Batteries as a source for lead?

tactical870

tactical870

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Anyone here ever salvage battery plates for casting? I would assume they are pure lead and relatively easy to come by. I dropped off over 100 scrap batteries this spring after doing a shop cleanup and I keep thinking even just a couple should keep me casting for a long time....
 
If cheap lead is worth more than your life, go for it. A quick google, will tell you how quickly this could be fatal. We all know there's lead in batteries, if it were a good idea, everyone would already be doing it.
 
Battery lead can be salvaged and cleaned safely but it is a dirty job. The re cyclers in my area pay between $8.00 to $10.00 for a car battery depending on the market. I have worked a deal to trade batteries for wheel weight lead. They make money and you get your lead without having to take dirty old batteries apart.
 
There are toxins and carcinogins in the acid that gets on the lead plates and will become airborne when smelted, allowing the user to breathe them in. I'd leave this to others and just deal with lead that has known contaminents.
 
This idea seems to pop up every 6 months or so. As others have said here:
DON'T DO IT!! :( It simply isn't worth the risk. :( Sell the batteries for scrap if possible and use the money to buy some wheel weights from a tire store.
 
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Another small "fly" in the ointment when it comes to car/equipment secondary batteries are the alloys.
Originally, car battery lead was a lead/antimony alloy, suitable for bullet casting.
All the newer batteries contain calcium, and some have small amounts of other metals incorporated to reduce "gassing" of the battery while in use. [nickle, cadmium, etc]
None of these metals will enhance your bullets' quality when casting them.
Best to avoid this source of lead.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
As pointed out by Eagleye, many batteries contain cadmium and its vapours are consider particularly bad. Also there is not an awful lot of lead in a battery relative to their side and other sources of lead are considerably more cost effective

cheers mooncoon
 
Fari enough. Mind you I try not to be inhaling any fumes when melting lead. Disposing of the acid is relatively easy. Eagleye's post points out the actual issues as far as bullet casting though so I think I'll stick with wheel weights and other sources of lead for now..
 
I melted down a few when I was a kid, just to do so.
I recall it being a huge PITA to crack them open and get each cell out and separated.
 
tactical870 said:
Anyone here ever salvage battery plates for casting? I would assume they are pure lead and relatively easy to come by. I dropped off over 100 scrap batteries this spring after doing a shop cleanup and I keep thinking even just a couple should keep me casting for a long time....
Click to expand...

I would not do it. The chemicals released proves fatal.
 
Batteries are mostly lead oxide that takes a complicated smelting process to reduce it back to metallic lead. The only usable metallic lead in a battery are the terminals.
I used to be in the scrap battery business back in the day & found out all about them.
I agree with the other posters, sell or trade them for scrap metallic lead.
 
Henry Nierychlo said:
Batteries are mostly lead oxide that takes a complicated smelting process to reduce it back to metallic lead. The only usable metallic lead in a battery are the terminals.
I used to be in the scrap battery business back in the day & found out all about them.
I agree with the other posters, sell or trade them for scrap metallic lead.
Click to expand...

What you said the terminals are the only safe lead to use,and be carefull

of how you remove them .

Bob
 
I've done it several way's.
First time I emptied them then threw them into a campfire for the night.Next morning when the fire was cold I dug thru the ash's and picked out the cooled lead puddle's.
Second time was outside with a lead smelting set up,about 3-4 year's ago.
For the anount of time I wasted doing it I could have smelted down an easy 40 LEE ingot sized bar's.I'm talking filled to the brim ingot's.
Swap'em for WW and save the hassle.
Or use a good bonfire to do the work.
 
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