Profits From Scrap

Part 1

PROFITS —FROM— SCRAP

Published by

American Bureau of Engineering, Inc.

2632 Prairie Avenue - CHICAGO, ILL., U. S. A.

Four Principal Activities of the American Bureau of Engineering, Inc.

The phenomenal growth of this Institution is due to the fact that it has, from the start, anticipated the needs for authoritative information and adequate shop equipment to take care of the ELECTRICAL side of the automotive and allied industries.

It has four active divisions:

1. A Bureau of Electrical Engineering, consulted by automobile manufacturers, dealers and by technical schools and colleges throughout the world.

2. A Publishing House, employing the highest authorities to compile text books and Ready Reference Manuals relating to the electrical equipment of Automobiles, Trucks, Tractors, and Farm Lighting Plants.

3. A Manufacturing and Sales Organization for supplying up-to-date shop equipment to the Battery and Electrical Service Stations.

4. An Electrical School, operating this branch under the name of “AMBU ENGINEERING INSTITUTE.” This school is conducted so that a student can attend classes in Chicago, or complete instruction in Automotive Electricity can be obtained in the Home Study Course.

=American Bureau of Engineering, Inc. General Offices AMBU BUILDING - 2632 Prairie Avenue CHICAGO, ILLINOIS=

Mr. Battery Repairman

Before reading the following pages, Mr. Batteryman, just stop a few minutes and take a good look around your shop. You know your business, certainly or you would not have a shop, but are you operating in a way to make the greatest profit?

When you stop to think it over, are not some of your methods rather crude? Haven't you often thought, when you were doing some disagreeable job, that there ought to be a better and quicker way? Haven't you often wished that you knew how to turn that rapid accumulation of “junk” parts into real money?

The American Bureau of Engineering is not trying to tell you how to run your business, but we are trying to help you realize a greater profit by showing you some “better” methods.

Lead moulding is but one of many ways that spare time and material, usually junked, can be turned into profit.

Every piece of equipment we mention has been carefully developed in our own shop, every method recommended is one which we have found, by actual experience to be best for the purpose described.

A strict observance of the instructions will save you all the experimenting we have done and save you many disappointments. If for any reason our instructions do not produce the results you think they should, remember it is a pleasure for our Engineers to help you solve your personal difficulties.

AMERICAN BUREAU OF ENGINEERING

President.]

Copyright 1922 American Bureau of Engineering, Inc. Chicago, Ill.

Profits From Scrap

In his every day work, the storage battery service man must deal chiefly with three materials, wood, rubber and lead.

The wooden parts, such as boxes and separators are pretty well standardized, can be purchased at reasonable prices and are used solely for replacements. It would not pay the battery man to equip his shop to manufacture any of these items.

The same is true of the rubber parts, the jars and top covers. A dozen different sizes in stock will take care of nearly all the various makes and models of batteries which come in for repair.

With the lead parts, however, the conditions are entirely different. All the active and wearing parts are made of lead, or its compounds, and practically every battery that needs repair, needs some of them replaced. Then again there is a much greater variety in the design of these parts and the up-to-date shop, in order to give real service, must carry a large assorted stock of end connectors, connector straps, plate straps and posts.

In speaking of lead parts, however, the plates are to be considered on the same basis as the rubber parts or wooden boxes, because it would not pay the ordinary battery shop to try and cast grids, mix paste and manufacture plates. It is much more satisfactory to purchase plates made by a responsible manufacturer who has the facilities and capital to properly develop his formulae and processes.

Part 2

Every battery that has to be opened must have the top connectors drilled off as in Fig. 1, which naturally makes a lot of lead chips. These drillings have to be cleaned off before proceeding with the repair and can, with no loss of time, all be collected, as in Fig. 2, and saved. Then the old sulphated end connectors and parts from “junked” batteries accumulate very fast.

This then is the situation—The battery service station is constantly in need of new lead parts. Should they be obtained from a manufacturer at a price that includes material, labor and the manufacturer's profit—OR—should equipment be purchased that will permit of moulding these same parts from the accumulated scrap lead at a cost of nothing but the time employed in pouring, with no cost for material and no “Profits” added?

No matter how cheap you think you are buying your lead parts, just compare the market price per pound on lead with the weight of a few of your “cheapest” ones.

It is now common practice to melt some of this accumulation of scrap lead and pour it into sticks or bars for use in lead burning on repair work. A great amount, especially old groups, is generally sold at a low price in order to get it out of the way. The one important fact, and one generally overlooked, is, that the battery man who melts lead and moulds it into sticks for lead burning, certainly is able to melt the same metal and mould it into the lead parts he requires, provided, of course, that he has the proper moulds.

Many a wide awake man has whittled a wooden mould for some part that he wanted in a hurry and couldn't wait for the manufacturer to deliver. Naturally this condition, really an effort to render service to the customer, created a demand for moulds of a permanent character.

In an effort to supply this demand, the moulds that have been produced were all made for some individual part, were light in weight and easily became overheated, making them hard to handle and often burning the workman's hands.

From a business standpoint, it would certainly be mighty profitable for a battery shop to be able at a moment's notice, to convert junk lead into new salable parts. In addition to the large profit from the sale of these new parts, another good feature, is that, instead of tieing up a lot of capital in stock, the new parts can be made as needed, without a cent of investment.

From a service standpoint, it is a cheaper and faster process to cast a new top connector than to spend a lot of valuable time, whittling an old one so that it can be used again.

How much time have you or your men wasted cleaning up an old terminal as in Fig. 3, so that you could burn it on again?

All new connectors and terminals put on a rebuilt or reinsulated job make the customer feel that he is getting a real repair. He sees a new finished job.

From an electrical standpoint, the new parts mean better work, because better burning can be done, certainly a new connection will allow the battery to deliver more current than an old partly sulphated one could ever do.

CAN YOU MAKE GOOD LEAD CASTINGS?

The question that naturally comes up is, can the ordinary battery man make good lead castings? We will answer “Yes,” very emphatically. There is nothing mysterious about the work and all the talk of alloys, compounds and formulae does not mean a great deal.

Pure lead is not hard or rigid enough to make good battery parts, therefore, it is necessary to add some other metal that will provide the strength, not be affected by the acid and not increase the resistance electrically. Antimony has all the necessary qualities, and is, therefore, commonly used by mixing it with the pure lead.

The various manufacturers recommend from 2 to 12 percent antimony, as the proper combination, but in buying new pig lead for castings, a 4 percent antimony compound is very satisfactory.

In using old battery lead, however, due to chemical action the proportion of antimony is apt to be too high to produce perfect castings. This usually shows up by cracks or shrinkage, as in Figure 4. To overcome this trouble, pure lead is added, until a perfect casting is made. Pure lead can be purchased (in the form of bars, lead pipe, or sheet lead) from a manufacturer such as the National Lead Company—your accessory jobber, the local plumber, or the junk dealer. When buying from a junk dealer, however, care =must= be taken that there is no solder or tin present.

PREPARATION OF THE LEAD

In order to pour the lead some means of melting and a proper container must be provided.

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