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.

As pure lead melts at about 620°F., and antimony at 785°F., an ordinary gas flame will furnish sufficient heat. For the small shop, without an artificial gas supply, a plumber's furnace which can be secured from Hardware Jobber or Plumber Jobber will work satisfactorily. See page 19 for gas melting pots.

An ordinary cast iron solder pot will be found the most suitable container. It should be about 8 inches in diameter.

It is advisable to obtain as large a pot as above, because for steady pouring a sufficient supply of melted metal should always be available. Then too, the constant addition of scrap or pig lead in a small pot will often change the proportion of antimony so that the castings crack and have to be melted over again.

Wash the pot thoroughly with gasoline or kerosene to remove all traces of oil. Then after it has been carefully dried, put it over the flame and heat it gradually. Do this before putting in any lead.

The only other equipment necessary to handle the melted lead is a ladle. For this purpose a malleable iron melting ladle five inches in diameter should be purchased. It can be used for stirring, skimming and pouring, and the type with a spout, illustrated in Fig. 5 will be found most suitable. The ladle should be cleaned and treated exactly like the melting pot.

The scrap or pig lead can now be put in the pot and melted. It is a time saving plan to pick out carefully all the pieces of wood, rubber and sealing compound from the scrap lead before it is put in the pot. Old plates are not worth while melting, but a lot of good lead can be salvaged by sawing the strap and post off old groups. Above all things make sure that no wet parts or moisture of any kind ever gets into the lead pot.

CLEANING THE LEAD

As the lead melts most of the dross or dirt will come to the top and float. When all the pieces are melted stir the lead with the ladle and then skim off all the dirt.

To help the cleaning process a piece of paraffin can be dropped into the pot. After it has burned, the dross is more easily skimmed off.

Another method of cleaning is to add to every ten pounds of metal, one teaspoonful of equal parts of powdered rosin, borax and flour of sulphur. Stir this compound in a little and when the lead is at the proper temperature there will be a flare, flash or a little burning. A sort of tinfoil popcorn effect will be noticed floating on top of the metal. Continue stirring until this melts down and then skim off the soft particles.