I just moved to a place out in the boondocks and in the junk pile are several old car batterys that the housings are all broken off. All the acid is long gone and there dry. Can I melt them and burn off the remaining plastic without too much danger?
Thanks, Steve
Don't do it. Danger Will Robison Danger. Many many posts and discussions on this have noted the dangers search battery lead
Haul them to scrap dealer and trade for lead or wheel weights
^^^^ What he said.
Read http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-Are-Dangerous
Casting, Reloading & Shooting
No sir.Originally Posted by BACKTOSHOOTING
Even if it was safe (it is not!) the lead plates are so thin, you would be disappointed with the amount of reclamable lead per battery. Let the scrap dealer take care of them.
Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.
After watching a show on the History channel "How things are made" a good while back I learned that modern car batteries are indeed not suitable for normal reclaimed lead. Others have given good advice to stay away from trying to melt them down. Scrap yards pay good money for them too.
You can however remove the posts and use those
Never.......EVER........EVER.......EVER!
Did I say do not do it????????????????????????
Do a search on here for this subject cussed and discussed MANY MANY times.
It is NOT the plastic you are worried about. Or the acid.
There things in that metal (what YOU think is lead) that can kill you.
Take them to a scrap yard and get the money for them and buy good clean from the good folks on the S&S section of the forum.
bangerjim
I did it once, had 2 battery's, I'd drained them, knocked the plastic off. Built a good pile of coals in a ring, dropped the 2 battery's on top and came back the next day and dug the lead out of the ashes.
There was surprisingly little. Posts and connecting links are really all you get. The Plates crumble into toxic ash, best as said above, turn them in for the 20$ core charge and buy 40$ worth of lead. You'll be at least 10x better off.
The chemical soup you will release is not good, unless I'm named beneficiary for your life insurance. Then by all mean go ahead. Really the scrap yard will give you a few bucks for them so go there and make a swap for some lead or WW's as suggested. You will be way ahead.
Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.
Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.
Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat
Not worth the risk, I'll junk them out. Thanks to all for the decision, Steve
Sigh. Too bad there is not a sticky about the dangers of batteries.
Edit: Especially for a 4 year member, with more than 300 posts. Not a newbee at all.
Last edited by scottfire1957; 05-07-2015 at 12:55 AM.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-Are-Dangerous
Just to help someone "new" to find it
I've a couple sitting around and I thought of using them when I first started casting. Found the sticky and won't be casting them up.
I'm well aware of the dangers of batteries, just wanted to know about the old broken one's. Steve
Before you scrap them make sure you hacksaw the post off. enjoy your new found free money!
It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years (Abe Lincoln)
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” George Washington
Tried this 35 years ago and the evil looking fume which resulted made me stay well away from the burning battery plates. Not enough residual lead to make it worthwhile at all... not counting the fact that the fume is extremely toxic.
I wonder how many threads there are right now on this forum that ask about melting car batteries down. The answer is still no.
I did it twice. First time was in a bed of coal's when I was 17, and there wasn't much.Second time was about 10-12 year's ago. Took 2-3 hour's to melt one down. Coulda done a lotta wheel weight's in that time.
Actually I can respect the OP asking this this time. He had a different situation than just "can I melt a car battery" like most do. He had old batteries, busted with the chemicals long gone. It's a valid question. The answer, as many said, is still heck no. The posts, and any old heavy duty battery cable connectors are more lead than anything you would get out of the inside, UNLESS these were OLD glass cased batteries. With glass cased, not plastic, there was actually a bit of lead inside. It wasn't ONE BIT safer to melt down, but there was more of it.
And since multiple people all pointed at the same link, and the OP already said he would sell them, I don't see why folks see the need to keep harping and grinding about other posts and links. It wasn't the EXACT same question as before, just CLOSE to the same question.
My 2 cents.
GoodOlBoy
Yes I can be long winded. Yes I follow rabbit trails. Yes I admit when I am wrong. Your mileage may vary.
Keep your powder dry. Watch yer Top knot.
"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"
Yes there were "Short" 45 Colts! http://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/45_short_colt.htm
GoodOlBoy:
Easy answer. People are getting tired of the same question over and over. "Can I use lead from car batteries safely?"
And YES, that IS what he asked!
The OP could have ready the pinned post, "Why Car Batteries Are Dangerous" at the top of the page and gotten everything he needed.
This shows me they'd rather ask then do a bit of research on the site. Why have pinned posts if nobody even reads them first, BEFORE asking questions.
We all know that smelting battery plates is dangerous, perhaps even deadly, but it is right there for anyone to see, read and learn if they would just look a bit or do a search before asking!
DC-1
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits." - Albert Einstein
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