# Rechargeable batteryies (recycling)



## Anonymous (Nov 15, 2008)

nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium rechargeable battery. Is there a way to recover the nickel from them?


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## Anonymous (Nov 22, 2008)

I asked if someone knew how to get the nickel from them.So far no anwsers.Maybe not worth the effort.I scrap for the most part but with prices down I find myself looking for other ways to make an honest living.I'v been saving tv's and coumputers to tear down for the gold and silver in them.I was reading somewhere that mercury was worth somthing.Scrap yards don't want to mess with it.Got any idea where I could sell it?And if so how do I ship it safely? Also noticed I'm no longer a newibe. Thanks.


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## Harold_V (Nov 22, 2008)

Greenthumbgrow said:


> I was reading somewhere that mercury was worth somthing.Scrap yards don't want to mess with it.Got any idea where I could sell it? And if so how do I ship it safely?


Unless you can find a private buyer, you can't. I had over 100 pounds of mercury that I gave away when I discovered that refiners will accept it if you ship it to them, shipping prepaid, in approved 76 pound flasks. If you ship 150 pounds or more, they'll even pay you for it. Probably not quite enough to cover shipping, but better than nothing. 

My experience was back in '94. Perhaps things are different now. I wouldn't count on it being better, however. I'm not convinced they're relaxing any of the regs these days. 

What you have on your hands is hazardous material-----it is not an asset---it is a liability. 

By the way----it wasn't this way earlier. Scrap yards accepted it. No longer, as you've discovered. 

Harold


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## bmgold (Nov 23, 2008)

Action Mining sells amalgamation equipment but states you must buy mercury locally. Maybe an email to them would get you information on a local supplier that might be interested in buying or at least they might be able to deal with it in a responsible way. It would be worth an email to check out depending on the quantity you have to get rid of. 

Email : [email protected]

Another choice might be a local university or even a highschool chemistry department. Just be careful you don't end up having to pay a hazardous disposal fee. Actually, for a small quantity, maybe the fee wouldn't be to high. I think some communities have a once a year collection of hazardous wastes like old paint, etc.


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Nov 28, 2008)

All batteries have metals for recycling...Zinc/Coal...Lithium...Alkaline...Silver Oxide...Nickel/Cadmium...soon I will post more about them.

Regards

Manuel


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## butcher (Nov 28, 2008)

I can't wait Juan, I always look forward to your posts, thank you for the information you have given.


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Dec 1, 2008)

Butcher,my dear friend,it is my pleasure.

Have a nice day

Manuel


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## jjohio (Feb 26, 2012)

I too have a bunch of 7.5volt nickel metal hydride batteries...I got them for the gold contacts..Problem I have is cant take them apart to put just the gold in AR.....Not sure if it is wise to stick whole battery in AR...Any suggestions?


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## jimdoc (Feb 26, 2012)

jjohio said:


> Not sure if it is wise to stick whole battery in AR...Any suggestions?



Not wise.


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## jjohio (Feb 26, 2012)

Any suggestions Jim? Battery is 2 inches wide 4 inches tall...looks like the plastic may be glued together or something...


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## jimdoc (Feb 27, 2012)

jjohio said:


> Any suggestions Jim? Battery is 2 inches wide 4 inches tall...looks like the plastic may be glued together or something...



Sometimes things aren't worth the hassle. It always seems that I get knuckle busters and cuts messing with stuff that just wasn't worth getting hurt over. My suggestion would be look for better yielding items that are less of a hassle. You can always put stuff to the side to deal with later, the gold will still be there, and you may just learn how to get it easier.

Jim


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## Dwsj65 (Aug 4, 2012)

So what about the gold plated contacts on cell phone batteries ? Would it be safe to use a brush to put A/P directly on the contacts without placing the entire battery into the solution ? I know that ocean buys Li-ion batteries, and I am considering sending them to him, but I have quiet a few other batteries from older phones. I also have access to literally hundreds of batteries from walkie talkies that have gold plated charging contacts on the back as well as gold plated contacts on the front to where they attach to the radios. Any thoughts ??


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## qst42know (Aug 6, 2012)

> So what about the gold plated contacts on cell phone batteries ? Would it be safe to use a brush to put A/P directly on the contacts without placing the entire battery into the solution ?



Neither in solution or solution on would be safe for batteries.

All the batteries I have opened have the contacts glued or double back taped to the cells. Unless you have proven it's worth the effort to remove them (not much gold there I suspect), I'd say sell as is.


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## Dwsj65 (Aug 7, 2012)

Can you explain why please ? I am not questioning your answer, just trying to learn.


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## qst42know (Aug 7, 2012)

Acid is conductive and could cause a short if the batteries still hold a charge. 

The chemistry in the battery may be alkaline and react violently with the acid.

AP does not react directly with the gold plate to remove it, it eats the copper from under the plate allowing the gold foil to come free, brushed on won't work.

The thought of removing thousands of contacts for little return doesn't appeal to me either. :mrgreen:


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## Dwsj65 (Aug 7, 2012)

Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation. I am an electrical troubleshooter by trade, so I certainly understand the shorting concern. I would have made sure they weren't still charged. However the thought of a violent reaction is enough to make me say no thank you. I thought I may could tinker with them while I was at work during my downtime, so I would already be getting paid my salary, and anything I could recover would be pure profit. But I'm not willing to do something dangerous just because it is available. I only asked because I wanted to learn. I have to understand why things do or do not work, or it drives me crazy... lol. The company I work for uses walkie talkies for communications between the different posts. There are literally hundreds of those batteries thrown out from here every month. Over 800 employees, each with their own radio. You can imagine.


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## qst42know (Aug 9, 2012)

If you have the time you might find a quick way to pluck the circuit board contacts off of the batteries if they don't have a recycle value you might be destroying. I have been know to perform some tedious little return functions on occasion. Kind of like picking up pennies on the sidewalk. :mrgreen:


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## butcher (Aug 9, 2012)

Most battery packs are plastic boxes with the cells inside (or cells wrapped in a shrink wrap type plastic. the battery cells inside cells (like several smaller nI-cads) these may also have a small circuit or thermal switch, most of the gold plated contacts I have seen can be removed from the box, as well as the batteries inside, just be careful of shorting the batteries if you do pop open these cases.


Lithium and NiCad batteries can deliver a large amount of current in a short period of time, for their size when shorted they can get hot enough to explode, wrapping each cell in tape to keep it from shorting is a good idea. recycle your batteries many of the metals are getting harder to get and we do not want to pollute our ground with these metals we need, and are costly to mine.


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## canedane (Oct 21, 2012)

If i should remove gold from batteryes i would use a sand blaster.
It should be easy to clean the sand .First with ap then with ar.
I have collect 1000+ but i guess it wont pay the mini sand blaster cabine. Most batteryes types have negative valeu.
I guess it is a job for proffesionels refiners.
Thanks to all you helpsom people in this forum.
I have collect gold scrab for 12 years and havent make my first nugget yet. This is a dangerues job to do and i will be 100% sure im doing it safe and correct the first time.


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## kurt (Oct 21, 2012)

Dynamic Recycling in La Crosse Wi buys Li-ion $1.40/lb Ni-Cd $.36/lb Ni-Mh $.73/lb - dry cell only - terminals must be taped

expect 2 - 3 weeks from time they recieve shipment to get paid

I take them in when I take them brown boards which they pay $.26 - $.28 a pound for (best price on brown boards I have found) I also take them my floppy/CD/DVD drives & power supplies - puttig a load of about 8 gaylord boxes of stuff to take them next week.

Kurt


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