How many BTUs should I get?

icehunter121

icehunter121

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I have 6 more pails of WW to melt into ingots and dont want to keep using my pro-melt to do it..takes to dang long! I found 2 different burners,one is 30K and the other is 80K. Now I am thinking of either using a 10-20LB. propane tank cut down or something like a cast iron pot/dutch oven about 5-7 quart or so. I cant find a suitable 50K burner that doesnt look like its made out of cheap sheet metal that will fold under the weight.

Thoughts?? Which BTU should I grab?
 
I have the 60k el cheapo unit from CT. works fine for me, so don't know if 30k would work. When in doubt, go bigger.
I have found the best pot to use is an old stainless steel saucepan. Even a small one will hold 40 ibs of lead. Just take off the handle.
Tried a cast iron dutch oven, and it took way too long to heat up.
 
The Bayou Classic banjo burner will give over 200000 BTU. I use mine for lead melting, beer brewing, pressure canning and large batch cooking.
Goes from gentle simmer to raging heat. Bigger is almost always better.
 
Wish I knew how to post pics. I bought a rather cheap burner ($30-$40?) on a red frame made from cheap(ish) angle iron & sheet. It easily holds a LARGE cast iron pot that holds AT LEAST 60lbs of lead, likely more. It’s about a 16” square frame, sits about 12” and I rigged up some steel cables to hold the pot. Works GREAT, never a problem. I think a lot of Italians buy them to hold giant pots when they can their tomatoes.
Sorry, perhaps not a good description but these are (were) common in hardware stores 20 years ago. If i’m only melting 100 lbs of metal in a pot, each leg is only holding 25 lbs., I don’t need an industrial unit.
Not sure of the BTU’s but I doubt it’s overly high. It was made for cooking, not melting, but it’s VERY effective.
 
Just looked it up, mine is a MARTIN PORTABLE BURNER 65000BTU. Great unit, easily stores in a garage corner when not in use. I leave the Dutch Oven pot attached on steel cables and that sits inside the frame so it’s compact.
 
Don't know how many btu's mine is, it is a homemade NG burner off of my bbq hookup :)
Cost pennies to run and biggest batch I have melted at once was about 400 lbs in a cut in half propane tank.

I went with the one size bigger than the 20lb propane tank and if I had to do it over again I'd cut down a 20lb tank.

nice thing about a big pot is that your ingots are all the same alloy so better for the consistency.
 
As a reference. I have used a 1500 watt hotplate to render lead. That is roughly 5200btu.

I have a cheap xhinese one, ~ 20000 btu. Some modifications

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https://www.amazon.ca/Mr-Heater-F235825-Basecamp-Camping/dp/B00DQ43CM0
 
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big boar said:
Just looked it up, mine is a MARTIN PORTABLE BURNER 65000BTU. Great unit, easily stores in a garage corner when not in use. I leave the Dutch Oven pot attached on steel cables and that sits inside the frame so it’s compact.
Click to expand...

I just found one,looks good. Is the burner a little low causing a lot of lost heat by chance?
 
You were asking if the burner was too low, ie, heat loss. No, but I used steel cable to “wire up” a LARGE cast iron pot so it sits just over the flame, not on the upper support. Sorry, I don’t know how to post pics. I also use a ladle to pour the contents into muffin pans. Not as convenient as a pouring arrangement but I feel this suits me fine. Frequently you may be able to get LARGE cast pots from a Sally Ann shop or other second hand stores VERY cheap.
 
big boar said:
You were asking if the burner was too low, ie, heat loss. No, but I used steel cable to “wire up” a LARGE cast iron pot so it sits just over the flame, not on the upper support. Sorry, I don’t know how to post pics. I also use a ladle to pour the contents into muffin pans. Not as convenient as a pouring arrangement but I feel this suits me fine. Frequently you may be able to get LARGE cast pots from a Sally Ann shop or other second hand stores VERY cheap.
Click to expand...

I should have clarified myself...my bad. I meant to low as in the distance from the burner to the pot or whatever you are melting in. But reading now I see that you are just lowering the pot to get closer to the flame.
 
Yes, that is correct, I just set up so my pot was closer to the flame. I didn’t have any issues with the setup, it melted quite fast and is
VERY STURDY. Because the pot sits inside the frame it’s quite compact & stores easily.
 
Thuriaz said:
The Bayou Classic banjo burner will give over 200000 BTU. I use mine for lead melting, beer brewing, pressure canning and large batch cooking.
Goes from gentle simmer to raging heat. Bigger is almost always better.
Click to expand...

keep in mind the size of the propane tank will go bigger as well.................

With a 120 000 BTU burner I can freeze a 20lbs in minutes !
 
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