Lead-Acid Question

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
xelexo
Gold Refining Forum

Help Support Gold Refining Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

Shaul

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 29, 2007
Messages
218
Location
Israel
Yesterday I disassembled a UPS (uninterruptable power supply) that I had picked up a couple years ago but had never dealt with.

Inside were 2 'Sealed Rechargeable Lead-Acid Batteries' 12v 7.2Ah that had burst,(probably the reason it had been tossed in the first place).

The plastic cases are brittle and can easily be peeled away. The one side that I opened revealed the Lead (?) plates covered with a whitish powder.

With Lead being rather hard to come by; would it be possible to reclaim this Lead for use in Steve's Sulphuric Acid cell, and if so, what would be neccessary to do to prepare it (cleaning etc) to melt it or use as is?

Thanks,


Shaul
 
The whitish powder is probably lead sulfate. Keep in mind that most lead in use in batteries is antimonial lead. Antimony can be toxic, and it also makes the lead much harder than you would think, and therefore less suitable for certain things (like making foils or cold working).


Best bet would be to try melting it at as low a temp as possible, then skimming off the slag which should go to a waste centre.


Lou
 
James;

Thanks for the offer, but it ain't that simple. Cost of shipping (to Israel), plus Customs duties, plus Hazmat issues, plus questions on why I'm importing Environmentally-questionable material without proper authorizations.....No Thanks.

Recently, some friends of mine were pulled over by airport security in New York for bringing in a couple pieces of graphite. They said it was for a science experiment and it went through. But a chunk of Lead? :roll:

Actually I haven't yet exhausted all possible leads. I know a junk dealer who deals in scrap metal, maybe I'll put the word out and see what surfaces.

Thanks Again,

Shaul
 
Scott;

Whoever would have thought to see the day when Gold would be more available than Lead.

Or maybe we could recycle toys made-in-China for their Lead content.

When we finally run out of toys that alchemy idea might just start to sound good. :wink:

Actually, in the interest of Science I'd be willing to check it out.

If you have any extra Gold laying around, send me a kg. or so to experiment with and I'll return you the Lead. :lol:

Shaul
 
I have tried it in the past and the Lead was not of good quality and the SO3 given off during the melting process corroded everything around. It's almost impossible to wash it away and any Lead Sulfate remaining will release SO3 on melting the Lead.

This is not something to try at home. Been there, done that.

A lot of battery lead contains Calcium metal as part of the Hydrogen recovery chemistry. It makes a mess of trying to use the lead for other purposes.
 
Some rooftop covers (called witches hats here, because that is what they look like) that are made to seal pipe penetrations in the roof top are lead.
Go to the auto parts store and buy battery terminal clamps they are also lead.

Jim
 
Plumber is derived from the Latin Plumbum, as Roman water pipes were often made of lead.

Your local plumbing supply will gladly sell you pure lead ingots which are probably the best thing to use, or you can save yourself the misery of doing it the 'cheap' way and buy it from Steve's site.
 
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm fairly certain now, I'll be able to find it in the end. Just had to widen my knowledge of possible sources.

Shaul
 
You can find lead in the downrange banks of shooting ranges. It's easy if they are sand. I found one that was loaded with lead from decades of heavy shooting, but it was in very heavy clay. Dig around until you find the area where the lead is concentrated and stacked up on itself. We could barely lift the shovel with a full scoop in some places.
 
Rag and Bone said:
You can find lead in the downrange banks of shooting ranges. It's easy if they are sand. I found one that was loaded with lead from decades of heavy shooting, but it was in very heavy clay. Dig around until you find the area where the lead is concentrated and stacked up on itself. We could barely lift the shovel with a full scoop in some places.
Click to expand...

I did that a long time ago and still casting bullets from that source. :D

The only problem is the Antimony and Tin content.
 
Back in June I was looking for a source of Lead, but not having much luck with it, I put it to the back of my mind.

A couple days ago I was in a local shopping mall and passing by a store selling camping & outdoor gear, I noticed a display of fishing equipment and went in.

There on the floor was a small carton of Lead fishing sinkers (about a kilo's worth).

I bought the whole thing. So now I'm covered.

Actually the store owner was rather amused that I was only buying sinkers, no tackle, nothing; but it didn't matter. A sale is a sale.

Now to find a battery charger/power supply for under $200-300 and I'll be set.

The only types of chargers I've seen so far are 12-24v. No 6v or anything lower than 12v.

I'm at a loss how to get around that hurdle, short of finding a lab-grade bench-type power supply.

Also for acid, I can always buy Reagent-grade Sulphuric at a chem supply place.

So for all you folks in America and other places who can buy a battery charger for $50- and battery acid off the shelf; be thankful for what you got.


Shaul
 

Latest posts

Back
Top