Cleaning Wheel Weight Lead

[cranker]

I normally use clean lead from roto metals but today I was at the tire shop and picked up about 4 pounds of the stick on type weights.They appear to be fairly soft but are very dirty,greasy,and of course have the sticky backing on them.Does anyone have any tips on cleaning lead like this to get it ready for pouring? I am thinking you would just melt and flux but it looks like it could get pretty messy or even dangerous trying to clean it.If I can get it clean enough to use the tire store owner says he will gladly start saving me all of this type weights he runs across so it could be a very good lead source if I can get it clean.Any Advice?

[Ogajiga]

I consider stick on wheel weights a good source of 99+% soft lead, but it is a tedious cleanup that requires soaking in paint thinner till plastic adhesive strip detaches, then separating plastic trash from useable metal. Thinner also remove most of the grease & grime crud which eventually settles to the bottom and the clear portion can be poured off for re-use. I prefer to break longer WW strips into smaller straight segments for soaking in a plastic bucket with lid.

[reeves]

I melt all my lead in a large cast iron Dutch Oven on a propane turkey fryer. I do this next to a garage door, with a fan blowing to the outside. I don't do anything special about the paper or glue residue on those softer stick-on weights, just dump them into the pot and let the heat do the rest. You will get some smoke as they burn off, but I have never experienced even any flame doing it this way. When all is melted, skim the trash and flux the melt and pour into ingots.

Always use the maximum safety precautions when working with molten lead. The thing to really watch for is moisture, as the slightest drop is dangerous and will cause big trouble. If the tire store owner is willing to save you weights for future pick-up, I would recommend you provide him a clean bucket and ask that he try and keep it indoors and away from moisture. Offer him a few of your baits as a thankful gesture.

Good luck and be safe.

[BBK]

Just melt them in a big pot and clean with flux several times. The adhesive and plastic will burn off.

[cranker]

Thanks guys,I will give it a try and see how it turns out.If I can make this work I should always have a good source for plenty of lead ! I know the store owner well and have actually sold him jigs in the past,I am going to give him jigs now for the lead.

[cadman]

I do the same as George does and many others. I get sheet lead from x-ray doors with one side that has stick on adhesive. I cut it up in small pieces and then put it in a 2lb cast iron pot on top of a turkey fryer. The glue smells badly, so do it outside. But I just skim it off until I get clean lead and then ladle the clean lead into mini-muffin pans. Use caution as mentioned above especially in hot weather when you perspire as well. A drop of sweat in a lead pot is a bad accident waiting to happen.

[kelly]

I know you are doing the stick on weights but you will probably get clip ons to. Be certain to do the drop test and not ruin you lead with zinc clip ons. As far as I know there is not zinc stick on yet but they might come about. O I just burn off the stick ons like most others.

[Stickman Baits]

Please inlighten me about the "drop test" I can't figure out how to identify the zinc wheel weights.

[Ogajiga]

"Stick", I learned about identifying and avoiding zinc wheel weight contamination on this board thanks to "sagacious". Here's the post thread.

Zinc Wheel Weights

x2 - "kelly", what is the drop test?

Edited August 25, 2010 by hawnjigs

[cranker]

Please inlighten me about the "drop test" I can't figure out how to identify the zinc wheel weights.

The way I tell is fairly simple,I just simply scratch the weight with a fingernail.Lead will roll rite off with little effort but if its zinc weights you cannot scratch it,its very hard.Also I have noticed about all of the lead weights will be the light grey color and the zinc stuff almost looks like aluminum and some is even painted a grey epoxy color.I have thrown out a few zinc weights and yes they are making some stick on zinc so always check it carefully.Another neat thing about the stick on wheel weights that I have noticed is the weight of each little block is stamped in it.The batch I have now are in strips but each little block is stamped with either 1/4 oz. or 1/2 oz. And after reading the good responses to my question about cleaning the lead I decided to soak it to degrease it before melting off everything else.I used a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of denatured alcohol (I use to thin Devcon) and water and soaked the weights about 8 hours and when I poured off the mixture all the glue and stickers just pulled rite off leaving the lead clean and shiny.

[mkvnmtr]

Be very careful about getting all the zinc out of the mix. You will lose a lot of weight and have a really bad day if you have zinc in the melt. You will also sometimes find steel wheel weights so be prepared to sort them beforehand or dip them out. I would always do them in a gas pot outside and not in an electric pot.

[kelly]

Please inlighten me about the "drop test" I can't figure out how to identify the zinc wheel weights.

The drop test is as simple as it sounds. A lead weight will thud when it hits the ground and a zinc weight will ting when it hits the ground. This all being done on concrete.

[Stickman Baits]

The drop test is as simple as it sounds. A lead weight will thud when it hits the ground and a zinc weight will ting when it hits the ground. This all being done on concrete.

Now that's a drop test I can understand !!!!!! LOL

[toadfrog]

I hear a lot about fluxing lead, most say use bees wax this thing that or the other. When you melt down your lead and its about as molten as you can get it. Use a solid oak dowel rod to stir with(oak is the only type to use because of certain resin qualities in it) it will burn in the molten lead and bring up the impurities so you can skim it off. Do this until you just get black dust from the oak on top of the lead. Do not try to melt more lead from the skimmed dross. It will contain mostly contaminates that can eat away at your lead pot. Then use bees wax or whatever just to maintain the lead pot.