That shift where the old cupola finally gave out on us
Last Tuesday started normal, just another morning melt in the old building. We were about two hours into the pour for a big municipal grate order when our main cupola started making this awful groaning sound, like metal under way too much stress. The foreman, Dave, yelled for everyone to clear the floor just as the whole lining gave way. Molten iron went everywhere, but thank goodness the safety channels held. We lost the whole batch, about 1200 pounds of good metal, and the furnace was down for the rest of the day. The cleanup took a crew of five of us almost six hours, just chipping away at the spill that hardened in all the worst spots. It was a total mess, but honestly, it was a good reminder of why we do all those lining checks. Has anyone else had a cupola fail that fast? What's the biggest batch you've ever lost to a equipment break?