Lead Contamination Concern: Drying brass in a clothes dryer

[OnTheFly]

I have been using my Hornady Sonic Cleaner with the Hornady brass cleaning solution.  After straining the brass in a colander, I put the clean brass in an old bath towel and agitated it by hand until I was confident the brass did not have any large drops of water in them.  Then I laid them out to dry overnight.  My basement is pretty dry, and when I cam back to them the next day they appeared to be dry.  However, I want to be sure. 

I had read that others used an oven at a low temperature to dry sonic cleaned cases thoroughly, but I would never put any potentially lead contaminated components into something we use for cooking.  So I bought a $40 convection oven from Wallyworld to bake them in.  Before I put the oven into action, it dawned on me that maybe I could use our clothes dryer.  Before you get a crazy image in your head of brass freely tumbling around in a dryer, I must tell you that I have a plastic rack for the dryer that is used to dry items you do not want to tumble.  I figured that I could put them on a dedicated baking sheet and place that on the dryer rack.

My concern is lead contamination.  Even though the air is vented outside, my initial thought is that this might be a bad idea due to lead contamination in the dryer that could/would transfer to clothing.

Any thoughts?

Fly 

[SemperFiGuy]

Hair Blow Dryer Works Beautifully.

sfg

[OnTheFly]

Hair Blow Dryer Works Beautifully.

sfg

I thought about that too, but I'm looking for something that would allow me to start the drying process and walk away to do other things.  Doing it right is paramount, but time savings is a close second.

How long does it take with a hair dryer?

Fly

[bkoenig]

I put them in a tin foil roasting pan in the oven, with the door cracked on the lowest setting, and with a baking sheet on the rack below to keep the cases from getting overheated.  Takes an hour or so.

Or, I just leave them out for a few days and nature takes care of it for me.

[jonm]

A dedicated food dehydrator also works well from what I've read

[SemperFiGuy]

How long does it take with a hair dryer?

Very few minutes for the drying time [5-10, depending on amount/size of brass cases.]   I usually put them in a bucket 3-4 inches deep and blow hot air down deep into the stacked brass.   Plastic bucket works OK.   They get HOT!   After blowing, I usually dump them out on a towel to let the moisture evaporate freely.

BTW:   Can take considerably more additional time if dealing with Irate Female/Blow Dryer Owner.

sfgPS - Be sure to use deprimed cases so water can leak out.  Also this process is a bit Noisy.   Wear earmuffs.

[bkoenig]

Just a thought, but if you rinse them thoroughly after sonic cleaning or wet tumbling (which I do) I would think the lead residue would be gone.

[OnTheFly]

Just a thought, but if you rinse them thoroughly after sonic cleaning or wet tumbling (which I do) I would think the lead residue would be gone.

I do rinse them thoroughly, so I'm still wondering if the dryer would be ok.  Some people have said that they put the cases in a tube sock and put in the dryer.  I would think that would be NOISY, so that's why I started thinking about the rack in my dryer.

So no one has really addressed the "lead contamination in the dryer" question.  Does that mean ya'll are unsure if it would be a concern?

Thanks,
Fly

[OnTheFly]

crickets...

[bkoenig]

Honestly, I really don't know.

[wallace11bravo]

I'd air on the side of caution (says the guy with the house built in 1908 with what I am sure is lead paint in several places) and get something dedicated.

Craigslist toaster oven:

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/app/3943428871.html

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/hsh/3921913535.html

Actually seems like a good idea, I think I might give something like this a try.

[unfy]

Toaster ovens also get you closer to powder coating

---

As far as lead contamination - and speaking out of my ass - I honestly wouldn't worry about it. it should have gone away with your cleaning solution.  Also, dryers suck air in and immediately blow it back out the exhaust vent - which I'll assume ventilates outside ... so you should be beyond fine as far as that's concerned.

[OnTheFly]

I'd air on the side of caution (says the guy with the house built in 1908 with what I am sure is lead paint in several places) and get something dedicated.

