How to get some cash for my old L16's??

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showme
showme Registered Users Posts: 94 ✭✭
edited October 2022 in General Solar Power Topics #1
I've got 8 old Interstate Workman L16 batteries I want to be rid of. I'm getting LiFePo's, so there will be no 'trade in core charge' to be had, so I'm just wondering if there are ways to re-coup something from them. I figure that now that lead acid batteries have skyrocketed in price, the scrap/core value must also be up there. And since L16's are twice the size of car batteries, they should rightly have more lead to salvage. So, how to get something out of my expensive used up batteries is my question. Thanks for any replies and comments. Lee

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."   Goethe

2006 Trace Xantrex power panel, (3) SW5548 inverters- 2 NOS Trace's (1999) and 1 Trace/Xantrex 2006 for back up (came with power panel. et al), Xantrex DC/disconnect, Xantrex AC disconnect/bypass, (3) C40 PWM charge controllers- 2 NOS, one used. (8)Evergreen  Solar 120w (960w),  8k LG Neon 2, (25) 320w, Bergey XL.1 1.5k genny, Air X 400 genny (came with used system), 48v Interstate Workman batts (now frozen/toast), (2) Montana Solar adjustable Top of Pole 12 array racks, (2) Midnite Solar MSPV 4 combiner boxes, (2) Midnite Solar Classic 150's (one an SL), SOK LiFePo stack of 500ah and one nice Ozark hilltop to set them all on.


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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,046 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    If you can find a battery recycling plant you should get real scrap value for the weight of lead you are returning. I dealt with one in So. Cal. and my last set of batteries I took to them I got 38 cents a pound for them. These were 105 lb. batteries and I got 38 dollars each.
     I see the current price is hovering above 40 cents lately.

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • waynec
    waynec Registered Users Posts: 16 ✭✭
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    The last I sold over 2000 lbs on 6/24/22 at the scrap yard was .14 /pound. If I had checked before loading I would not have sold them.  Scrap metals were and probably still at a low. I have sold as high as .27 /lb.
    Someone on the forum years ago reported about .35/lb, The scrap yard I dealt with said he must have been selling direct to the smelter.
    I am near Richmond VA. so prices vary with location.
    Hope you better $ than I got.   
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  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,003 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    "Showme" If you are in Missouri, the Show me state. Call battery outfitters in you are in central or southeast. They are the people in Central Missouri that the scrap yards use to sell too, circa 2014. 

    Battery Store Locations | Where to Buy Batteries | Battery Outfitters

    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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  • showme
    showme Registered Users Posts: 94 ✭✭
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    Thanks for the replies, guys! Littleharbor2, I hope I can get close to what you did, that would at least make the work sort of worth the effort. Photowit, I do live in southeast Missouri. And one of the world's biggest lead mining areas is down here, too, and i believe they have a recycling plant down in either Viburnum or Bixby now. That's about 30 minutes from me, so I'll see if i can call them, My grandfather was the chief surveyor for St. Joe Lead Company back in the 60's before he died. I use to spend weeks in the summers down there. They just closed the oldest, largest lead smelter in Herculaneum, which is about 45 minutes north of here on the Mississippi River about 3 years ago. I worked a lot of jobs as an Ironworker in that dirty place. But it was always a good job, regardless of the lead dust and the fact the place was over a hundred years old. Thanks again, fellas. I've never had to return batteries that weren't used as a core charge for a new one before, l'll let you know what i find out. Lee

    "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."   Goethe

    2006 Trace Xantrex power panel, (3) SW5548 inverters- 2 NOS Trace's (1999) and 1 Trace/Xantrex 2006 for back up (came with power panel. et al), Xantrex DC/disconnect, Xantrex AC disconnect/bypass, (3) C40 PWM charge controllers- 2 NOS, one used. (8)Evergreen  Solar 120w (960w),  8k LG Neon 2, (25) 320w, Bergey XL.1 1.5k genny, Air X 400 genny (came with used system), 48v Interstate Workman batts (now frozen/toast), (2) Montana Solar adjustable Top of Pole 12 array racks, (2) Midnite Solar MSPV 4 combiner boxes, (2) Midnite Solar Classic 150's (one an SL), SOK LiFePo stack of 500ah and one nice Ozark hilltop to set them all on.


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