Sorting wheel weights

yomomma

yomomma

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So I got a bucket of wheel weights and want to cull as much by sight as possible.

So..

Fe = iron
Zn = zinc
P/Zn = lead and zinc mixture
??? = plastic
P = Lead

So I got that much. There are a few mith letters like MC...I think they are lead.
So for all uncertain weights, if I can cut them with wire cutter its a good chance they are lead, nes pas????
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I got these puppies out of the pale....they seem to be really soft lead. Again, if I can cut it it is mos likely lead, YES?
16.7 lbs...hardly have touched the two buckets.

IMG_20140324_194250_zps00dd4248.jpg
 
MC and AW are usually not lead. Not sure what they are.
Personally if I'm unsure I stick them in the pot on an electric hot plate. Those that don't melt get picked out. A hot plate, unlike a propane burner, isn't hot enough to melt zinc so there is little worry about it mixing it. I've done this for a couple hundred pounds of wheel weights and have never had any zinc contamination. Get a lot of zinc that floats to the surface to get picked off.

You can also do the tap test. Hit the weights against a thick chunk of steel or iron. Lead goes thud, pretty much everything else goes tink.

Those stick on weights in the second pick are much softer lead. You can mix em in if you want or keep them separate. Softer lead is really sought after by the muzzle loading crowd as harder alloys don't work worth crap in muzzle loaders.
 
I got a few buckets of wheel weights from a local tire shop a couple of years ago . . . there were not too many zincs but there were some. I found that they (zinc) were very hard, sidecutters barely left a mark. My buckets also contained the same variety of stick-on weights as you have . . . in my case they were all very soft.

If you've never checked out the CastBoolits website, I would recommend it. Tons of good info.
 
Well learning all the time

This is from the same discussion we had on a different forum.

AL denotes the intended use for weight via the bend of the clip to grab the wheel...

FN is used on a lot of TOYOTA aluminum wheel

MC is used on all HYUNDAI/KIA aluminum wheel

IAW is another style

AW is another style

Been seeing Zinc marked as Zn

Also started seeing Fe, these is iron

Seen P on weights for plain old steel wheel
Click to expand...
 
As well we have been seeing a new foam style by Mercedes. They look kinda like a standard steel sticky weight but they are soft and pliable by hand. They mold like foam but are no good for casting. (Obvious) but just thought i would point that out as I work in a tire shop.
 
Having "smelted" more than three tons of wheelweights over the years, I have reduced the time I spend "culling" to almost zero - mostly as I put them in the pot I'll remove trash, stick-ons and any zinc or steel that jumps out at me.

If you watch the pot and skim as soon as the melt goes from "oatmeal" to liquid, no zinc or steel will be melted. So far, so good.

Things happen though, and if you are grossly negligent and some zinc is added, a small amount (up to about 1.5%) will not negatively affect the alloy for casting.
 
^^Thats exactly how I'd do it as well. I don't see the sense in making melting into a huge production. If it melts its will work
 
I smelt like Andy and LUTNIT. If you want to separate them before they hit the pot, try to take a bite of each weight with a pair of side cutters. lead will cut easily, zinc will hard to trim and steel will be impossible.
 
One thing not to do is heat your pot from the top with a weed burner type torch. I thought I would help hurry up the process one cold day with a weed burner and they are hot enough to melt zinc. :mad:
 
I still like to hand sort my wheel weights.Its tedious, and still the odd zinc slips thru, but I am going to save the zinc for fishing weights.I use a turkey deep fryer burner and it will melt zinc.The stick ons are worth keeping separate as well, if only for alloying or trading down the road.That stuff is also what is recommended for making shotgun slugs.Its a big job, I try to do it in phases, and I do not melt until I get several bucket fulls of weights to melt at once.You can also hear the difference when different types of weight are dropped on concrete, but the side cutters are the best thing if you cannot visually tell.Any doubt, cull it out.Its alotta work to end up with a contaminated unusable product.
 
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yomomma said:
Hand sorting is made easier with a good buddy....maybe a few beers.
Click to expand...

:agree:

Beer is essential, to interest anyone to test each clip-on with a pair of side-cutters...but we went through 3 full buckets and 12 beer as I kept a careful eye on the temperature of the 3 racks of baby-backs in my smoker.....:)
He'll be back to assist again, I assure you....:p
 
Rather than use side cutters I just scrape the suspect ones on the concrete floor or a brick. You can tell right away which are lead and which are something else. A magnet is handy as well.
 
I tap them on the side of a hammer or other steel tool.
The lead has a thud feeling and the zinc and steel ting if that makes any sence.
If a couple slip through just scoop out the floaters when you melt them down.
Did 700 lbs worth the other day:)
Mutt
 
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