zinc in mixture question????

[fred445sm]

Hello I received a 5 gallon bullet of coww's about 20 years ago. I casted them into ingots when I got them. I did not know about zinc ones back then (If there was at that time) and might have melted some in the batch. Going to make a 250 pound batch of Lyman #2 with the 9-2-.7 recipe. Question is if the whole batch is blended thorough, will the little zinc that might be in the mixture get diluted down or will it still cause problems??

[Hickory]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about a little, (less then a pound of zinc for 250 lb of wheel weights). More then one pound and you can use sulphur to separate it out of the lead while it is in a molten state.

[gwpercle]

20 years ago....at least in Louisiana, I don't remember seeing any zinc WW's in the ones I would get from local tire shops. I just remember finding stick on and clip on...but we are known for our backward ways down here.

California may be another story ...where Y'at ?

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana.
Gary

[lightman]

Welcome Aboard! I found some zinc in wheel weights more than 20 years ago. Not very much, but a few weights. I did not even know what they were back then! They were not as common then as now and if you got any, I expect it to be little enough to have no effect. When I sort I strive for zero zinc, but a small % will not ruin a batch of good lead. I would proceed with your plan.

[trapper9260]

I say if it looks normal after flexing I would not worry about it.Also for what was said also.You would of know if it did not look right .For how it sound.

[Shiloh]

As stated above, sulphur may help remove zinc. Turns it into a sulphide or sulphate that float and can be skimmed off.
Do a search on zinc in the melt.

Shiloh

[Walter Laich]

When I had zinc in mine (my partner does the smelting, I do the casting) I was able to skim it off without any problems.

someone said it looks like oatmeal, silver oatmeal on top. pretty good description. I use a bit of beeswax to flux mostly because I wanted to try it out and now have enough of it to last several lifetimes.

[WRideout]

Zinc will only melt if the temperature gets high enough. If you stay around the melting point of lead, the zinc WW will float, just like the steel clips. Nowadays, when I smelt I go low and slow. I don't use enough heat to melt Zn, although it takes a while to melt a whole pot of clip-ons.

Wayne