AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: jimrbto on October 20, 2008, 01:09:12 AM
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I have read pros and cons about using battery lead to cast balls. I wonder if anyone here has some information other than "hearsay" as to whether or not I can use this lead. This desert area seems to be a dumping ground for a lot of them and could be a source for a lot of free lead
Thanks for any help you can give.
Jim
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Battery lead in the recent past contained and probably still contains cadmium. Results in very toxic vapours and such lead is not recommended for casting round balls. The cadmium vapours I believe are considerably worse than the lead vapours.
cheers Doug
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In addition to Cd - Cadmium Doug listed, battery lead can also contain Sr - Strontium, another toxin.
Other common elements found in battery lead are:
Ni - Nickel
Ag - Silver
Zn - Zinc
Cu - Copper
Bi - Bismuth
Fe - Iron
Sb - Antimony
Sn - Tin
As - Arsenic
Al - Aluminum
Ca - Calcium
Forget cutting the terminals off the battery too, they're hard as can be both before & after casting. The terminal ends, those attached to the cables, most are usable for casting - way to check them is grab both sides with pliers and twist, if the terminal bends easily, it'll usually cast out fairly soft but keep in mind that these too can be highly contaminated with acids and trace elements that can come out of the pot in vapor form.
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Thanks guys
I guess I will abandon batteries as a source of lead.
Jim
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If there are that many batteries around, try to find a recycler who'll buy them. One near me will buy them. I don't know what he's paying, but you could get a few bucks to put toward purchasing pure lead to shoot.
-Joe
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I tried the battery lead thing back around '76. First off, getting the lead plates out of the batteries is a nasty business. Plus if there is any acid left in the battery it is a problem to dispose of.
The balls I cast were very hard. Probably harder than wheel weights. Being hard, they were very hard to load. Accuracy was poor. Probably due to patch damage when the hard balls were started.
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Take the batteries to a recycle center around here they are paying $8.00 A Battery. than buy some good lead. That's much safer than messin with battery acid to get lead that is marginal at best.
D.Bowman
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I thought I would bring this thread up to current as Voyageur mentioned using battery lead.
DP
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Battery lead sure dose not sound like the way to go. I'll pass on it. Thanks Mark
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I thought I would bring this thread up to current as Voyageur mentioned using battery lead.
It has been my experience that many people purport to have done something, when in fact they have only read about it. I used to sell over 500 car batteries a year.
The old lead/acid battery, also known as the dry charge battery, is a dinosaur that has all but disappeared many years ago. A few may still be available for commercial applications.
With the advent of the wet charged or sealed battery many years ago, technology changed drastically. The old batteries were sealed with asphaltum, which could be heated and the plates extracted. A battery with a dead cell could have the plates in that cell replaced and the battery resold by rebuilders.
New batteries can only be opened by cutting the case open. Inside, you will not find lead plates, but rather grids which are individually enclosed in packets of some type of plastic envelope. If you take one of those grids and remove it from the envelope, you will find that it crumbles in your hand. It is not lead, but as others have said contains a variety of toxic materials. This is the reason why they are now classified as hazardous waste and must be recycled, and also the reason why you must have an old battery to exchange when you buy a new one.
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Maybe Prince George is a bit behind - or maybe I am. Due to the 3 lead/acid batteries I have in my possession, I could be casting balls using the lead from those batteries tomorrow - or later today - I think your last sentence was an attack on others, so I've removed it. Bit premature as there are 'dinosaurs' among us.
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If I believed for even one second all the things the govt. claims are bad for me or dangerous to me I would have to live in a permanent bubble, AND if you did a complete chemical analysis of a good healthy @$#% you would find that it too is hazardous to your health. 'Nuff said about toxics and hazards.
All of the batteries I see dumped in the desert do in fact contain two types of plates, half of which (the grids) are composed of recoverable lead and I have melted down more than a couple of them. I usually melt them down on the spot, I don't want to carry them all over on the back of a motorcycle! I bring back only the lead. I know that this lead is hard and have no idea what it is alloyed with which was the reason for my starting this post. I only wanted to use the lead for casting balls to be shot with a patch, not for use in a revolver. I am currently using the collected lead for other useful purposes.
Was just hoping someone here had some actual, real experience with this matter.
Thanks
Jim