Instead of cleaning

[Helianthus]

Have the house to myself and decided I better take advantage of it. It took about 30min and used up the last of my hooks. My mold is now 200+ with pours and starting to show slight wear. I'm surprised that it has lasted this long and think I could still get another 100 from it if I ask nicely. My pot was giving me trouble as it seemed the spout kept getting clogged and was down to a slow drip for most of the pours. The batch of lead I used was the same lead I used last time;however, this time it kept getting that crud on the top. Does this happen if lead is kept heated to long or reheated more than once? The first time I heated it there was nothing but shine. Also, Is there any type of regular maintenance for the inside of the pot? It seems I get a lot of the rust type build up. The mold is nothing fancy and produces jigs that are better kept to myself but once painted they look pretty decent.

 

[JSC]

Lookin Good.
Sounds like you need to do some "Fluxing" ... a regular thing to do.
Make a search on "Fluxing" & I think You will find enough to get you goin.

 

[StumpHunter]

Cool mold.

 

[Helianthus]

Thanks y'all!

So already fluxed clean lead may need re-fluxing after being used?

 

[Fatman]

Yep sure does help. I'm the wierd one I guess I clean my pot after every use and even though I've fluxed before I'll do it when I start another pot and when I add more when I get low. Cool looking mold

 

[smalljaw]

You don't need to do a lot to the pot, the lead is the biggest concern. If your pot isn't letting a stream out it may be time to empty the pot and all you need to do is turn it on like you are pouring but put the lead into an ingot mold of some type like the small muffin pans or the Lee ingot mold like I use. Once the pot is empty turn it off and let it cool, once cool I take a small needle file and work inside the spot, that will clean the crud off the sides and unclog it if there is an obstruction. I use a small 4 lb precision melter along with my bottom pour pot, certain bass jigs I do and spinnerbaits work better for me with a ladle but the other purpose the precision melter is for is cleaning lead and making clean ingots. I will empty my pot maybe once every other year, when I do I will empty the small melter as well and then I melt the lead in the small melter and flux it and once it is clean I'll ladle it into ingots so when I fire up the bottom pour all the lead going in is clean. Keep an eye on the temp also, if you are running your pot extremely hot it will develop slag and you will know it is too hot as it will turn color to a copper like color, if you see that back off a bit and all pots are different, I normally keep it at 6 for most of my stuff but some jigs, again these are big bass jigs, those are the only jigs that I need to turn my pot up to 7. So there are some things for you that will help when you have some problems and it is an unfortunate thing with this hobby, eventually you'll have a problem.

 

[Fatman]

Another thing I do when casting is keeping a long piece of spinner making wire handy and if it seems the nozzle is clogging I'll put a little steel cup I have under the spout and then run the wire down through the lead and out the spout and run it back and forth and then I'll flux and start pouring again.

 

[Helianthus]

Yep sure does help. I'm the wierd one I guess I clean my pot after every use and even though I've fluxed before I'll do it when I start another pot and when I add more when I get low. Cool looking mold

What do you do to clean it? Do you use something abrasive to clean the rusty crud out? I normally drain all the lead out but leave it at that. I didn't flux it again so maybe that was the issue.

I have a trusty paper clip that I used to unclog the spout but it seemed once i unclogged it it would just clog right back. I normally leave the paper clip in it after I'm done taking all the lead out to keep it where its easy to start pouring the next time. Thanks for the advice. Greatly appreciate it.

 

[Lost Pole]

Get some better lead. Whoever gave it to you didn't know what they were doing.

 

[blt]

I use a hook shank from a 3/0 hook, hold it with pliers and force it up through the hole. You can feel the crud in there.

Wheel weights, pipe, pure lead....I use it all. I "rough" melt it, flux, sometimes twice and make ingots. Still have to clean the port at times. Now my pot gets used hard also. (RCBS pot)

 

[Fatman]

When all the lead is out of the pot WEARING GLOVES tilt it forward to get any remaining lead to flow out the hole, I turn the pot down to about 200 degrees. I pull the bar out and use an an old flat head screwdriver to scrape the sides of the pot down. I tip the pot over and knock all the scrapings out. Turn the pot off and using an old 1/4 oz jig with the barb cut off and the wire formed into an L shape I shove it up into the pour hole from the bottom and remove any clogs/buildup, then I use a piece of spinner wire (I make mepps style spinners) and do the same from the top. Knock out anything else that's in the pot.

Let the pot and the pour bar cool off ( I usually trim jigs while this is happening) When it's cool take a piece of steel wool and scrape the inside with it. Next I take an old pocket knife and clean the bar off and rub it down with the steel wool then wipe it off with paper towel.

I've done this with all my pots and it works really well, plus when you go to pour again everything is clean and ready to go.

 

[Helianthus]

Get some better lead. Whoever gave it to you didn't know what they were doing.

Think I need to flux it again. The first time I heated it was perfect.

Thanks everyone. And FM, think that's what the pot needs is a good clean. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Fatman]

Glad to help

 

[hookup]

I spray mine Lee pot down w/ silicon spray after each use. Minimizes the rust.

Also use the paper clip & needle nose pliers to clean out the spout.

Turn pot up to High & stir lead w/ old spoon & scrap the crap off the top often.

Lastly, flux each time you heat the pot.

edit. I only use clean lead in my pot. I'll get get some slag on the top. To clean lead, I use another Lee pot that's a rust bucket (buddy left it outsdie in the rain & gave it to me).