wet batch

[Wes Hunting]

I have 20 bags of sp that got soaked by the flood we had up here. Can it be dried out and used or should I just trash it? I know that water can effect the melt. I was thinking on spreading it out in
my large annealer on metal trays and cooking off the moisture at 300 degrees.
The problem is its all I had left and need to finish up a large order so I can shut down and deal with other shit.

[Dave Bross]

That should be just fine. I wet my homemade batch and then let it all soak in overnight to cut the dusting. I'm not sure what the exact chemical changes are but caual observation (multiple coincidences do not make data!) has me thinking it actually melts better for the water. My batch has borax in in it and SP doesn't though. I know from Volf that's one reason my melts go better wet, the borax actually heats up and melts into everything else when it gets wet.

P.S. Love the Hunter Thompson quote....fear and loathing...

[Greg Frankhouser]

Can you throw the bag in too? The only thing I can think of would be that the soda ash might have gone into solution and been sucked up by the bag.

Greg F

[Glenn Randle]

If it's not "dripping" wet, how about just charging with it "as is", but in smaller amounts. Maybe just one scoop every 20-30 minutes? Just seems like a pita to dry in the oven first. At least it won't be dusty or brick-hard if it's damp. If it's really dripping wet maybe you could drian it in a 5 gallon bucket with a few drain holes drilled in the bottom and maybe the sides.

It's probably just steam a lot, maybe you'll get some cool sounds too.

[Wes Hunting]

I guess I was just freaking out. This flooding thing is really getting to me.
Anyway, I tossed in a few bags last night and it melted just fine except it took an extra couple of hours to fine out. My guess is the water cooled the furnace down to a lower temp than usual. most of the bags are falling apart but that isnt a big problem, What a mess.

Dave, you might get a kick out of this.
http://www.linuxcowboy.com/

[Dave Bross]

Thanks Wes! That made my morning.

[Tom Littleton]

Wes,
I think you got lucky. Most of the guys that have called me about batch that has gotten really wet and/or flooded have not successfully melted it. This also includes a guy that stored it outside under a tarp and that was enough to cause inconsistent melts. I usually advise throwing it out as I had one guy go so far as to run it through a screen and still got a bad melt.
Tom

[Wes Hunting]

Tom, I did have to play with it for awile but it did melt. I got what I needed out of it. I plan on scraping the rest. You will hear from me in a couple of weeks when I get back from Oxbow. I need to order.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I think Tom is right. It will sometimes melt OK but the expansion Coefficient will have shifted since the fluxes are getting leached out of the mix. Check the glass carefully Wes. It may appear good but be strained.