Help! Problem with lead for bullet casting...

[Smokey Joe]

Casting along, using wheel weights we smelted earlier today. Nice clean ingots put into RCBS casting furnace. Molten lead running well, casting good bullets, when suddenly the lead starts to run slowly, then drip, then almost stop. Furnace set at 725° F. Tried lower and higher settings to no avail.

Wot the heck went wrong??? I now have a casting furnace half full of lead that won't run out the bottom.

Suggestions? Please?

 

[zxcvbob]

The spout is plugged up. Run a wire up it from the bottom to clear the debris.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Plugged you say??/

Well, I'll try it. Report forthcoming.

 

[FROGO207]

Make sure to bend the wire so if the lead comes out it does not get your hand. Guess how I know this tidbit.:banghead:

 

[rcmodel]

And have a pan ready to catch it in, cause the valve my not shut off until you get all the junk out of it.

rc

 

[fireflyfather]

The best way to avoid this in the future is to put clean lead in the pot in the first place. You said you already did that. I guess a bit of grit got past you somewhere. It's happened to me quite a few times. I find a bent paper clip works pretty well.

 

[A Pause for the Coz]

This is a common ailment for casters.
I keep two items handy for those times when a good ream is in order.

I have a small needle nose vise grip with a paneling nail, The kind with the ribs.

I also have a propane torch. The kind used for soldering copper pipes.

If the flow is slow or dripping just take the nail and clean out the nozzle. Flow will return to normal.

If she is locked up cold a bit of heat on the nozzle area will melt the stubborn ones then you can get the nail in it.

Dont need it often, But can guarantee if I moved the Vise grips... Yea thats right.

 

[243winxb]

Flux at maximum temperature, clear bottom pour spout while fluxing. Just open like you filling a 4 cavity mould. Then drop temp. after mould is hot.

 

[Ditchtiger]

When the pot is up to temp tap on the spout with screw driver, pliers, etc., something light.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Thanks for all the advice!

Zxcv Bob--Tried a simple wire last night to no avail. I think I've devised a tool to get all the way up the nozzle; will try that today.

Will be careful of burns and overflows--getting burnt is not my favorite thing. Got one small one while casting yesterday; that's enough thank you.

This is my first real clog; haven't been casting all that long. Tried hard to keep crud out of the lead, but I do respect Murphy's Law; some will get past a body.

Thanks to all who took time to consider my dilemma and offer advice.

 

[243winxb]

Babbitt!! Or Alloys containing some Copper

If temerature is low on start up. copper will collect on the bottom. Then it moves to the spout, soon or later.

The next problem is to see how it melts. This is preferably done in something other than a bottom pour pot, because when there is any amount of copper, you’ll have a clogged pot around the nipple that will really enhance your vocabulary. Use the suggested sheeting test as described earlier before putting any “final” mix containing Babbitt into the casting pot.

http://www.lasc.us/FelixBabbitbulletAlloy.htm

 

[dbarnhart]

I keep a BIC lighter nearby. If the spout freezes up then a few seconds with the lighter has it flowing again.

I also have the RCBS Pro-Melt, and I find that it's best not to wait until it is too empty to refill it. As soon as it will take a couple pounds of ingots I drop them in. The recovery time is about zero that way.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Progress report...

Well, today I heated up the furnace again, and bailed the lead alloy out, then dumped out the last ingots' worth. There was an interesting collection of yellow-brown stuff, almost sandy in consistency, plus some black ashy burnt stuff, on the bottom & sides of the pot. Scraped that all off, all gone now.

BUT: Pot still will not pour; nozzle is still plugged. I devised a cleanout tool from a bicycle spoke (right diameter, nice stiff steel, bendable at need), but could not get it all the way up the nozzle, even with taps from plastic hammer. Even after heating nozzle with a torch. I think the sandy stuff is jammed around the rod that goes down to open & close the nozzle.

It was a newbie mistake--I bought a used furnace, it had a layer of lead in botttom of pot then, and rather than cleaning it out I just put in more lead and started pouring. Worked well for several sessions but then all of a sudden...

So, now the hole around the nozzle shut-off rod is filled with a deposit of the grainy material.

(243 Win XB--No babbitt metal. Wheel weights, carefully sorted to avoid the dreaded Zn problem. Aside from that, pure lead with lead-free solder to supply a tin content.)

I think my next move is a call to RCBS custserv tomorrow. When the furnace cools today I may pick at the deposit with something pointy.

And thanks again to one & all for their consideration and advice.

 

[chris in va]

Probably rust or dirt.

