Scrounging For Lead

[Three44s]

I have heard the admonishments about lead acid battery lead ....... I have posted warnings up the wazzu on other boards .......

............. Don't Use Battery Lead!

But a while back I read that Maintanence Free Batteries are the only ones that contain Strontium ...........

....... that batteries with screw tops ....... unsealed and thus NOT Maintanence Free bats are ALRIGHT!

SAY IT ISN'T SO ............ the 8D and 4D diesel truck batteries and some other tractor batteries don't contain evil strontium?

Any ideas out there?

Three 44s

[454PB]

Even if there is no poisonous metals, it's still not worth destroying $100 worth of clothes and boots to recover $1 worth of lead. BTDT!

[Three44s]

I did a bunch of searches on the net on lead recycling before I started this thread ...... I saw where lead is expected to hit $.70 a pound shortly.

If I could still get five gallon buckets full of used wheel weights for 20 bucks or even close ...... and did not have to worry about fouling up the entire melt with the "greenies" zinc weights ........ I would scoff at the notion myself too!

Three 44s

[randyrat]

Yakima, WA. I think thats where the local brew buys their Hopps for making beer. Lienenkugal brewery. They used to brag about choice hopps from the yakima valley.
Check your local scrap yards and see what you can buy for scrap sometimes they will give you a deal as long as you don't come in with a 3 peice suit and a pink cadalac.

[Three44s]

randyrat,

Yes, ....... hops by the bunches! But they are short this year! And there is/will be a HUGE pinch for enough hops for a while ........ the price to the hop growers was SO LOW for many years that hop growing fell by the way side.

BUT right now, they are putting in hops to beat the band and the big companies are contracting these new growers like there is no tomorrow.

The downside is that the microbreweries DID NOT contract at lower prices cause the "cheap hop party" would not end ........ THEY are crying in their beer NOW!

So BEWARE!

The three piece suit and pink Cady: Well I am safe then ........... LOL!! If you knew me you would realize how funny that is! Most of my friends do not recognize me "cleaned up" much less in a three piece driving a Cady of any color!

Best Regards

Three 44s

[mauser1959]

3 44s :

I agree with you , Pb batteries are looking more and more attractive. The major draw back that I can see at this point is the fact that a Pb battery contains so much PbO2 and that must be "rendered" back to straight Pb with a NaOH or KOH while melting . Both NaOH and KOH have become pretty hard to get as it is the base used for some reactions in drug manufacturing. The other thing to remember about battery Pb is that it is going to be very soft due to its purity. I really see no problem with the Pb from batteries if the initial melt is carried outside; and your not huffing the fumes. But the Pb02 is going to be a major pain in the butt; though I have considered an anode/cathode conversion method for Pb02, which might be a simpler solution ; once it was figured out.

[Bent Ramrod]

I would think the kind of dead battery available as scrap would be largely lead sulfate, which would need to be roasted or smelted to the lead oxide and the latter then reduced to the metal. Smelting is going to drive off sulphur dioxide, which your neighbors might notice and complain about.

But I've done a lot of other such stuff (not this, though) to save a few cents, and understand the impulse. If you gotta try it, please be careful, and by all means please report what you were able to get.

[mauser1959]

There will admittedly be some PbSO2 , but most of that will be poured off as the battery is drained. Please save this fluid as it can easily be reconverted to SO3 , which could be profoundly usefuf in some other strange conversions... Thinking nitrates here . I know that I have considered making a modified glory hole just to melt batteries... just have not gotten up the gumption yet; even though I live in the country and have no neighbors who would be any nosyier than when I happen to burn a few tires. Living in the sticks has its advantages.

[Castinoff]

Think I'll just stick with the wheel weights as long as I can get them. Doing a little browsing on the 'net revealed that the nationwide average price for scrap lead is now about .25 cents per pound so don't wait too long.

[jawjaboy]

FWIW

In my 28 years in the brewing business, I have seen a many a ton of Yakima hops dumped in the brewkettles! :wink: Excellent hops!

[mauser1959]

Most of the raw lead in the lead belt here in Missouri ( 200 miles south of me) is in the form of PbS and a small amount of Pb02; Galena area to the Herculaneum area are suppodely covered up with some nice deposits; yet the majority of ore stock at the Herculaneum plant is remelted auto batteries. Galena is Missouri's official mineral , It is a pity that there does not seem to be any around here. Of course casserite would be even more to my liking than galena.

Talking of hops , the plant grows wild here in Missouri , and I have often figured to use some of them for home brew. I just have never gotten up the energy to make homebrew , even if I like it.

[Three44s]

Thanks all thus far.

I have heard that screw top batteries are not maintance free ....... is that true. And are the maintance free's the only deadly ones if melted down?

Our family settled down on this property in 1871. They subsisted for a few years and than the Railroad came to town in 1885 ...... turned Yakima upside down! First big cash crop ..... HOPS.

And our little corner of this big valley raised the king hops of the time! Our family jumped in on the bonanza too! You could raise bigger yields elsewhere but the character of hops right here brought a premium. It was a bustling community.

It all came crashing down when it became fashionable for women to drink beer. A much milder beer came into vogue and our little neck of the bushes ....... was left chocking in the dust!

My family languished for 30 some years and raised hops until 1966. I often wonder how all these microbreweries might breath life into the crop in our area. But Hops are a royal pain longterm!

Regards

Three 44s

[Ghugly]

Back when I was younger and stupider (not much younger and, unfortunately, not much stupider) I tried smelting the lead out of an old battery. It ended up being a nasty, smelly mess that wasn't even close to being worth the trouble. I'f my lead supplies dry up, I might give it another go. I'm really hoping that things don't get that bad.