Lead glows?

[chris in va]

When I start my pot up with a few ingots, I noticed the lead is actually glowing.



Interesting. It's only on '4' as you can see.

 

[stubbicatt]

Wow. I've never noticed that before.

 

[Mike / Tx]

You aren't using those Iso cores are you.....

I cannot say I have ever seen that before myself, it always looks nice and shiny on top, never dull and red. Might have to try looking at mine with the lights off and see if it glows too....

 

[chris in va]

It only happens when I first start it up. Once a few pucks get converted into projectiles it no longer glows. Maybe the pot's thermo sensor is acting weird.

 

[Smoke & Recoil]

Time for a new....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lee-90093-1...419830?hash=item33ab3094b6:g:hokAAOSwo6lWIQ1O

 

[mehavey]

Time for a new one of these, perchance ?
http://leeprecision.com/thermostat-110v.html

...and are you running a thermometer in the lead itself?

 

[TXAZ]

You could have an impurity / something else in there that glows when heated.

 

[jaguarxk120]

You have gotten the lead really HOT.

 

[Emerson Biggies]

you haven't been using lead that was used as shielding in an atomic reactor have you? ( just joking) Hot enough to glow would be hot enough to generate lots of poisonous fumes. Did you turn out the lights to see it glow?

 

[FrankenMauser]

According to "Metallurgy of Lead" by Heinrich Oscar Hofman...

With certain contaminants in the right proportions, such as some lead oxides, sulfur, silicon, calcium, and a few others, lead can glow between approximately 783 F and 880 F (depending upon contaminants and concentration). Below and above those approximate values, the lead is changing phases and will not glow.


So, I'd say your pot is getting a little too hot.

 

[Beagle333]

Before I got my PID, I have seen my pot glow like that before, at around 850°±

 

[hartcreek]

Yep just a bit to much heat. I crank up my old Lee bottom pour that hot when I am smelting range lead to get all the impurities out so when I use my newer Lee bottom pour I have clean melt with no junk.

 

[chris in va]

Thanks, I'll just turn it to '2' when starting up. I bought it used about 8 years ago, so no telling how old it is.

I did turn off one of the lights, and the phone camera got a decent picture of the glow with only one light on.

 

[Beagle333]

I'm far from a safety Nazi, but in the interest of useability, a replacement thermostat is only 8 bucks. If yours ain't opening at "4", it prolly ain't gonna open at "2" either.
If you are interested, here's a link:
https://fsreloading.com/parts.php?product=90009

Meanwhile, just don't stick your head over your pot.
Good luck!
Chuck.

 

[PA Patrick]

Years ago, I had a friend that used lead from shipping containers of nuclear medicine to pour a keel for a sailboat. He joked it would glow on moonless nights.

 

[mapsjanhere]

Nope, the lead would probably purify pretty nicely, but your slack might contain some serious contamination.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Years ago, I had a friend that used lead from shipping containers of nuclear medicine to pour a keel for a sailboat.

I use the containers commonly referred to by bullet casters as "Isotope Cores" for most of my bullets.

The materials transported inside of them have half-lives short enough that scrap yards and waste contractors only have to hold them for 30 days before they can be sold to the public. By that time, even the isotopes with the longest half-lives will have decayed to levels below that of natural environmental radiation.

It's great alloy.
...But getting impossible to find.