Battery connectors

[mac3]

I have made contact with a parts dealer that I just found. He is going to graciously let me walk his yard to collect ww. How about the battery connectors? They seem to be fairly soft and he said I could collect all I wanted @ .25c a lb. (about 700 cars)
Anyone ever use the connectors?

[yobohadi]

I cut the posts off of batteries let them soak in a cup of water and baking soda for a couple weeks, agitate once a day or so, then melt them down and pour ingots when I have 10 lbs of them or more. Take a battery powered sawsall and wood blade with you, they make fast work of the posts.

[mac3]

The batteries are gone. I'm referring to the connectors at the end of the cables.

[nicholst55]

I used to collect them when I was junk-yard shopping; that's been a while, though. I don't know what they're made of these days.

[geargnasher]

I collect them and use them with my "disposable" alloy, a collection of misc. junk lead that gets shot at the local public shooting range in my auto handguns. I trap all the lead I shoot at home and it's all pretty decent, known alloy. Battery cable ends average about 9 bhn air-cooled and cast just fine, I'd get them by all means. Don't worry about the corrosion but DO take the following precautions: Don't breathe the fumes when you smelt them, it can burn your lungs and sinuses. Wear a charcoal filtered respirator or soak them in a bucket of water with a cup of baking soda (old box out of the refrigerator works great), put them in a cold smelting pot and heat them up that way, don't add damp stuff to molten lead or you'll have a steam explosion.

Gear

[shotman]

take big pair wire cutters and take cable too or a good part. It will pay for the gas

[10 ga]

Mac3, Get all the cable ends you can. I carry a pair of the short bolt cutters in the PU tool box for gettin them when ever possible. i just soak them in a bucket of water and then smelt when they are dried out. I use a gallon paint bucket when on a "gathering" misson. It will hold all I want to carry at one time. hit that yard with a WW tool for popping them off, and some heavy wire cutter, ie big linesman pliers or small boltcutters for the battery cable ends. If they have seperate areas I'd hit the truck/van/commercial vehicle area first. Bigger WWs and more lead cable ends there. OH yeah, longer cables cut off with the cable connectors will yield a bunch of copper to trade at the junkyard. Sell copper at $2+ a lb. and buy lead for $.50 at the yard I use most. I have a 5 gal bucket of cable ends to smelt now and it is usually a pretty soft alloy. usually close to SOWW. Good scrounging! 10 ga

[mac3]

Going Tuesday and will let you know what the yield is. Got the tools ready. Will add to the 400# lbs of ww I have ready to smelt. The Battery connectors will be flagged as soft.

[Ervin]

Be careful, some companies are making them out of zink.
Ervin

[mac3]

Well this was a bummer. Not what I expected. From the office you can see plenty of cars out back, but when I started in, 3/4 of the wheels were gone. The lead battery connectors were not as plentiful either. The F150's and some other trucks still had the lead ones. Then came some rain...Was in there about 1 1/2 hrs. Came out with 25# and two slightly busted knuckles. Wasn't snake bit or wasp stung so it was a good day. I appreciated his letting me in.
The other yard I'm dealing with busts a lot of wheels down. He saves me the ww and that is a whole lot easier than getting your own, About 50# / month.