Melted lead WARNING !!!!

[Tuna]

[QUOTE=PhillipM;466281]As a child in the 70's the grownups called gasoline either red or white. I asked dad the difference and he said put red in the car and use wHite to wash parts!

Yup the white gas was Amoco. It had no lead additives in it. It was responsible for a lot of burned out values in cars back then in the mid 60's onward using high test gas. They needed the lead to lube the values back then.

[dave]

Think about it. Heating something cold causes moisture from condensation to form. Single pane windows in winter is a great example.

The weights probably were dry but placing a cold piece of lead into a pot of molten lead can cause moisture from condensation to form and result in a violent steam explosion.

It's safer to allow the molten lead to cool and harden, add more lead and reheat. This was a hard lesson learned by many, I'm sure. Glad you weren't injured.

The added lead sinks at least deep enough so there is no "condensation", does not stay or get cold, once in the melt.

[Merc]

The added lead sinks at least deep enough so there is no "condensation", does not stay or get cold, once in the melt.

Sorry for not agreeing with you Dave. Accidental steam explosions were once common in the steel business that used to be here in Pittsburgh.

[PhillipM]

Condensation is the moisture in the air condensing into liquid water. I'm not seeing how a dry piece of lead dumped in a pot can have any moisture condense on it resulting in a steam explosion.

[Merc]

I have not read all the posts, so excuse if this has been mentioned. Every safety instruction I ever read said NEVER add more lead to a melted pot. For the very reason of what happened to poster. Get it all in there, melted at once so any moisture or anything else is heated gradually!

I agree with this post. My theory is cold lead is added to molten lead produces a steam explosion. Any other theorys are welcome. Obvious, it's a dangerous practice and should be avoided.

[PhillipM]

I agree with this post. My theory is cold lead is added to molten lead produces a steam explosion. Any other theorys are welcome. Obvious, it's a dangerous practice and should be avoided.

Why is the lead colder than ambient temperature?

[Merc]

Read Allen's original post. So, why do you think the pot exploded when the cold weights were added?

[PhillipM]

Read Allen's original post. So, why do you think the pot exploded when the cold weights were added?

so I went outside and gathered some from a 5 gal. bucket

It rains here.

[Merc]

I used to do contracted work in various steel mills and can remember a small mill that had a steam explosion when pouring molten steel into a wet ingot mold that killed the crane operator.

[Hefights]

Very interesting thread, continues to inform and entertain.