Airplane Ballast

[joe4711]

Just been offered 75lbs of lead wich was apparently used for ballast in an airplane?
I offered .50c/lb but the guy was not very impressed with me. Lead has suddenly turned into gold, Tire changer wanted $75.00 for half a 5 gal bucket yesterday,I laughed out loud and walked away.
I know the recycler 1/2 mile down the road from him only pay .20c/lb for WW, but claim he is not allowed to sell lead to the public.
Is there something going on here that I don't know about.

[Westwindmike]

The jet I used to fly had a place in both the nose and tail for ballast. I think they needed it for the ferry flight from Israel to the U.S. It had already been removed when I flew it.

As to your question, there is nothing special about AC ballast. I used to use lead shot in the canvas military type tool bags as ballast. 25 lbs per bag. I just loaded up as much as I needed for the flight and it was easy to handle. When they sold the AC, me and my co-pilot split up the shot.

[Hal A Looyah]

It's not you. Just keep plugging along. Keep asking and offering. I got 200 lb of ww for 5 twelve packs of Mtn Dew last week. The next shop said he gets 50 cents a pound for WW. Im still of the opinion that WW are worth 15-25 cents a pound.

[Just Duke]

Just been offered 75lbs of lead wich was apparently used for ballast in an airplane?
I offered .50c/lb but the guy was not very impressed with me. Lead has suddenly turned into gold, Tire changer wanted $75.00 for half a 5 gal bucket yesterday,I laughed out loud and walked away.
I know the recycler 1/2 mile down the road from him only pay .20c/lb for WW, but claim he is not allowed to sell lead to the public.
Is there something going on here that I don't know about.

Read HERE (http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nuclearsa/b8.html)

[GRUMPA]

If your area is like the area I live in just keep looking. 1 tire place wanted to charge $40 for a half a 5gal bucket. I looked at him and said I can go down the street to the recyclers and get it for .20Lb, is there a reason you think your is worth more?

Well you may have guessed the answer he gave me and it's a good thing I never bought tires from there either.

I think since there's what I call a lead scare they get asked for lead alot. So being the business person they tend to be they just ask way more for it and see what the market will bear. Personally I have 2 words for people like that and it isn't Happy Birthday either.

[Just Duke]

[smilie=1: HERE (http://www.wise-uranium.org/dviss.html#ACWIMCO) and HERE (http://www.airlinecrew.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?176886-Depleted-Uranium-used-as-ballast-in-747-s) and HERE (http://www.sailnet.com/forums/general-discussion-sailing-related/72899-spent-uranium.html)

[Just Duke]

For those thinking about dismantling X ray labs as a lead source HERE (http://www.wise-uranium.org/dviss.html#AFFAIREDEBUS)
I could go on for hours......

[Stick_man]

I just stopped in at a new used-tire shop in town. I asked them if they had any used wheelweights they'd be willing to sell me. 10 minutes later, I left with 90 lbs of WWs. They were happy to have me haul them away and they even loaded them up into my car. I offered him $10 for the 1/2 bucket and he didn't even have to think twice about it. His help was just glad to not have to haul a full bucket around. The owner was glad he didn't have to spend time and gas getting them down to the scrap yard, and I am glad to be able to recycle them for him. I'll be back next weekend with some refreshments for him and his help.

I sorted the 1/2 bucket today. Ended up with 13 lbs of "unusable for casting", 9 lbs of stick-ons, and the rest in decent sized clip-ons. I hope his business picks up quickly. Right now, he estimates it would take about 2 months to fill a full 5-gal bucket.

[Defcon-One]

Uranium melts at 2070 °F. It's not likely to melt in my Lead pot. So, why bring it up here over and over?

I for one am not too worried. If they are banning Lead wheel weights because lead is too toxic, I doubt that they will be making any out of Depleted Uranium.

I'm pretty sure that we can all tell Lead from DU.

[beagle]

From my limited experience in aircraft weights and that was making about twenty 120 pounders as well as portable 25 pounders, we used shot for both applications. In the 120 pounders, it was melted and in the 25 pounders, it was sewn into canvas bags with handles for easy handling.

DU's too hard to come by and the smelting would be too hard for normal commercial firms to make many on the limited number required.

I though we were going to get the EPA on us when we melted what we did for commercial applications and that was with pure lead./beagle

[Hardcast416taylor]

For those thinking about dismantling X ray labs as a lead source HERE (http://www.wise-uranium.org/dviss.html#AFFAIREDEBUS)
I could go on for hours......



What??????????????????????Robert

[omgb]

Duke, those shields were not made from lead. Lead sheilding does not absorb radiation. Those were DU shields mistakenly taken for lead.

[Alan in Vermont]

I could go on for hours......

I'm sure you could, but please don't!

I didn't see much other than sensationalism at any of those sites you linked to other than the levels of raqdiation release from DU is "slightly higher than background radiation". Which most likely translates out to "if you carried your pockets full of DU pellets, ALL THE TIME, after a year you might have been exposed to as much of a dose of radiation as you get from a dental x-ray."

[Harter66]

DU is nasty IF you get it inside. It is also pyrophoric,as such its used for anti tank ammo.it is heavier than lead but machines much like steel . It is also used for tank armor . Per my Haz-Mat training w/2 fire departments ,Emegency responce teams and work requirement here on the Army ammo depot.

If your source is general avation it is most likely pure lead if it is balast or control surface balance wieghts. If it has a manifaturers P/N on it I've seen it as high as $80/lb aircraft billet FAA/PMA stamped runs $40/lb new ready for use. Servicable parts run 75-90% of new . Based on a lifetime in the trade as an A&P and student of such.

A/C savlvage lead is just scrap ,however,a bucket/bbl whatever may also have battery cap ......stopers in it as well and are 18-22 bhn air cooled they will appear as a smooth sided about 45 DEWC. They will have been subjected to battery gasses and possibly acid directly. They should not have been immerised in acid as their function is to check/seal the cap vents during inverted/negitive g loading conditions. If I used them I would use them in large batches for alloying range metal up to WW something on order w/20# of cores 3-5# of stoppers

[hickfu]

I wish I could get ahold of some DU.... Make great armor piercing rounds.



Doc

[badbob454]

think ill leave the radioactive stuff alone ... lead and copper good stuff