Car batteries to bullets
- Thread starter Souris
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dmftoy1
Member
I'm pretty sure it used to be sulfuric. I don't know if that's changed or not but that's what I remember from my old days of working at Tru Value hardware and having to fill the batteries before putting them on the shelves.
Selfdfenz
Member
BigBlock
I'm going to take the high road on this point and avoid styling my comments as others. Don't take this as mean-spirited or condescending but you might want to have your blood lead level checked. If you have kids and you are doing this on your property there is a risk they are being exposed to lead due to the extraction processes you are using. Lead poisioning in kids or adults is not a pretty thing and may not show up immediately.
Best
S-
I'm going to take the high road on this point and avoid styling my comments as others. Don't take this as mean-spirited or condescending but you might want to have your blood lead level checked. If you have kids and you are doing this on your property there is a risk they are being exposed to lead due to the extraction processes you are using. Lead poisioning in kids or adults is not a pretty thing and may not show up immediately.
Best
S-
alucard0822
Member
I tried to cast a plate from a "rebuild" kit for a fork lift battery, it was never exposed to acid, and it made linotype look like silly putty. Battery lead is so hard, bullets would probably shatter on the way out of the barrel, ar chip. You would probably have to mix 20 lbs of lead with 1 lb of battery lead to get a useable alloy, definitely not worth it, and that little experiment involved no sulfuric acid, had carbon filtered ventilation, and a replateable battery, not a sealed car battery that is probably twice as hard. Melting down batteries is not normal theoretical dangerous like Global Warming, it is incredibly dangerous, the kind that might give you toxic avenger type super powers, or kill you in minutes.
Oh for crying out loud! It is NO different or more dangerous than melting down a bucket of wheel weights that is so commonly recommended on this board.
Again, that depends TOTALLY on the type of battery. Fork lift batteries do not in any way relate to car batteries. One more time: I pulled about 100lbs of PURE LEAD from AGM batteries. Did you hear me? PURE LEAD, as confirmed by the manufacturer.
There is almost no arsenic in the alloys I purchase.
I use antimony when harder alloys are needed.
The alloying and changes are for the 'zero maintenance' batteries, not large industrial batteries that have caps and require water to be added.
You are free to take whatever chance you want, but modern maintenance free batteries are NOT a good source of lead for casting.
I use antimony when harder alloys are needed.
The alloying and changes are for the 'zero maintenance' batteries, not large industrial batteries that have caps and require water to be added.
You are free to take whatever chance you want, but modern maintenance free batteries are NOT a good source of lead for casting.
evan price
Member
Great, so you pulled some PURE LEAD out of a specialty battery once.
This one time, at band camp...
Never mind.
Battery acid is mostly water.
The parts that are NOT "mostly water" are dangerous.
Not quite "eating your flesh away" like the Alien blood.
But enough to give a good chemical burn if not flushed away.
The electrolyte paste that coats the lead plates would have to be removed, or else, just smelt it, and try to skim it off. That stuff DOES give off toxic fumes due to the chemicals used in its composition that are to enhance the "maintenance free" aspects of modern auto batteries.
Right now I am getting between $5 and $6 apiece for used auto batteries from the Exide supplier for every one I can drag in to their plant.
Take that money and use it to buy better lead.
Yes, smelting lead is dangerous. You need to use caution.
Smelting batteries is done by the manufacturers, like Exide or East Penn, by shredding the batteries to drain the fluids, then reheating the plates in a sealed furnace with positive ventilation. Saw a special on TV where East Penn treats the gas they collect and recycle it into fertilizer which they sell.
Long story short: As said before, batteries not the best place to get lead.
This one time, at band camp...
Never mind.
Battery acid is mostly water.
The parts that are NOT "mostly water" are dangerous.
Not quite "eating your flesh away" like the Alien blood.
But enough to give a good chemical burn if not flushed away.
The electrolyte paste that coats the lead plates would have to be removed, or else, just smelt it, and try to skim it off. That stuff DOES give off toxic fumes due to the chemicals used in its composition that are to enhance the "maintenance free" aspects of modern auto batteries.
Right now I am getting between $5 and $6 apiece for used auto batteries from the Exide supplier for every one I can drag in to their plant.
Take that money and use it to buy better lead.
Yes, smelting lead is dangerous. You need to use caution.
Smelting batteries is done by the manufacturers, like Exide or East Penn, by shredding the batteries to drain the fluids, then reheating the plates in a sealed furnace with positive ventilation. Saw a special on TV where East Penn treats the gas they collect and recycle it into fertilizer which they sell.
Long story short: As said before, batteries not the best place to get lead.
Selfdfenz
Member
Well no, they are not the same process. A fair % of wheel weights in use today contain no lead. All the lead / acid batteries contain lead. I'll give you this, if the material used was dry lead plate you may have fewer issues with other heavy metals and so forth than with maintainance-frees but there is still the issue of oxides and liberating them during the process of cracking the case/getting the oxides on your skin/garments etc.
Many things are recommended here and elsewhere on the I-net. Some are risk free, some are not.
If you are melting lead for bullets I'll hazard a guess that you own and use reloading manuals. I would be surprised if most of them don't have a comment on the potental risks of handling lead. Several of mine have longish discussions on the topic. Casting bullets is the single most likley way to pick up a body burden of lead associated with relaoding process. Adding battery recycling as a 1st step in that process can only increase that exposure risk.
If you aren't picking up a burden that's great. If you are, you may be lucky and it may be a low level. If not, and the dose you are getting is significant, I'm 100 certain you'll find the costs associated with having lead poising treated far exceeds the number of dollars you are saving recycling batteries vs. buying lead. Only a test will tell. It's your call, your health and it's still a somewhat free country.
Best,
S-
Lead poisoning very seldom comes from contact with lead. For lead to get into your body it has to be in a gaseous state. This is the boundary layer that is just above the molten lean in your pot. Because of the weight of lead it is a very shallow layer. You can't get lead from touching it. It doesn't go through your skin. You might be able to get some if you eat with the spoon you fluxed your pot with but I doubt it. Most of the lead poisoning in the past came from car exhaust. Having spent some time in a shop as a youngster, <30 years old, I have some idea of this problem. Exhaust repair guys had it the hardest. I was one for many years and have no lead problems. But I do have countless burns and a number of broken fingers. The last time I had my hand xrayed you could see bits of bone floating around in my hand and fingers. The nurse said "My god what have you been doing with your hands?"
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