Craigslist toaster oven:

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/app/3943428871.html

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/hsh/3921913535.html

Actually seems like a good idea, I think I might give something like this a try.

Thanks w11b.  Convection ovens are still in the running.

Toaster ovens also get you closer to powder coating

---

As far as lead contamination - and speaking out of my ass - I honestly wouldn't worry about it. it should have gone away with your cleaning solution.  Also, dryers suck air in and immediately blow it back out the exhaust vent - which I'll assume ventilates outside ... so you should be beyond fine as far as that's concerned.

Thanks unfy...I gave it a shot tonight, but apparently I exceeded the weight limit of the plastic rack.    I was standing in front of the dryer when all heck broke loose.  Boy was that noisy.   

So either I will look at a convection oven, or build a new stronger rack using the old one as a template.  I really like the idea of using the dryer because the capacity is huge and I already have the dryer so no more added cost.

After putting my man cave/reloading room together, I am starting to feel like a junior unfy or bkoenig.    

Fly

[unfy]

Thanks unfy...I gave it a shot tonight, but apparently I exceeded the weight limit of the plastic rack.    I was standing in front of the dryer when all heck broke loose.  Boy was that noisy.   

So either I will look at a convection oven, or build a new stronger rack using the old one as a template.  I really like the idea of using the dryer because the capacity is huge and I already have the dryer so no more added cost.

After putting my man cave/reloading room together, I am starting to feel like a junior unfy or bkoenig.     

re: Dryer:

ROFL!!! Wish I could have been around for that.  That would have been awesome to hear.  Shaking brass in a strainer is bad enough - in a metal spinning dryer... that would have been "righteous".

re: Oven vs Dryer:

Building the rack in such a way that you don't scratch your dryer might prove interesting.  There's plenty of acryllic and other plastics at hardware stores.  Why I always draw a blank on it, I dunno, but there's a much "beefier" plastic sold along side plexi that would prolly be advised due to heat and other issues etc.

Do note that a toaster oven would run $20-$60 depending on size (you'd prolly want larger heh).  Dunno how much building your own rack would cost.

Also, not sure if there's a convection oven that can turn the convection off in regards to powder coat.  Dunno how much air convection ovens move though.

re: junior BK / unfy

Prolly more BK .  I've been a bit lax this year in SCIENCE and reloading stuff (as noted by lack of posts in forum).  I've gotta get kozball some info and really need to get things straightened out.

buuuttttt.... ahem...


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[bkoenig]

After putting my man cave/reloading room together, I am starting to feel like a junior unfy or bkoenig.    

Fly

Well, I've got the bald head already so I guess I could use a Mini-Me.

[OnTheFly]

Well, I've got the bald head already so I guess I could use a Mini-Me.

Is that a "short" joke? 

Fly

[OnTheFly]

In case you haven't seen one, this is what the dryer rack looks like...



The two nubs on the far/top side of the photo are spring loaded supports that push into indentations on the back wall of the dryer.  These are apparently the weak component (at least for supporting the amount of brass I would like to heat) of the rack because one of those is what broke.

I was thinking about McGyvering an old baking sheet with spring loaded metal nubs (appliance feet/glide with plastic end) to hold it in place on the back of the dryer and then some legs patterned from the original rack.

Fly

[bkoenig]

Is that a "short" joke? 

Fly

If the Evil Scientist suit fits....

Although I'm more of an incompetent semi-evil amateur machinist.

[Hank]

I have a couple of dedicated cookie sheets for the kitchen oven. I put a layer of paper towels on the cookie sheet then lay the brass out on them. Have oven heated to 200-225 then shut it off and put brass in. IDK-20-30 min. seems good to go.
the only downside to this is if you space some off in there and the wife cranks it up to 375 to bake something! Happened once, but it didn`t seem to hurt anything. Geez, man I always look inside the oven before I turn it on..seriously.