Author Topic: Finding zinc in wheel weights ???  (Read 758 times)

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Offline pistolfan

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Finding zinc in wheel weights ???
« on: March 13, 2007, 12:35:54 PM »
Hey everyone. I know this has been discussed but how do you find the zinc wheel weights from the good ones. I've read somewhere that the zinc ones are shiny ?? or that the stick on ones are zinc ??? or that when you melt them use the lowest heat you can and the zinc ones will float to the top along with the clips ??. I've got about 12 5gal pails that I need to melt down into ingots and I'd hate to ruin a whole pots worth becauce I melted some some zinc ones in with it. I use and old cut off propane tank that proably holds about 50lbs worth of melted lead at a time. Any help will be much appreciated. Peter aka pistolfan

Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: Finding zinc in wheel weights ???
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2007, 03:03:21 PM »
for the most part zinc ones will be rivited to the clips rather then having the clip cast into the weight. IF you get a thermometer and keep you melt under 650 degrees they won melt and you can just skim them off the top with the junk
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Offline Black Jaque Janaviac

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Re: Finding zinc in wheel weights ???
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2007, 05:47:49 AM »
I just sort through 'em by hand.  At first it goes really slow.  Once you find a zinc wheel weight you'll know what to look for and the process speeds up some. 

Here's a list of things to look for.  Some things can tip you off to look closer but they aren't indicative of zinc.

Shiny:  If they are dull grey, they're almost always good lead.  However if they are shiny they may be OK or they may be zinc.  Some good wheel weights are painted.  This paint is harmless except you don't want to breath the fumes as it burns off.  The zinc ones are almost always shiny.  So if you see a shiny one move on to the next criteria.

Shape:  All the zinc weights I've seen have had somewhat square ends.  They can be oblong like any WW but the ends are squared.  However, some good Pb weights have a similar shape. 

Rivets:  This one is the clincher.  If it's rivetted to the clip, it's zinc.  All the Pb weights have clips that are cast-in like the hook of a fishing jig.  But my eyes would pop out of my head if I tried to look at how each weight was fastened to the clip - so I learned the other characteristics of zinc.

Sound: Zinc ones have a little ring to 'em.  I grab a handful of weights out of the pale with my left hand.  Then I drop a few into my right hand.  Then they go from my right hand into the melting pot.  If I spot anything suspicious, I toss it aside.  In this process I'll sometimes hear the tinkling of the zinc.

Stick-ons: I separate all stick on weights out of the mix.  These seem to be either pure lead, or zinc.  I prefer the pure lead for muzzle loader balls so I don't like to mix it with wheel weights.  The pure lead stick-ons are easy to distinguish from the zinc because the pure Pb can be easily twisted. 
Black Jaque Janaviac - Dat's who!

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