Lead melting pot question

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BrantSFGDS

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Ok, so anybody with actual experience with this please chime in. I'm looking to acquire a new pot for bullet casting and I would like opinions about 110 vs 220 volt pots. Everything in Africa is 220 and I've grown fond of 220 appliances. Just curious if anybody uses, or has tried, a 220 pot? I would think they would follow the pattern of other appliances that have heating elements in that, they should have a higher output element and be more efficient.
 
I have a lee bottom pour 110v pot. When i get another its def going to be 220v. Where my casting station is i have 220 available. My 110 works just fine tho. But i have heard the 220s are a little more temp stable than the 110v because they heat quicker .
 
I found the specs for the Lee pots, they use a 500 watt element in the 10 Lb pots and a 700 watt element in the 20 Lb regardless of input voltage, which seems odd to me. Most of the stuff I deal with maxes out at 1800 watts for 110V and the 220V elements are 2200 plus watts. Given the choice, we look for 220 becasue of the faster heat up time. I would have thought there would have been a substantial difference between the elements. I know either one works, they've been making the things for decades without any significant changes. I wound up ordering a new pot in 220 because that's what was in stock.
 
They are a little less $ too i think, and always in stock somewhere. I hate waiting for mine to heat up all the way. It takes so long. 500 watts.
 
I've got one of the small Lee dip pots, got it for my birthday almost 40 years ago. Works fine but I decided if I ever got serious about casting bullets I was going to get a bottom pour, so I got one coming. I've got so many projects waiting at home it's pathetic, lol. I can't wait to burn some powder!
 
Ive done that too with the torch. I believe someone said they use a hotplate to keep their mold hot when they have to pause for something.
That's what I do. I also use it heat up my molds before casting. I almost always get good bullets right from the first pour. I always leave about a half inch of lead in the pot when I shut down. That melts much faster than a fuller pot. Once that melts you can slowly add lead to the pot and it is ready to use before a full pot would be melted.
 
I've got one of the small Lee dip pots, got it for my birthday almost 40 years ago. Works fine but I decided if I ever got serious about casting bullets I was going to get a bottom pour, so I got one coming. I've got so many projects waiting at home it's pathetic, lol. I can't wait to burn some powder!
I've got one of the small Lee dip pots, got it for my birthday almost 40 years ago. Works fine but I decided if I ever got serious about casting bullets I was going to get a bottom pour, so I got one coming. I've got so many projects waiting at home it's pathetic, lol. I can't wait to burn some powder!
I have a bottom pour Lee 10 lb it does great poured many bullets with it and it doesn't seem like it takes that long to heat up maybe 15 minutes and I'm ready to pour it's only 110 volt
 
I start my mould on the hot plate while I’m heating the lead up, if I’m in a hurry, I’ll use the mapp gas torch, usually only while loading ingots though. Most of the time I just find something else to do for a few minutes.
I do check in on it periodically though because I have drained dang near a half a pot when the spout was leaking as it got hot and liquefied. I walked back in to a pretty steady stream pouring out of it. Probably best to not leave it until it’s hot, and then only long enough to hit the restroom or something like that.
Mine is also a Lee bottom pour 120 volt.
 
I start my mould on the hot plate while I’m heating the lead up, if I’m in a hurry, I’ll use the mapp gas torch, usually only while loading ingots though. Most of the time I just find something else to do for a few minutes.
I do check in on it periodically though because I have drained dang near a half a pot when the spout was leaking as it got hot and liquefied. I walked back in to a pretty steady stream pouring out of it. Probably best to not leave it until it’s hot, and then only long enough to hit the restroom or something like that.
Mine is also a Lee bottom pour 120 volt.
Had that happen to me a couple of times. After that, I put a sheet metal screw into the bottom of the spout, removed the lever, etc and started casting using a Ladle. I found that works better for me, but whatever works for you go for it.
 
I have a lee bottom pot ...have literally poured thousands of lead head jigs, sinkers,and maxi bullets , It’s old but I clean it out thourghly after every use and make sure the rod is clean and properly seating in the spout hole ....
 
A, 220V 20 lbs Lee Bottom pour Pot has been in use at my shop you 12 years now.

I had a PID on my 35 year old 10 lbs bottom pour but after using the 220V 20 lbs model I never felt a need to set it up for PID control.

I find the 220V model to be very temp stable and a pleasure to use.

Ken
 
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