Propane verses natural gas.

[websterz]

I use the round burner from an old natural gas water heater. It may take a little longer to melt but my bottle never runs out in the middle of the job.

[triggerhappy243]

BK7saum, same plan here. but my batches are only 65 pounds each.

[websterz]

Interesting thread, DIY stuff always makes for good reading.

[bullseye67]

Good evening, This is the set up I use to melt scrap into ingots. This is not mine. A fellow caster built it and I have borrowed it to process large volumes of COWW. Last time I used it I melted 10 pails of sorted COWW's about 1600lbs. I had a back up bottle just in case I ran out,but I didn't use a full 20lb tank of propane. I did have to make a wind break. This melter is a beast....as fast as you can add WW to it it will melt them down. It will hold a full pail melted down, it does make it a bit hard to flux about 170lbs of hot lead.
Pictures are of the melter and the results of a couple of hours, about 500lbs....had to stop for lunch

[bullseye67]

Just a bit more information about the melting pot. The pot is made from a piece of 8 inch ID pipe, I didn't measure the height but about 20 inches high. It is wrapped with wool rock insulation and then covered with tin. The insulation really keeps the heat in. The burner is made from a couple of pieces of black pipe with an orifice and a 90 to direct the flame under the pot. The propane runs through an adjustable regulator. I used it at the lowest possible setting to keep the lead molten. The legs are bolted together and dismantle to fold and store in the pot. It makes a very compact unit to store and is really stable when set up. The ingot molds are made from angle iron and make a 3.5lbs ingot on average. It make quick work of melting large amounts of scrap!!!

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I think that your tanks aren't being filled completely, did you say you traded them or had them filled?

[triggerhappy243]

I think that your tanks aren't being filled completely, did you say you traded them or had them filled?

at first I was scepitcle, so I weighed all my tanks when they were empty and tagged each one. all of them weigh 20 pounds more than the tag. I wonder if I have the burner set wrong.

[375RUGER]

How bout a wood fire and used motor oil......cheap.
100,000 BTU furnace will use about 97 cubic feet of natural gas or 40 cubic feet of propane per hour.

[lightman]

I'm not a gas expert, but something is wrong. Several of us would have used a lot less gas than that. Hope you get it figured out.

[mfraser264]

CGA, nice rig, did you fab that yourself?

[NavyVet1959]

BK7saum, same plan here. but my batches are only 65 pounds each.

If you are using the burner from a natural gas water heater, then the orifice is larger than you would be normally using for a propane burner.

Can't really tell from the photo that you posted in a previous post, but it looks like you might be using one of the banjo type burners. What size orifice are you using?

Of course, if you have natural gas at your house, it would make sense to run your smelting burner on natural gas anyway.

With natural gas, you want the flame to be starting right at the burner outlet. If you have the flow rate too high, the flame will tend to lift off the burner and that might cut down on your efficiency. If you want an interesting display, get rid of the regulator and run straight propane to the banjo burner. You should be able to get a 6 ft or more flame coming out of it. You control the flow rate by the valve on the top of the tank.

[Plate plinker]

You need wind screen and is it possible you are burning the flame hotter than necessary? Would half power be enough? Don't waste your BTU s by using extra fuel.

[conk45]

I just want to know where you guys are getting all this lead. You guys are talking in the hundreds to a thousand pounds. Hell I've called every tire shop in Oklahoma City. If I come up with 20lbs, I jumping with excitement. Very jealous here if you can't tell.


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[M-Tecs]

The heat transfer went starting from a cold pot and cold wheel weights is low. When I do large smelts I never let the pot get bellow 1/3 full. You need to ensure that the added wheel weights are dry but keeping the pot 1/3 to 1/2 full really increases production for me.

[TexasGrunt]

I just want to know where you guys are getting all this lead. You guys are talking in the hundreds to a thousand pounds. Hell I've called every tire shop in Oklahoma City. If I come up with 20lbs, I jumping with excitement. Very jealous here if you can't tell.


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Soft/pure I get from the local scrap yard(s). Wheel weights ya just have to get lucky. Picked up half a 55 gallon drum at the scrap yard. I'll finish sorting that today. Beyond that DON'T call. Visit. Bring cash and buckets. I've got a couple of tire shops on my visit list.

[conk45]

Soft/pure I get from the local scrap yard(s). Wheel weights ya just have to get lucky. Picked up half a 55 gallon drum at the scrap yard. I'll finish sorting that today. Beyond that DON'T call. Visit. Bring cash and buckets. I've got a couple of tire shops on my visit list.

At first I was visiting some of these tire shops, and always got a (we sell them to our recycler) response. I ask them how much, and they were hesitant about telling me. Don't think they want to sell them. I got tired of driving around so I just call now. I have a little mom and pop tire shop where I can get maybe 5lbs a month. I have a bunch of Soww and pure lead. I guess I need to get a recipe to make them shootable in a higher pressure cartridge.


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[lightman]

Wheelweight scores vary by location. Around here, the lead to other ratio is holding up well. Not so in many places. You just have to keep looking and asking. Smaller shops are usually better than the larger chain stores, but don't neglect asking them either. Consider buying your tires and getting your service work at the same place. This gives you some status as a good customer. Check with the scrap yards. Many won't sell to the public but some do. Stay on the lookout when traveling. Establishing a steady source could be worth a short trip, if necessary. Don't give up, be persistent!

[conk45]

Wheelweight scores vary by location. Around here, the lead to other ratio is holding up well. Not so in many places. You just have to keep looking and asking. Smaller shops are usually better than the larger chain stores, but don't neglect asking them either. Consider buying your tires and getting your service work at the same place. This gives you some status as a good customer. Check with the scrap yards. Many won't sell to the public but some do. Stay on the lookout when traveling. Establishing a steady source could be worth a short trip, if necessary. Don't give up, be persistent!

Will do. I know I need to get as many wheel weights as possible. I won't give up


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[jsizemore]

I started keeping track when I saw this thread. I just finished 1840lbs of range scrap on 1 20lb tank of propane. That was 23-80lb pots full in my 10quart dutch oven. I use the sheetmetal outer jacket and top from a 30gal low boy water heater. The water heater top sits on top of the dutch oven and the sides are just shy of supporting the top. The original holes in the top (electrical and plumbing connections) allow flue gases to escape and access for the thermometer to reach the melt. Where the thermostat/element access panels were allow fresh air for combustion and the hose to the turkey fryer. It has increased the amount of lead production from a single propane bottle by 4-5 times.

I also get my propane tanks filled at a LP gas fill station and stay away from the exchanges. They can be 20-25% shy on LP.

[Petrol & Powder]

Just FYI stuff but the BTU' available in one cubic foot of propane (not a common unit of measurement for propane) is about 2490 BTU's.
A cubic foot of natural gas produces about 1030 BTU's.
Because propane is sold by the gallon or the pound, it's a bit odd to convert it to cubic feet but in order to compare apple to apples - that is one way to make it work out.

The bottom line is that propane produces more energy per equivalent unit of natural gas but as others have pointed out, propane tends to cost more. From a pure efficiency viewpoint, propane is probably the winner. In terms of cost, that is going to depend on the initial cost of the fuel.