Smelting a TON (literally) of wheel weights - respirator?

I have well over a ton of wheel weights to smelt. These are probably 20+ years old and back in the day I had a friend sell his tire shop and give me all I wanted for FREE!
I think I took way more than a ton....
I have been picking at the buckets here and there for a while now, but am going to sort and smelt as much of this as I can into ingots over the summer.
I would prefer not NOT inhale the fumes, no matter how hard I try not to. Like campfire smoke, no matter what way you turn the smoke is always in your face. :)
Any suggestions for respirators that will keep all the bad stuff out of my lungs?

Place a good fan to where it is sucking fumes from the pot and pointed away from you. Or get an old kitchen exhaust fan and rig it up with some ducting and shoot it 4' or 5' above where you are working. You should be able to scrounge all the parts off of CL and not spend too much money. Wearing a respirator in AZ. (or anywhere) in the heat of the summer for any length of time would suck.

I would be willing to help you out by taking a couple hundred pounds of that nasty stuff off your hands. I know, I AM a GIVER!

I wish I had your problem. I can’t offer a resolution but I know, from past experiences, smoke follows greatness.

Stay upwind as much as possible.
Any of the cartridge type paint spraying respirators should be fine.
The ones that look like a large, glorified dust mask--- not so much.

Several years back I cut one end out of two 55 gallon steel oil drums and tacked welded the two open ends together, then stood them up and added a flue with a 12" pipe approx. 6' high, cut an opening in the side and put my gas ring and cast iron camp oven in there, its very efficient and drawing all the nasty smoke etc up and away from me and have smelted several tons of all sorts of raw lead scrap in there Ill take a pic and see if I can attach it later on today

Cheers
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Originally Posted by Leadmad

Several years back I cut one end out of two 55 gallon steel oil drums and tacked welded the two open ends together, then stood them up and added a flue with a 12" pipe approx. 6' high, cut an opening in the side and put my gas ring and cast iron camp oven in there, its very efficient and drawing all the nasty smoke etc up and away from me and have smelted several tons of all sorts of raw lead scrap in there Ill take a pic and see if I can attach it later on today

Cheers
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That’s awesome for fumes.

I got the asthma so I can't handle the paint and petroleum that burns off while smelting. No matter which side I'm on I'm a smoke magnet. I got a 3M 6200 respirator in the paint department at Lowes or Home Depot. I got the 6001 activated charcoal particulate/vapor filter which comes with the fiber filter that goes on the outside. End result is there is the slightest hint of smoke and no asthma attack. Home Depot also sells the 2097 particulate filter that does a good job too especially when dealing with mold. Not to high a price and it's local pickup. I've had mine at least 15 years. Mine has been through the tonnage thing.

Years ago I was driving around the area and saw someone selling two house size evacuation fans. I bought the largest of the two and mounted it on wheels to use in my garage (I do woodwork) to cool and to remove some of the sawdust. If you can find one it would work well.

As a warning, the concern about stuff during smelting is real.

Do not forget about the risk associated with dust while handling WW. WW gathered from tire shops is usually very dirty. Much of that "dirt" may be nasty stuff like lead compounds and asbestos (possibly depending on age of when they were collected). All of the stuff in that "dirt" is better off to be collected in a mask on your face than in your lungs.

How about a chicken house fan?they are about 4 feet in diameter and move a lot of air

Full face respirator is my suggestion.

The smell of melting wheel weights is nauseating for me. I found that using lid on my cast iron pot really helps to contain it. When I lift the lid the vapors ignite and it doesn't smell as bad. Also if you have access to cheap / free beeswax, it smells actually great when flaxing, everything else not so much.

I second a M3 respirator from Amazon / local hardware store with the proper filter you can't smell smoke at all!

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Cartridge respirator works for me when I have really dirty lead. Impressive how the air goes from stinky and smoky to almost fresh smelling.

If you use a fan you'll probably need to use a wind shield to keep the heat around your pot.

