I have discovered a method! After a couple of decades of use, with the occasional light clean outs, I decided to try something. A lot of the lead just fuses to the previous shots, creating clumps of pellets. I decided to do a partial clean out, by digging mostly the surface off. This creates a mix of about 50/50 of pellets, mixed with some duct seal. Duct seal is a mix of oils, waxes, and minerals. I placed the pellet/duct seal mix in a large metal can, and put it in my fire pit, and built a small fire around it. Eventually the oils and waxes got hot enough to flame off, leaving a thick layer of the minerals and other stuff as dross, on top of molten lead. I skimmed off the dross, and poured the lead as ingots. It worked pretty well!
I have discovered a method! ... I placed the pellet/duct seal mix in a large metal can, and put it in my fire pit, and built a small fire around it. Eventually the oils and waxes got hot enough to flame off, leaving a thick layer of the minerals and other stuff as dross, on top of molten lead. I skimmed off the dross, and poured the lead as ingots. It worked pretty well!
Maybe this is what some of us have been waiting for. I for one also use a trap with duct seal in it, and, and I try to keep up with the posts about it. My one suggestion would be to always position oneself upwind of the melting lead, just in case there are any fumes that could cause a problem of some sort.
Please understand that I Google searched the topic before I posted this, and yes I see that there supposedly shouldn't be a problem with dangerous fumes as long as the temperature of the molten lead is kept below it's boiling point, the latter of which is a much-higher temperature. (Several people posted this view on various sites).
That said, there is also some debate about whether or not their could be a fume danger at temperatures even below the boiling point, and at least a few of the people who weighed in on the side of caution were/are chemists with 'claimed or recognized credentials'.
My conclusion: Why take a chance? If someone wants to use the method you just described, what harm does it do if they simply position the melting lead downwind of themselves and any other living creatures in the vicinity, just to be sure?
There's no reason at all why you should know me, but I've been on the forum for a long time, and I don't make it a habit of going around trying to trample other people's good suggestions. The 'lead removal from pellet traps' subject gets tossed around here quite a lot from time to time, and it would be nice to have a workable solution. So, please consider this as more of a footnote regarding the topic and your post, as opposed to any sort of disagreement. Thanks!
We, I am/was a chemist for 34 years, and am very wary of safety concerns. With all of the minerals in the duct seal, there is a very heavy layer on top of the lead. Since the oils are flaming off, this needs to be done outside, and the smoke will send you upwind anyway.
We, I am/was a chemist for 34 years, and am very wary of safety concerns. With all of the minerals in the duct seal, there is a very heavy layer on top of the lead. Since the oils are flaming off, this needs to be done outside, and the smoke will send you upwind anyway.
Well, now, there it is in a nutshell! (And, I was assuming right from the start that your fire pit was outdoors).
