Harry O
05-22-2006, 09:51 PM
My son is working the summer at the City traffic shop. One of the things he brought home was a plug that they use to seal the bolt that holds the meter to the pole. It is supposed to be lead and it is hammered into the hole to seal it.
The plug is about 1-3/8" dia, 3/8" thick, and weighs about 1-1/2oz. When they have to change a head, they have a device to pull the plug. It ruins the plug when they pull it and they throw it out. He brought one home for me to look at. I tested it with my Bhn tester and it is off the scale hard (the tester goes up to about 38Bhn -- I am guessing the plug is about 50Bhn from the small indentation).
I am going to ask him to bring a few more home until I get enough to melt. Anybody ever run across this before? I am guessing a lot of antimony, but no facts yet. It doesn't look like tin or lead with high tin.
The plug is about 1-3/8" dia, 3/8" thick, and weighs about 1-1/2oz. When they have to change a head, they have a device to pull the plug. It ruins the plug when they pull it and they throw it out. He brought one home for me to look at. I tested it with my Bhn tester and it is off the scale hard (the tester goes up to about 38Bhn -- I am guessing the plug is about 50Bhn from the small indentation).
I am going to ask him to bring a few more home until I get enough to melt. Anybody ever run across this before? I am guessing a lot of antimony, but no facts yet. It doesn't look like tin or lead with high tin.