 

[zxcvbob]

I don't know what kind of valve RCBS furnaces have. I just went through this with my Lee 20# pot. Can you take the valve rod out completely, and turn the [empty] pot upside down and heat the spout with a propane or MAPP torch? Get it good and hot, then go after it with that bicycle spoke or an acetylene torch tip cleaner.

Your spoke might be just a *little* too big if the spout is not the same bore all the way thru.

 

[Cherokee]

I have been know to use a proper sized drill bit to ream out the clog - it did work on the Lee pot. Don't know about RCBS. Usually the wire up the spout works for me.

 

[Striker Fired]

Its funny how everything floats on lead but if it gets mixed underneith , the weight will trap it there.
When I melt up a pot , I ground a spoon tip flat and will go down next to the rod and scrape across the bottom and up the side. You'll be surprized at how much ash and junk will keep coming up with the spoon. I cover the whole bottom and side at least twice, or until my skin starts to drip. Then it is usually pretty clean.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Before you send it off, try getting it hot and put a little canning parafin wax (a 1/2" cube is enough) and use a bic lighter to ignite the smoke/fumes.... to burn it off. I also use this as my flux..... I also use a little of it on the surface of the lead when melting the ingots in the pot when starting a new batch. Stirring well from time to time and before starting to cast and any time you take a break from the casting will prevent the build up of this residue on the bottom of the pot....

The parafin will "flux" the metal in the pot and should clean out the nozzle. I always melt/flux and skim my wheel weights in another pot and pour into ingots.

The yellow/brown "dust/grit" is a by-product from the alloys used in the wheel/weight metal... some is arsenic and other is something with sulphur... which gives it the yellow color... do use a dust mask while casting. This will keep you from inhaling lead dust....

And I too keep a piece of old bicycle spoke on the bench. Been using the same piece of spoke since 1978 !!!!

 

[MEHavey]

Pot still will not pour; nozzle is still plugged.

...and you have now discovered why the really old-pro casters plug the holes up and start using a simple ladle/dipper with the spout in firm contact with the mould/sprue hole.

much better/more consistent control of lead pressure to fill the edges out sharply, and to assess/clean the 'crud' that builds up in spout (by simply using the dipper to stir the flux into the mixture)

 

[erikk8829]

I usually flux the pot several times while I am pouring (I use a piece of candle wax about the size of a large pea, and always after adding another ingot. Drop it in and stir with a long handle spoon held with a pair of vise grips. I also ignite the pot with a Bic to keep the smoke to a minimum

 

[Smokey Joe]

Update...

Well, got the nozzle cleared, finally!

It only took 2 days of fooling around, plus the use of a dremel tool with a cone-shaped grinding head, lots more torch heating, more use of my bicycle-spoke poker, partially dismantling the furnace, and a scraper of my own design.

Got that done too late in the day to try a new batch of lead in furnace--will do that tomorrow. I will flux faithfully! I will not heat the lead hotter than 650°. I will scoop off the dross regularly.

Learnt my lesson. Just hope the cleaned-out nozzle works!

Will keep y'all informed.

And a hearty Hi-Yo-Thankyou, to all who gave advice.

 

[dragon813gt]

There should be no dross in your production pot. All you should have to do is place some sawdust on top to help create an oxygen deprived layer. If you're having to scoop out dross your ingots are not clean enough. Remedy that by melting them down in another pot and thoroughly flux them again.


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[erikk8829]

You can never over flux IMHO

 

[Smokey Joe]

Final update...

Got bullets cast. Have been doing all the above in my garage, w/the big door open, for ventilations' sake. A little breeze does get in. Apparently that's enough to cool the pouring nozzle on the furnace.

So, when the furnace pour slows to drips--having fluxed, and using clean lead in clean pot--I turned on a propane torch and gave the nozzle a shot or 2. Nozzle responds by un-plugging and running great.

Cast up a nice mess of .452 semi-wadcutters.

Following day I set up my Lyman lube/resizer--it's the old model, and they say it doesn't fit on their heating pad, but I got it to fit anyhow--and sized the bullets to .451 and lubed with Orange Magic.

Worked slick.

Thank you one and all for all your helpful thoughts and advice!

 

[popper]

propane torch and gave the nozzle a shot or 2.

Works great. That pot has a steel nozzle which cools fast. I haven't figured a way to insulate it or add a big chunk of steel around it to keep it hot yet. The alloy you are using has a higher melt temp. If it flows like water, too much tin. You can run @ 760F and the nozzle won't freeze so easily. I use a SS putty knife, long one, which gets the bottom and sides well. Don't forget to scrape the valve rod also, junk wants to collect there (scrape away from the valve).