Horace Patootie, SASS #35798 Posted August 5 Posted August 5 When you power up your lead melter, do you leave it empty until it reaches a certain temp or put lead in it to begin; or does it matter ? I received most of my equipment for this endeavor and wondered about this. Horace Quote
Jackalope Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I pack as much material in the pot as possible and cover the top with several layers of aluminum foil to keep the heat in to speed up the melting process. Once the lead starts to melt, I'll add more, keeping the pot as full as I can. Once the lead starts to melt, I'll also put the mold across the top of the pot and cover the whole works with the aluminum blanket to start it getting the mold up to temp. 3 1 Quote
El Sobrante Kid Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I'm not a bullet caster, but I can tell you from professional experience with heat, doing everything you can to maintain the pot and melted material at your desired temperature is a must for a more harmonious outcome. A good way to help with that is to make sure your source (the pot) is always as full as possible. GL! 2 1 Quote
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted August 5 Posted August 5 Starting the pot at least half full of ingots/remelt bullets prevents forgetting the pot and letting the heating elements over-heat just the pot itself, and possibly shortening the life of the resistive heating element. On shutdown, I turn off the pot current and then immediately drain lead into some ingot molds, so that I can clean any dross clinging to the walls or bottom when the pot fully cools. good luck, GJ 5 1 Quote
Cholla Posted August 5 Posted August 5 I pretty much keep something in it at all times and add any deformed bullets and sprues from the last session when it's still cold to prevent any damp lead from releasing the tinsel fairy. 3 Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted August 6 Posted August 6 Don’t run the pot empty. You run the risk of damaging the heating element. 3 Quote
Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L Posted August 6 Posted August 6 I refill mine once the casting session is done. Yes, I'm melting lead twice this way, but it saves me time when I start a new session--doesn't take as long to melt the solid full pot 3 Quote
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