Once you get the pot melted, cover the melt with kitty litter. It gathers up a lot of the smoke and impurities

Sorry, no advice on a respirator, but it sure is a wise idea, if you are gonna do this as a large scale project (2k lbs) over several days during the summer....it's gonna be almost like a job...several days exposure is no joke.

I've only schmelted scrap Lead on a specifically chosen breezy day, and I do this once a year, maybe once in two years.

Another thing to look at to lower exposure is to make your scraper, ladle, and such 4'-5' long to keep you back away from the heat and fumes. A lot of the bad stuff will drop away with some distance. When doing the large batches I preferred the long 2 handed tools not only for the above but the added stability and ease of handling. I had a 5' handled ladle the held just over 6 lbs made up it would pour 3 of my ingots. Do everything from a distance as much as you can

I’ve done all my melting at the front of a “shed” that has a squirrel cage fan in the back sucking the air out.

I really like the 55 gal drum vent stack idea.

Spray painter's mask should work but what about the eyes? Googles too.

Looks like the MC/P100 combo respirator is recommended for lead vapors(MC=multi=contaminant) and particulates(P100). $42 on Amazon and the cartridges are replaceable.

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https://www.thereloadersnetwork.com/...ullet-casting/

I like the double drum thing, looks very nice. I once had a similar rig made of concrete sluce pipe on end. Pipe had big holes broken out so..wood fire in the bottom and all the stuff on top. Once it got burning I could leave it for a hour or more. That reduces the exposure time. I had to remelt it all but the second time round it was dirty lead NOT a bucket of god only knows what so no bad stink.

Here's my small scale set-up. It works very well. Maybe you could do this on a larger scale. The hood works way better than I had hoped.
People say not to smelt in your production pot but I do it regularly with no adverse effects. Why do you have to do the whole ton? It's amazing how much you can smelt in a Lee Pot in an afternoon. I can do a years worth. Get a separate one for smelting.

I cast in a spare room in my basement and took a fan assy from a large gas space heater and mounted in a window with a hood and that sucker will slam the doors and put out a match and I still use a respirator. I have one similar to the one pictured above with the P100 filters .Look for them on sale if you can. The way I look at it no amount of turpentine or bore cleaner is going to get the lead out. Once you got it you got it. I even have my doctor order a lead test when ever I need any kind of blood work done.......they don't check for this unless you specify....you get used to the respirator and I don't find it so bad.....

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Originally Posted by Charlie Horse

…Why do you have to do the whole ton? It's amazing how much you can smelt in a Lee Pot in an afternoon. I can do a years worth...

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Action pistol shooters can easily go through 30,000 rounds a year. That’s around 600# of alloy to make my 147 grainers, and I like them to all be made from the same alloy, preferably the same lot. Volume processing of the raw metals and then combining them into final alloy in 240# lots (the largest I can manage with my equipment) works best for me.

Most tire shops also do break jobs. Go back a bit and you had asbestos break shoes or pads. So if you have a good bit of breakdown to do, a good idea to be outside and with moving air, away from you.

I've smelted a ton in a day several times. I did it in my shop with a 36 inch exhaust fan in the gable end and a 48 inch floor fan running in the door way. You could see the smoke move out of the door. It was easy to stay up wind of it. I didn't wear a respirator but its never a bad idea. I used a ladle and skimmer from RotoMetals that had handles about 2 ft long.

I use a 3M 6300 mask with 3M 2097 P100 filter cartridges

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JZ1MK6
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JZ1MK6

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Originally Posted by steve urquell

Looks like the MC/P100 combo respirator is recommended for lead vapors(MC=multi=contaminant) and particulates(P100). $42 on Amazon and the cartridges are replaceable.

Attachment 324579
Attachment 324580

https://www.thereloadersnetwork.com/...ullet-casting/

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Yup. That's the right idea. As others have mentioned, with a wheel weight smelt, it's not just the lead, it's all the reasonable suspicion of and unknown crap stuck to them.

The chimney idea looks like a really good one - combine elevating the fumes over your head with working upwind of the pot will reduce the work those filters have to do.

Goggles or mask with a seal for eye protection would also be smart - not just for surprise visits from the Tinsel Fairy, but tears from your eyes ultimately drain into your throat. Might as well keep them clean too.

