Wheel weights

[gregory.pischner]

So I got free W.W. From a truck repair stop I left them in the south FL weather. Right now they are full of rust powder due to the clips what can I do to save the lead? Do I have to wash them or can I smelt them as is and flex a lot?

[DHurtig]

Rust floats, go ahead and smelt them.

[mdi]

Excellent answer ^. Just smelt 'em...

[bangerjim]

DO NOT clean them. If they are wet, they can cause lead/steam explosions "tinsel fairy".

Start out with a cold pot and gradually bring them up to temp so any moisture will evaporate long before the liquid phase. Do not add more once liquid.

Moisture can stay in there for a long time, so be very carful.

Rust, clips, dirt, rocks, pretty much everything will float on molten lead.

Be sure you sort VERY well to remove any Zn weights B4 starting. You do not want Zn in your melt if at all possible. If you do not know how to sort, do a search on here. Most batches of COWW's you get today will be a large conentration of Zn & FE.....You will be lucky to get 60-70% yield.

bangerjim

[dondiego]

Welcome aboard Greg. Free WW are a hard item to find these days. If you have a doubt about a WW use some side cutters to see if you can cut it. If not, it ain't lead.

Don

P.S. - If you haven't already, be sure to bring your friendly truck repair guys some beer or donuts!

[srd]

Welcome to a great website Greg. I just melted some down last night that a friend gave me after sitting in his garage for several years. Same thing as yours..rusted clips...into the melt they went. In exchange he wanted to know if I could make him 100 boolits for his 44 special. I told him ...lets see..keep me in mind for wheel weights and I will also make you 100 for your .357 and your 9 mm. Deal !! After melting them down and fluxing I ended up with 16 pounds. You might also try offering the guys at the truck shop a deal on bullets if they want also. To other people outside of the casting world a 100 bullets sounds like a lot. Welcome to being a brass and wheel weight ***** .

[Larry Gibson]

DO NOT clean them. If they are wet, they can cause lead/steam explosions "tinsel fairy".

Start out with a cold pot and gradually bring them up to temp so any moisture will evaporate long before the liquid phase. Do not add more once liquid.

Moisture can stay in there for a long time, so be very carful.

Rust, clips, dirt, rocks, pretty much everything will float on molten lead.

Be sure you sort VERY well to remove any Zn weights B4 starting. You do not want Zn in your melt if at all possible. If you do not know how to sort, do a search on here. Most batches of COWW's you get today will be a large conentration of Zn & FE.....You will be lucky to get 60-70% yield.

bangerjim

+1 on what bangerjim says, especially about using the cold pot and "Do not add more once liquid".

In your Florida humidity I'd bet there is residual moisture in those. Had it happen to me (dancing with the tinsel fairy) a couple times when I lived in the PNW with comparable rain and humidity.

Larry Gibson
.

[knobster]

Welcome to being a brass and wheel weight ***** .

Hah! Truer words have never been written.

[Moonie]

Do not use these rusted wheel weights, send them to me for proper disposal, the rust will eat your pot, lead your barrel and cause your babies to be born nekid...

[Tom_in_AZ]

Rust floats, go ahead and smelt them.

This! Skim and flux and you're good.

[IraqVet1982]

Do not use these rusted wheel weights, send them to me for proper disposal, the rust will eat your pot, lead your barrel and cause your babies to be born nekid...
I'm actually lead disposal qualified, so he should probably send them to me.

[500MAG]

I live in South Florida I can come by and get them. They are highly toxic at this stage. Do not touch them. PM me your address and I'll take them off your hands and dispose of them appropriately. I'm happy to offer this service.:kidding:

[prs]

The big rig truck and bus type WWs are still lead alloy here. Are you guys finding those to be made of zinc or steel too? The school bus garages used to be a great stop for me, but the new busses are being shipped with dynamic balance beads or fixtures and new big rig trucks maybe too. The lead they do have is in higher demand for the fishing lure buddies.

prs

[sawzall]

The big rig truck and bus type WWs are still lead alloy here. Are you guys finding those to be made of zinc or steel too? The school bus garages used to be a great stop for me, but the new busses are being shipped with dynamic balance beads or fixtures and new big rig trucks maybe too. The lead they do have is in higher demand for the fishing lure buddies.

prs

I worked for the last year in a school bus shop and found they went to big old honkin zinc clip ons in 2011. Afaik the tire shops still use lead but the factory installed tires are all balanced with zinc. We peeled all the weights off and used balance beads.

[bangerjim]

The big rig truck and bus type WWs are still lead alloy here. Are you guys finding those to be made of zinc or steel too? The school bus garages used to be a great stop for me, but the new busses are being shipped with dynamic balance beads or fixtures and new big rig trucks maybe too. The lead they do have is in higher demand for the fishing lure buddies.

prs

Where is "here"??????????

It's nice to let us know where are so we can use your shared info.


banger

[500MAG]

A guy gave me some from some school bus tires here if Florida last year and those things were like 1 lb ingots. Wish I could get a bucket of them.

[GoodOlBoy]

Yep I agree with the above posts wholeheartedly. Start from a cold pot. Don't wash them. Flux them a couple of times and you will be golden. I don't know what the policy is on mentioning names from other websites so if this is a no no mods please feel free to clip it and let me know so I don't do it again. Anyway check out Youtube videos by a feller by the handle of FortuneCookie45LC he has some EXCELLENT videos on converting range scrap to lead ingots that will work just as well for wheel weights and anything else you might come across.

Oh and one of the things I would NOT do is use them in your electric pot and flux there. I may be alone on this but I am very much a cast iron for ingots, ingots for electric pots type of guy.

GoodOlBoy

[MGnoob]

I've only been doing this alittle over a year but the WW i buy are pretty well sorted 90% lead+steel clips and 10% zinc.
I don't sort anything except i remove the stick one one so i can have pure lead,although i have never cast it or use it for anything.
that said just pour it all in a pot. lead, zinc, steel, brass valve-stems, dirt, cig.butts.. in a pot all at one. melt-stir-flux-stir and remove everything on top and your good to go. IDK how you could manage to melt the zink unless your not paying attention and have a blast furnace.. or you could send that biohazard nuclear waste too me at your expense.

[Lead Bandit]

Yes I have left ww to the weather and let me tell you that moisture can stay in that lead for a long time even after they are 'completely' dry.

[ghh3rd]

I've even had some dowel rods, etc, that I grabbed and stuck into my pot to stir with provide some excitement -- the residual moisture made them feel like they were possessed, rumbling around in my hand.