Car batteries for lead?

[ghh3rd]

I was cleaning up the garage and found an old car battery. I haven't heard anything about using these as a source of lead, but wondered if anyone has tried it. If you drain and flush the battery, dissasemble it, and flush the lead thouroughly again, would it still be dangerous to melt?

Thanks,

Randy

[fishhawk]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=40769 don't do it. steve k

[briang]

Take the posts off the top (close to pure) and take the rest to a recycler.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Not worth the trouble for what you will get. Or the possible danger from the acid, both during dis-assembly and later during melting. Take off the top posts then sell the battery for scrap and use the money to buy scrap wheel weights from the same scrap dealer. Be safe not sorry. :castmine: Robert

[smkummer]

Your heath is worth much much more. The additives in modern batteries are not what you want to be breathing. 30 years ago I did this and really got very little lead from the plates. The smell was terrible. When taking apart the cells, one was still very "active". It could have sent a spark and "bang" but I lucked out that day. I can't remember but I probably wrecked a pair of $20 Levi jeans also. Back when funny holes in jeans were not cool.

[357maximum]

don't do it

[ghh3rd]

These are sort of the answers that I expected, although I though I'd ask in case I was wrong. I will not open a battery for the lead, as I like to breathe too much. It seems that others have contemplated the same thing, so thanks for answering their question too.

Randy

[shooterg]

In really old publications, many casters mentioned using lead from car batteries, but since the advent of maintenance free batteries and the change in materials, it went from OK to being a very bad idea to use 'em.

[lunicy]

just not worth it. Not alot of clean lead in there. The stuff is nasty and corosive. You can get a few bucks for scrap. Take the few bucks and buy wheel weights or straight lead. The battery is worth more intact than the lead amount in it.

[Tom Herman]

Don't even think about it. Lots of toxic stuff that's bad enough by itself, and can generate poisonous Arsenic and Antimony gasses, plus you wind up with a lot of dross and slag. You won't get much lead at all.
Recycle it and buy lead or WW with the money. You'll be a lot better off.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

Your heath is worth much much more. The additives in modern batteries are not what you want to be breathing. 30 years ago I did this and really got very little lead from the plates. The smell was terrible. When taking apart the cells, one was still very "active". It could have sent a spark and "bang" but I lucked out that day. I can't remember but I probably wrecked a pair of $20 Levi jeans also. Back when funny holes in jeans were not cool.

[imashooter2]

Most scrap yards will give you $2 or $3 for a junk battery. Use that money to buy WW at the same time and you will have a larger quantity of a better alloy than you could get from the battery.