Burning off zinc? Anyone ever heard of this method?

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Last Post 06 November 2009

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devin1955 posted this 04 November 2009

I'm looking at buying some wheelweight ingots from someone and asked them about zinc. Want to make sure they're aware of it and takes steps to prevent their alloy from getting contaminated. His answer puzzled me, here it is:

> When I process the lead I heat it > to over a 1000 degrees which in turn burns off any zink that may be in > any of the lead. Heating the scrap lead to over a 1000 degress will burn > the zink off and waht ever may be left behind is then skimmed off with > all other impureities when I flux the lead before pouring into ingots. > Out of the thousands of pounds of lead that I have sold, I have > never any buyer complain of finding any zink in the lead that I have sold > to them.

Is this a legitimate way to take care of any zinc? Would appreciate any comments from you guys more knowledgeable than I.

I've always done my initial melt at a temp around 700 degrees and removed the floating zinc weights. -Don

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RicinYakima posted this 04 November 2009

devin1955 wrote: > When I process the lead I heat it > to over a 1000 degrees which in turn burns off any zink that may be in > any of the lead. Heating the scrap lead to over a 1000 degress will burn > the zink off and waht ever may be left behind is then skimmed off with > all other impureities when I flux the lead before pouring into ingots. > Out of the thousands of pounds of lead that I have sold, I have > never any buyer complain of finding any zink in the lead that I have sold > to them.

Is this a legitimate way to take care of any zinc? Would appreciate any comments from you guys more knowledgeable than I.

Well, if you believe anyone who can't even spell the chemical correctly, you deserve what you get.

Zinc doesn't “burn” , it oxidizes into zinc oxide, a solid.

FWIW, Ric

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Duane Mellenbruch posted this 04 November 2009

I am under the impression that lead begins giving off fumes when heated above 900 degrees. Maybe this is done at a properly supervised smelter, but sounds risky to me. Duane

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devin1955 posted this 04 November 2009

I'm not looking at this as a method I want to try, just wondering if it's a legit way of avoiding zinc in the mix before I consider purchasing what he's selling. My gut says pass. -Don

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billwnr posted this 04 November 2009

I think it would also burn off a lot of the tin in the wheelweights and really get the zinc spread out in the rest of the alloy.

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codarnall posted this 05 November 2009

Yea it's called metal fume fever ....go for it.

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cityboy posted this 05 November 2009

devin1955 wrote: I'm not looking at this as a method I want to try, just wondering if it's a legit way of avoiding zinc in the mix before I consider purchasing what he's selling. My gut says pass. -Don

Pass

Jim

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tturner53 posted this 05 November 2009

Well now I have to ask. I was going to let it go, buttt, isn't galvanizing zinc coating? I learned the hard way cutting it with a torch gives off bad fumes. I was doing salvage work in the bowels of a ship being 'remodeled' by a Navy salvage dive team. I was assigned to the job after I got out of the brig! I know this doesn't answer the question that's been asked, but if zinc doesn't burn what are those toxic fumes?

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corerf posted this 05 November 2009

Zinc dust and sulfur in equal parts provides a few seconds of pyrotechnic fun, green light, blinding, with copius amounts of dense smoke. Figures the thread needed highjacking.

Pass on the lead. If you can't spell with some integrity when offering stuff for sale, then you are probably not the guy to buy from. Trust your instincts.

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codarnall posted this 06 November 2009

Sort of like bleach and acid. ----Charlie

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CB posted this 06 November 2009

This all sounds pretty darn dangerous to me. If you melt you wheel weights at about 600 degrees the zinc should float to the top. If you are getting ingots that are already batched up you could be asking for trouble. Look for a porous look on the out side of the ingots.

I wouldnt advocate the process you have described in the first post Don, I would pass on it for sure.

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devin1955 posted this 06 November 2009

tturner53 wrote: Well now I have to ask. I was going to let it go, buttt, isn't galvanizing zinc coating? I learned the hard way cutting it with a torch gives off bad fumes. That's my understanding as well. Also was told once, don't but don't know if it's true, that those toxic fumes have a cumulative effect on your body. -Don