Using a turkey fryer burner?

C

chris in va

New member
I've been using a little electric burner to melt wheelweights. It works well enough in the summer but just can't do it in the wind or cold weather.

I like that the occasional zinc weight will just float to the top, but how do you prevent one from melting in a higher BTU burner? Do I set this thing on 'low' or something else?
 
Using a turkey fryer burner?
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I use a turkey fryer but it does not plug in, it comes with a bottle for gas, I also have the large 'good old' gas pot with heavy cast posts. I am not afraid of it but it is not my first choice because if something went seriously wrong I could have a fire I can not manage.

My wife went to complaining about her ability to see through the steering wheel of my pick up. The 3 pieces of slate from a pool table did not help but she took care of that. She took of suddenly and dumped all three pieces at an intersection. She felt bad about it so I tried to cheer her up. I suggested getting rid of the 400+ pounds of slate had to help her visibility and she said nothing. I went to the Intersection and loaded the shattered slate and we took off for the city dump. It was there her curiosity peaked when she grabbed some of my lead thinking somehow it belonged to a pool table.

I did not loose any lead but she wanted to know where it came from; I had to tell her the whole story about the x-ray machine in a lead lined room. Anyhow, the visibility over the hood has improved. That was when I had to find my axes for cutting the sheets in small pieces.

F. Guffey
 
I like that the occasional zinc weight will just float to the top, but how do you prevent one from melting in a higher BTU burner? Do I set this thing on 'low' or something else?
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Just keep an eye on the melting alloy...if something seems to be floating on top without melting, remove it. There is a long enough window of opportunity before the melt will get high enough to melt zinc.
 
I used to be into home canning. I found out that a "turkey fryer" produces a really hot and concentrated flame that doesn't like to be dialed down. So, when someone gave me an old turkey fryer, I pulled out the original rusted burner and replaced it with a burner from a "camp cooker". The burner is much larger with lots of smaller holes. I can dial it down low enough that I can easily cook scrambled eggs on it if I wanted or I can crank it up higher than I ever need. The replacement burner cost me about $13 or so.

I've never tried doing smelting on it but I'm thinking this is the kind of burner you'd be looking for.
 
A lead thermometer is your best friend IMHO. Turn the burner down some amd watch the melt as was said if it acts like it doesn't want to melt remove it. Keep the melt at 650 - 675 degrees. Zinc will not melt at this temp.

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Oh and get an outdoor fryer, not really a turkey fryer, it comes with a shallower pot. They tend to have a much better burner. As Doyle mentioned a turkey fryer burner like to be on a high.

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deerslayer, that is exactly what I was talking about. That is an "outdoor cooker" which has a totally different burner than a turkey fryer (even though they look similar). I was able to fine a replacement outdoor cooker burner on ebay and retrofit it into may old turkey fryer frame.
 
Thanks guys, I'll keep the flame low and keep an eye on the melt. It was free so not looking to spend $$$ on something else. I'll be using a small Dutch oven with lid so should melt pretty quick, especially compared to the tabletop electric burner I was using.

I'm also excited to finally melt down the pure lead stick on weights the other burner couldn't touch.
 
I guess clip wheelweights have a lower melt temp, as the stick on weights would be floating unless I let it sit another 30 minutes or so. If there was a stiff breeze or lower temps outside, they never got a chance to melt at all.
 
I inspect all of my wheel weights before they go into the pot. I use a set of side cutters. The side cutters will cut through the lead weights but not steel or zinc. I cut along the edge of the weight. After a while you learn which is which, but I still use the side cutter 100%. I use a magnet to pull out the steel ones.

Burner is a Bayou Classic jet burner. Lotsa BTUs.
 
Here's my set-up

A simple turkey fryer;

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Melting scrap lead produces a lot of smoke, so it's best down outside. Wheelweights now-a-days are hard to get. And they can be zinc or iron. Some zinc WW can get still into the pot. So it important to keep the melt below 787 degrees, the melting point of zinc.

My turk fryer above could easily go over that temp on max gas setting. What's the hurry? Keep the temp setting about medium. The lead will still melt. Sure you can use a thermometer, but, what if a zinc weight is against the bottom of the pot while max flame is on the other side?

Those pics above were from my first run melting range lead. I kept the pot half full because I knew a full pot could/would collapse those spindly legs. I have since reinforced them with some ¼ rods, now it can be full.

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That's quite the setup Snuffy.

I just used common sense last night and set the flame at 1/3, letting the weights melt down a litle faster than the electric burner did. One zinc did slip in there but it just floated to the top.

I also melted down all the stray stick on weights, something the tabletop wouldn't do.:cool:
 
I kept the pot half full because I knew a full pot could/would collapse those spindly legs. I have since reinforced them with some ¼ rods, now it can be full.
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I am glad I saw that, I was going to post up on how much that looked like something bad waiting to happen. Mine is real similar to the one in the link above, maybe even the same brand but has 1"x 1/8" flat bar for a frame. I also added a couple of pieces to help support things, just got a bit nervous about having 75'ish or so pounds of 680degree alloy sitting there wobbling when I stirred it.

Your on the right track keeping the temp down.That will also help you keep the slag from forming up on the top as much. I like to bring it up to around 700 degrees when I am ready to start fluxing with sawdust. That gets it turning black real quick and it lights off easily. Once I get that stirred in and skimmed off I pour my ingots up.

Might not be as grand a scale as what Snuffy has going but it ain't that far off.
 
I also use a turkey fryer burner to cast ingots.

I do it out in my gravel drive way but I made a heavy tin sheet to encircle the burner to block the wind.

Really cuts down on the ingot making time.
 
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