Problem Smelting Wheel Weights

[quicksylver]

I don't know about replacing the pot you might be able to resituate that one.
the part that tells the band how hot to get might just need adjustment or replaced.
I had to do a partial re-wire and adjust the 'points' in my lee not too long ago.

Well..Fiver ..it can never be said that I don't appreciate the input or follow up with some of the suggestions...

I wanted a break from the drafting so I stepped into the next room where my pot was..I proceeded to take the cover of the control box.
there was nothing but crusty wires and connectors that crumbled to dust as soon as I touched them..off to our local ACE hardware..
got me a nice new heavy duty replacement cord for $9.00..and four wire connectors for 27 cents each....came back to the shop cleaned all the connections and rewired it..then put the cover back on...then I closed my eyes turned my head and plugged it in ....nothing happened except the pot heated up like it hasn't done in about 20 yrs....threw in a bunch of ingots till it was full..
I then put the thermo in and checked the temp it was at 750 and headed up..WOW !

I then put the control knob on and set it at 750....I then turned the knob down to 700...the furnace dropped the temp and landed right on 695..good enough for me...next test back up to 720 and wait ..but not long she went right up there..720 it was ..left it for awhile, it varied about 7 degrees max...SHE'S BACK...THANK YOU FOR THE PUSH !..I AM ONE HAPPY CAMPER..

Now for the oatmeal..it's still there ..and the coloration is now on the top.. no amount of fluxing changes the situation...

I am going to try a different batch before I give up on smelting these...

 

[fiver]

woo-hoo.
one of the good ones back in business.

I generally do a quick clean of my ww smelting then cherry pick the good alloy out working the pot down.
then I attack all the gunk left behind with the various fire implements and scraping tools.
working every bit of dark junk out of the pot that I can.
then re-filling it to start over again.
since I run two cleaning pots I will quite often move alloy between them scraping the gunk or good alloy from one to the other.
after I get it all worked down into ingots I re-run them all through making one big batch and cleaning them again.
it's time consuming and kind of a pain, but in the long run it pays off.

 

[quicksylver]

OK....so I took JW's advice and started testing each piece before I threw them in the pot...WOW ..I am glad I did..what a difference.
we're back to the old days..nice clean stuff..

As I said it's been awhile since I've done this..I mostly use pure lead and pewter that has been dropped off by my pickers, mixed with lino that I purchase...the only other "alloy" I use is the x-ray containers my nephew picked up when they were cheap-cheap ..( he's got a couple of tons).

Thanks guys..

I do think I am going to buy a Lee pot to have on hand..just in case...or maybe to smelt with..