old car batteries

niccy

Hi,

i've got about 12 old car batteries that i need to find a use for,and wondered if anyone had any ideas

thanks

Jonesya

'Old' - do they still hold a charge?

12V supply for when you go camping/caravanning/outdoors-y activities?

niccy

no,for old i should have wrote, knackered .

the best anyone has come up with is melt the plastic cases off and use the lead for fishing weights

arkonite_babe

There should be a facility to recycle these at your local council yard

Jonesya

niccy wrote: »

no,for old i should have wrote, knackered .

the best anyone has come up with is melt the plastic cases off and use the lead for fishing weights

NO!!!

I wouldn't even consider trying to recycle them myself - you've got the risk of burns from the acid, contamination from the lead and from the other heavy metals they add to the lead to improve performance - antimony (toxic) is one of the common additives. Plus if the battery is charged there's the possibility of setting off a discharge while you dismantle it which could result in arcing/sparking/hydrogen - possibility of explosion. You've also got the problem of disposing of the acid, as it will be contaminated with lead sulphate this is not something you'd want to get into a watercourse or sewage system.

It just isn't worth the risk to your health and the environment in trying to dismantle them yourself, for what, a few quids worth of lead, take them down the tip and let them be recycled properly.

navig8r

niccy wrote: »

no,for old i should have wrote, knackered .

the best anyone has come up with is melt the plastic cases off and use the lead for fishing weights

In order to make fishing weights you would need to empty out the dilute suphuric acid and melt the lead:eek: which is not the best thing to do,read number 6 in the list.

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:fh-sHpb6lvoJ:www.trace-elements.org.uk/leadsce.htm+melting+lead+batteries&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=uk

Dave
edit : forget my post,its all in the one above.

geordie_joe

When I was young I used to collect car batteries and take the to the scrap yard, who would buy them from me.

I doubt they would buy them now, to many recyclers giving them away!


Our scrap yard used to pay for all sorts of stuff, tin cans, paper, ali pop cans, rags, batteries, cars etc. But not anymore, too many people giving them away.

rygon

also diluting acid is dangerous..get it the wrong way (water into acid) and it produces an exothermic reaction..making the mixture erupt

scbk

If the batteries will still hold a charge then there are plenty of uses for them

If they are truly knackered, sell them to a scrappie. The average rate for batteries is £200/tonne

navig8r

rygon wrote: »

also diluting acid is dangerous..get it the wrong way (water into acid) and it produces an exothermic reaction..making the mixture erupt

Only when the acid is in a much higher concentration than that contained in car batteries,other wise the normal practice of topping up with distilled water would be a no no!! I say normal but these days with sealed batteries not a lot of topping up goes on .

Dave