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Thoughts on casting...

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Here it is , roughly 10 years old.
 
Titan reloading.
Your part:
https://www.titanreloading.com/lee-...e-parts/mold-and-melter-parts/thermostat-110v

$9.72, cheaper than all new stuff IMHO

I get most of my LEE stuff from them great service with them. I just got a new 10 pound bottom pour crucible to replace the one on the one I bought in 1978.

I have made over 100,000 round balls with it until I tried some Marvl flux and made it unusable do to debris left by the flux.
 
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Got one just like it and its roughly the same age. I need to go see if mine is still in working order. Thanks for that link. Nice to know its there if I need it.
 
A while back it was asked if the inside of the pot was coated with beeswax. What really is the differance if one uses paraffin? And its suggested to leave a little bit of lead in the pot. That I've been doing but how much is a "little"?
 
I have made over 100,000 round balls with it until I tried some Marvl flux and made it unusable do to debris left by the flux.

I use pure beeswax to flux. I also scrape the sides and bottom of the pot so any dirt floats to the top and I can remove.
 
And its suggested to leave a little bit of lead in the pot. That I've been doing but how much is a "little"?
About 2 table spoons

I leave the pot about 2/3 full. the reason is, the pot will not corrode under the lead.
Bottom pour pots can have a problem leaking on start-up if you do this but that's easily fixable. Press down or tap on the plunder several times when the lead is cooling and begins to seize, and always have a pan under the spout big enough to hold the lead when melting, just in case.

The other reason is that the heating element wraps around the sides of the pot up about 2/3 of the way. this means that when heating the heat is transferred into the lead more directly.
 
I leave the pot about 2/3 full. the reason is, the pot will not corrode under the lead.
Bottom pour pots can have a problem leaking on start-up if you do this but that's easily fixable. Press down or tap on the plunder several times when the lead is cooling and begins to seize, and always have a pan under the spout big enough to hold the lead when melting, just in case.

The other reason is that the heating element wraps around the sides of the pot up about 2/3 of the way. this means that when heating the heat is transferred into the lead more directly.

I do the same thing you do, I have had a bottom pour for years and no problems with it, always put a pan under it for start up. E- wanted to know how little was to little so I figure 2 table spoons were too little.
 
I do the same thing you do, I have had a bottom pour for years and no problems with it, always put a pan under it for start up. E- wanted to know how little was to little so I figure 2 table spoons were too little.

Right!
When I turn the pot off I scrape the sides and bottom one last time removing the dross. this way the pot is clean under all that lead.

IMO, the worst thing you can do to a bottom pour pot is let it cool of with no lead or virtually no lead in it. upon the next melt, debris will find it's way into the spout for sure, if it doesn't just plain corrode on it's own. Then the headaches begin.
 
My thermostat on my Waage went belly up on me last year. Always run my pot at 720 degrees and never change the thermostat on it. Was casting some 550 grain bullets and everything just started to get weird with my normally routine casting. Put my thermometer in the pot and it quickly climbed to 1000 degrees plus. Had to turn thermostat down to 1 to even get it close to my normal 720. Installed a PID controller on it now and working like a champ again.
 
I've been leaving about an inch and a half in my pot. I must admit I havent been putting wax on the sides. I just hope its not all corroded by now. It does make sense to leave it "lubed up" with beeswax. Its an anti-corrosive step plus you already got it fluxed for the next use.
 
Thanks everyone for all the advice.

I already have evything I need just too melt some lead from my known source, so
I don’t have too come off the hip for anything else.

But I am going too purchase another thermostat , if I can get the pot cleaned up again.

I’ve always left the pot around 2/3 full myself.
 
The crud collecting on the top of the melt in the pictures is a mix of impurities and possibly tin, lead and antimony oxides. It is possible your lead source was from old lead pipe, have seen junk like that come to the top due to buildup of minerals in the pipe, mostly calcium from hard water. Lead pipe in hard water gets a calcium deposit that coats the inside of the pipe, it will look almost white or tan, It will come out of the lead melt but may take more stirring and fluxing. IIRC the blue is lead oxide and the gold is lead oxide with a small amount of other metals, but either condition is fine for casting.
 
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