When I am smelting, it is done outside with a high pressure gas burner.

I can no longer get my 20# LP tanks filled for a plumber's pot so I made a steel shield with cover for a high pressure burner. I have pots in 60, 80 and 100#s sizes.

Get a good quality respirator not some phony mask. I spent my whole working days in an Oil Refinery and believe it isn't worth taking a chance on your luck. I have used fans and other assorted things but when they gave me a blood test for lead content in my blood it was twice the max allowed.

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Originally Posted by oger

Get a good quality respirator not some phony mask. I spent my whole working days in an Oil Refinery and believe it isn't worth taking a chance on your luck. I have used fans and other assorted things but when they gave me a blood test for lead content in my blood it was twice the max allowed.

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I ordered one.
I am ready to conquer the wheel weights!
Interesting that these are very old (maybe 20 years+) and there are darn few zincs in it.
I am estimating 100lbs mixed in a 5lb bucket, I should easily be able to get 80 lbs of ingots out of it.

When the COWW's are sorted I get a 90% lead recovery rate.

indeedgo with the mc/p100 mask.

OR something like this:

https://i.postimg.cc/HLqQZB1D/20231220-154242.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/ydVFLp2r/20231220-172943.jpg

Once in ~5 to 7 years i melt also a 300 kg+
I cast every two months almost also.
It was a hassle to set this up, but man i really wish i did this years earlier.

Have fun and stay in good health

Squirrel cage blower out of an old furnace moves a lot of air and can be found cheap from furnaces that are being replaced due to heat exchanger leaks.

One of the biggest sources of easily absorbed lead is brass post firing. Primer leaves a residue of easily absorbed lead. Stopped climbing into pallet sized box of brass at scrap yard to dig 5 gallon buckets of brass to sort without mask and coveralls and my lead levels which were up but not "dangerous" and if work related wouldn't have required remediation, just testing every 6 months. They dropped by half when I reduced exposure to dirty brass.

When I eliminated dry tumbling by tossing a dash of mineral spirits in tumbler media I wasn't breathing in dust, added wearing rubber gloves when washing brass in 5 gallon bucket because one can absorb some of those lead compounds through the skin, my levels dropped more. Now that I wet tumble brass and the scrap yard went corporate so one can't dig through the bin and purchase from it I'm down to lead level that doctor said would be of concern if I was an infant and we didn't know what the source was. Point is there are other sources besides melting and casting of lead for us to end up with elevated levels in our blood.

When it comes to smelting old WW's I would be more concerned about the asbestos from older brake pads and the solvents and chemicals, as well as coatings that are used to prevent WW's from corroding aluminum rims.

Oh, and you Grizzly Adams types need to be clean shaven to derive complete protection. Your beard does not work well as a sealant nor a filter.

Proper use and fit of a respirator is very important. If you wear a beard, you won't get a good seal. If you buy a wrong size, you won't get a good seal. I did fittings as a safety officer/hygienist at the LA DWP for a couple years, and assure you that you want one that fits. One of the few instances we had of actionable lead poisoning occurred when one of our painters was removing lead paint and couldn't find his own mask so borrowed an old one from somebody else. Every time he moved his head he was creating gaps that allowed the lead-laden dust entry to his lungs as the ill fitting mask swung away from his face. Two weeks was enough that his blood-lead level more than doubled. He was removed from lead clean-up work and inspected ladders for a couple of months while drinking a 8 oz. of orange juice a day until his blood-lead level dropped down to an acceptable amount.

I will say that if all you were smelting was lead and you were doing it outdoors, a mask would not be necessary. The fly in the ointment is the other stuff that is in your bucket of wheel weights or range scrap...asbestos, Arsenic, pesticides, rodent droppings, grease, petroleum products, wood and paint chips and who knows what else. A proper fitting mask will help protect you from airborne particulates and vapors. I use a 3m Medium half mask with the pink n-99 filters (I probably should use an organic vapor/particulate one, but I have a bunch of the p100's and since I am smelting outdoors in the open, I seem to be protected well enough.)