

If you install a roof or gable type exhaust fan in your wall. I've casted since 1970 and know of several others that have the same type set up. You will also need a shop floor fan to move the fumes towards the wall installed fan. I have mine in a 12x24 metal building and have used it for over 10 years. Granted the outdoors would be the best option. Just make sure that you are behind fan. No gas mask needed.