Can you get lead from an old car battery?

[plainsman]

yep, the little lead ya get outa a battery ain't worth the clothes ya gonna have to replace, as well as other hassles. Just a lot of crap to mess with. I'd rather pay 4 bucks a pound for it, still cheaper than ruining clothes and other stuff.

[Mo J-Em]

Ok, so if there is little to gain from lead in a battery, then why do they recycle them. They make money off some sort of the battery right? Which part? Just curious?

[fish24/7]

Lead in itself can be toxic,in a battery the rest of the chemicals are even worse. May get a pound of lead and end up with a five pound tumor. Like the rest said look behind another door.

[Fishsmoke]

Ok, so if there is little to gain from lead in a battery, then why do they recycle them. They make money off some sort of the battery right? Which part? Just curious?

Having worked at a battery recycling plant I can tell you it's the lead they go after. It's all in the quantity of the batteries you are recycling. The plant I worked at crushed the batteries and then ran the pieces through a vertical cyclone. The lead dropped out the bottom into fifty five gal drums. That operation ran daily and recycled batteries from huge submarine size down to motorcycle batteries. Even running daily there was only enough lead after a week to fire up the smelter for one night. From that we would pour between 12 and 20 1000 lb pigs for shipment.

If you're looking at using it for sinkers, you'd have to crush a fair # to make it worthwhile and then there's the associated heath/environmental problems. As I mention in previous post the plant I worked at is now a superfund site.

[Fatman]

The only part of the battery you can use without health dangers is the terminals - pure lead. Just pull them off with vise grips. The rest of it leave it alone.

[brother hilljack]

Sell the battery and use the money to buy lead!

[JERMSQUIRM]

some said they burned batteries in a small hole and got the lead out after it was burned. dont mess with them. aint worth the hassle and mess and you wont end up with much or any.

go to local small tire shops. tell some of the fellas in back youll buy them a case of beer for a bucket of wheel weights. that is how i do it. get 5 gal buckets for a case of bud light. cheap and easy. less health hazzardess.