Lead melting/pouring problem...HELP

[bassman1282]

For you melters and pourers, I am hoping you have run into this problem because the explanation is going to sound weird and it is pi#$ing me off to no end.

Recently I have been having more than average problems pouring lead out of my pot. It gets clooged a lot more and it seems like when I do make a head, the lead looks purple-ish or yellowish in certain spots and is not the same good hard consistency as lead. Also, when pouring, sometimes the stream of lead will literally harden in mid air and kind of look like a piece of tinsel or something. There are times when the "good" lead actually drips from the spout through a "skin" of this crappier looking stuff. Also, when I pour it into bars, the bottoms of the bars look all purple ish and grainy and dont look like good smooth lead. Finally, I seem to scoop a ton of yellowish stuff off the top of the lead pool inside the pot.

I realize that it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that I have probably got a bad batch of lead, but its the same stuff that I have used for some time without these kinds of problems.

Is there any other explanation for this? And can I do anything to "purify" this stuff? Any help is greatly appreciated, I am really on my last nerve. Thanks.

[Jig Man]

The first thing I'd do is skim off all the crap on top.  Get the lead out of the pot and give it a good cleaning.

Then I'd remelt the lead and flux it.  The way I flux is when the lead is hot I drop candle wax into the lead.  If it doesn't burst into flame, I light the smoke.  I stir the lead until the fire goes out.  Then skim off the top again.

After this, I flux everytime I heat the pot.  If you haven't fluxed, you may be amazed at the difference you will see in the lead.

When pouring I keep a propane torch handy.  If the lead stream starts getting choked off or the pot starts dripping, I fire up the torch and head the spout for a few seconds.  Then keeping the torch on the spout, I open it up and let the gunk flow out into a catch pan.  Then I am good to go again.

[cadman]

First of all there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

#1 What type of pot ( model # etc)?

#2 Is the lead hard or soft?

#3 What type of mold are you trying to pour into?

#4 How hot is your pot?

You can clean your lead and purify it some with bees wax then light the smoke. Purple lead usually means that the lead is too hot. All pots will drip. The yellowish stuf on top is from oxidized lead just carefully spoon it out............Here are some answers to your questions. I'm sure more will chime in.

[bassman1282]

The mold makes no difference, the problem is in the pot. Soft lead. I use a standard 10lb Lee Melting pot. I usually have the heat turned up all the way, so maybe I am just getting too much heat. Also, I will give the fluxing a shot.

[Jig Man]

You have your heat way too high.  Lead melts at like 600°F.

[cadman]

The mold makes no difference, the problem is in the pot. Soft lead. I use a standard 10lb Lee Melting pot. I usually have the heat turned up all the way, so maybe I am just getting too much heat. Also, I will give the fluxing a shot.

If you have a Lee IV bottom pour pot, then you should have it on no higher than 7-7.5 on the dial. If you are pouring soft lead, you should have no problems with your pours.