Battery lead.....

[Chris Smith]

I looked thru the forum a little to see if I could answer my own question but didn't see what I was looking for. I have an old lawn mower battery that gave up several years ago and is no longer useful as a door stop for my garage. I know I'll have to dump out the acid and figure out how to cut it open but is it worth the effort? And would there be a residue from the acid that might give off fumes that would make me sick or take the paint off the wall? It weighs about 10 pounds I think. Some of that is the case but thers should be 6 or 7 pounds of lead there. Would it be pure stuff or some sort of a mixture?

[*Paladin*]

Don't mess with battery lead. It is not worth the health risk as the acid burns off the plates when smelted.

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm#recyclebatteries

[Chris Smith]

That's what I needed to know. Thanks!

[BulletFactory]

If you are trying to duplicate WW2 chemical weapons, go ahead.

Leave the batterys alone.

[*Paladin*]

If you are trying to duplicate WW2 chemical weapons, go ahead.

Leave the batterys alone.

Yup. Now, I will admit, if I have the saw and time, I'd cut terminals and posts off batteries all day long... :mrgreen:

[BulletFactory]

lol, me too

[cbrick]

Paladin's link is correct but for some strange reason it's not going to the correct place in the page. I just placed the link here also and it did the same thing for me. That's my web site so I'll have to figure what's happening.

Batteries are a huge no-no. Simply not worth the risk to you or to anyone else in the area.

Rick

[truckjohn]

A more in depth explanation....

Battery plates in "Modern" batteries use Tin/Calcium/lead alloys... but the top posts and such are an Antimony/Arsenic/lead alloy.....

Melt this down together and you get a gigantic pile of slushy foamy lead/dross that won't quit drossing, and won't fill out a mold to save your life.... Make a mistake and mix it into your WW lead and you get a gigantic pile of slushy lead foam that won't quit drossing..... You *DON'T* want to fool with this stuff... It's a sure fire way to wreck a whole pot of lead.....

Also.. over half of the "Lead" in batteries is in the form of Oxide - aka Dross... and this stuff does nothing but make your blood lead go sky high...

Take the battery to the auto parts store and turn it in....

Thanks

[shotman]

it will also rust your mold or mess up a AL mold

[Nevada Jack]

Thanks for the info!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Beside the acid problem, which can be neutralized BTW, the big issue is the OTHER
heavy metals used in the productin of the battery plates- that is what will kill you
when you melt it

[a.squibload]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?138362-Why-Car-Batteries-Are-Dangerous&

Sticky at top of this section.

[Baryngyl]

I tried it around 15-16 years ago before I ever got online at all.
I cut apart 4 or 5 batteries and melted them down, got about 30 pounds of lead was all, got a ton of dross (mostly **** that was in between the lead grids, was kinda hard grayish white, reminded me of hard dried clay), they did make great bullets though, ended up putting all the plastic and dross in the trash to be picked up (not sure that was the best thing to do looking back on it).
It was a very nasty dirty job, I wouldn't ever want to do it again unless it was the only way to get some lead to be able to feed my self.


Michael Grace


Edit to add: **** = 4 letter word for manure, didn't know **** would get *'ed out, LOL

[357maximum]

The local scrapyard will give you a few dollors for that battery. Put the money in your pocket or depending on the practices of the guy running the joint you may be able to trade that value for useable lead from his lead hopper. Regardless of how it works out at least you will not wake up dead tomorrow from melting things that should not be melted at home.

[Defcon-One]

Here's a blunt answer!

Would you trade your LUNGS or your LIFE for 6 to 7 pounds of poor quality bullet lead?

If so, continue with your plan. Enough said!

[I'll Make Mine]

4 letter word for manure, didn't know would get *'ed out, LOL

Try reading the big rules banner that comes up every time you log in after a few yours away...

[Baryngyl]

Try reading the big rules banner that comes up every time you log in after a few yours away...
I have not had that come up in so long I can not remember, I set my login to stay logged in forever.


Michael Grace

[I'll Make Mine]

I have not had that come up in so long I can not remember, I set my login to stay logged in forever.

Mine is set that way, too, but if I don't load the site for a couple hours, up it comes again (it's a screen and a half or more on yellow background). Anyway, bottom line is it's a family site and you shouldn't use words you wouldn't say in front of your preacher's mother. The site will automatically "bleep" the "bad" words with * symbols, but you also need to be sure if you do use one of those words, that you spell it correctly so the censor software can do its job...

[Jon]

You can cut off the posts. Those are soft lead.