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reclaiming lead

Roswell Bob

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Dec 5, 2020
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Location
Warner, NH
I had a discussion with friend this week concerning scrapping my 32 Die-Hard batteries. He told me I would only get a few dollars for each. I am wondering if I should just try and reclaim lead myself and stick it next to my pile of brass. Is anyone reclaiming lead acid batteries? I'm not sure what it involved so throwing it out here.
 
I would not want to deal with getting the lead recovered all by myself.

People talk about mixing the acid with baking soda to neutralize the acid, but this process gets the Ph to7, but creates different coompounds on the way that are not necessarily perfectly safe. Sometimes these compounds are called salts, but this is not Sodium Chloride Table salts, but other things. If the battery died because the plates sulfated, neutralizing with baking soda won’t fix it.

I think with a lot of study you could do things like recover precious metals from scrap computer parts, but I don’t think doing it for a metal as cheap as lead is worth it.

Most of the bullets made in America are supposed to come from scrap batteries.
 
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I've been recycling lead batteries for a long time. Almost any metal recycler will take them as-is, you don't have to drain them. You don't get a huge amount of money, but it's a lot more than a few dollars. It's worth enough that burglars would go down to the marinas and steal all the batteries just to turn them in for cash. 32 batteries will be worth a lot. Trying to recover the lead yourself is not a worthwhile investment of time or effort.
 
Around here we have a $20 deposit on the lead in new batteries.
Not required if we have a trade-in.
So, I'd first use some to purchase any new lead-acid batteries you want if this applies where you live.
OTOH, if you're switching to Li then this doesn't apply.
 
People are starting to sell them, i've noticed, on FB Marketplace for less than the "core credit" to people who need new batteries and don't have an old one. It seems to me like a lot of work to save very few dollars, but to each their own.
 
I would not want to deal with getting the lead recovered.

People talk about mixing the acid with baking soda to neutralize the acid, but this process gets the Ph to7, but creates different coompounds on the way that are not necessarily perfectly safe. Sometimes these compounds are called salts, but this is not Sodium Chloride Table salts, but other things. If the battery died because the plates sulfated, neutralizing with baking soda won’t fix it.

I think with a lot of study you could do things like recover precious metals from scrap computer parts, but I don’t think doing it for a metal as cheap as lead is worth it.

Most of the bullets made in America are supposed to come from scrap batteries.
 
I am switching to LiFePO4. I knew this day would come when I bought the DieHard units.

I have no idea what the price of lead will be in 10 years. If I decide to salvage batteries myself I will sit on lead until I can make a buck on it or I am dead. Batteries are sulphated pretty good so maybe best to get rid of them. We see. Yea, lots of nasty stuff inside that I am sure will be better left to somebody who knows the process. Maybe I will sell outright and buy some lead outright.

Thanks
RB
 
I used to purchase reloads from a retired guy with lots of old batteries in a shed. When I asked what they were for he said, "Where do you think all this lead comes from?" I'm replacing two lead acid batteries with LiFePO4. Need to find someone who will buy the lead batteries.
 
That retired guy wasn't worried about "big brother " EPA or the fumes from trying to reclaim lead oxide and lead sulfate and his costs to do it.
Unless your setup for it, It is a lose situation all the way around. Most scrap yards buy them (batteries) , and will sell you other solid lead that is easily melt-able . I tried this 40 years ago and didn't work and today's health crazy people ,it's worse.
 
The risk is actually higher than just exposure to acid and lead fume. The following is from the Cast Bullet Forum a few years ago. Arsine gas or stibine gas is nothing to play with at all. I've worked in the metals extraction industry for 50+ years and we always worry about arsine...it has killed dozens of people. Yes, lots of people have reclaimed lead with no apparent ill effects but someone will eventually die from this...or has but it was misdiagnosed.

David G

"The warnings about smelting automotive batteries to recover the lead they contain needs a bit of explanation. Doing so really does have the potential to harm or even kill you and here is why. Maintenance free/low maintenance batteries use calcium metal-doped lead to catalyze the hydrogen gas generated from water electrolysis back into water. That is what makes the batteries low maintenance or maintenance free, you don't need to add water to the cells as often like in the old days. When the battery lead is melted down there is enough sulfuric acid from residual electrolyte trapped in the lead dioxide and lead framework of the battery plates to react with the small amount of calcium metal in the lead alloy. Normally when sulfuric acid (or water) gets in contact with calcium metal it undergoes a rather vigorous reaction that generates hydrogen gas. In and of itself this is no big deal, hydrogen is a simple non-toxic asphyxiant that is also flammable. But the lead alloy used in batteries also contains a bit of antimony and even arsenic to help harden and strengthen the lead to withstand the vibration and general knocking-about batteries have to withstand in order to survive normal automotive use. When hydrogen comes in contact with arsenic and antimony, or compounds of these two elements, the hydrogen reacts to form ammonia analogues called arsine and stibine, AsH3 and SbH3. Both of these are heavy gases and both have the similar characteristic odors of rotting fish. In World War One the Germans experimented with these, along with phosphine, another rotting-fish-smelling gaseous ammonia analogue with formula PH3, as war gases. As such they were highly effective since they are deadly in amounts too small to easily detect. In even smaller amounts that are too small to immediately kill they cause rather painful lung damage that often eventually leads to emphysema and lung cancer.
So, leave smelting car batteries or using lead smelted from them to professional recyclers. Many folks including myself have successfully smelted batteries and lived to tell about it, but the risk is just too great to mess with the stuff."
 
I just take my old lead acid batteries to the local metal recycler (along with my old circuit bords and aluminum cans).
Last year I was getting ~ $10 for each starting battery (depending on weight) no messing with the acid etc... take them in they get weighed and you get the cash.

Enjoy!
 
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I've been recycling lead batteries for a long time. Almost any metal recycler will take them as-is, you don't have to drain them. You don't get a huge amount of money, but it's a lot more than a few dollars. It's worth enough that burglars would go down to the marinas and steal all the batteries just to turn them in for cash. 32 batteries will be worth a lot. Trying to recover the lead yourself is not a worthwhile investment of time or effort.
I'm trying to find best fluxes recipe for smelting paste and grid together without separation to get the highest recovery rate, do you have any ideas?
 
Lead poisoning is a real risk.

Positive plates are coated with lead-oxide. When it dries out it becomes a fine white powder that easily becomes airborne. Many folks report a metallic taste in their mouth that lasts for several days.
 
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