I have a couple pounds of test pins that will be a mix of gold plated steel and gold plated copper. Supposedly plated on the interior, but I'm not quite sure how they'd do this. They also have a small amount of solder on them, so tin and lead as well.
I also have a couple pounds of pins from amphenol connectors....these definitely are plated on the interior, as it's required to meet spec. 30 mill at the contact points. (I assume they are plated then formed) These also have a small steel spring retainer on them. Then there is also the crimp, where it meets the copper.
These are just a start on my collection...but I'd like to start determining yields, as I have a constant supply of this, just not sure if it's worth collecting.
Option 1)
So, I could just process the whole thing in a tumbling sulfuric cell after cleaning with HCl to get rid of the solder. Downfall is that I don't believe I'm getting the interior of the pins, nor am I getting the plating where the crimp is.
Option 2)
Digest copper in Nitric, filter, digest in AR, then drop...not a fan of this, since it uses a huge amount of nitric, creates a lot of waste. Advantages are that I can test the waste with stannous to determine if I got everything. Disadvantage - I have to clean all the little pieces of steel.
Option 3)
Wait until I have a hammer mill and a small smelting setup. Grind everything down, flux, smelt, refine copper and further refine sludge.
Preferences:
Option 3) This is where I'm heading. My reading suggests that it's the most efficient and most versatile. I still need to be competent at the other two methods though.
Not sure about the steel plated parts.
Questions:
Either way, the steel presents a problem. And it has been stated for any refining process, garbage in garbage out.
In the smelt option, should the steel be removed prior to grind? Can I grind to 40, then remove via magnetic conveyor? Seems like I'd lose a lot to frictions.
Even if I were to just melt them down to do an assay, how is the steel best handled?
I also have a couple pounds of pins from amphenol connectors....these definitely are plated on the interior, as it's required to meet spec. 30 mill at the contact points. (I assume they are plated then formed) These also have a small steel spring retainer on them. Then there is also the crimp, where it meets the copper.
These are just a start on my collection...but I'd like to start determining yields, as I have a constant supply of this, just not sure if it's worth collecting.
Option 1)
So, I could just process the whole thing in a tumbling sulfuric cell after cleaning with HCl to get rid of the solder. Downfall is that I don't believe I'm getting the interior of the pins, nor am I getting the plating where the crimp is.
Option 2)
Digest copper in Nitric, filter, digest in AR, then drop...not a fan of this, since it uses a huge amount of nitric, creates a lot of waste. Advantages are that I can test the waste with stannous to determine if I got everything. Disadvantage - I have to clean all the little pieces of steel.
Option 3)
Wait until I have a hammer mill and a small smelting setup. Grind everything down, flux, smelt, refine copper and further refine sludge.
Preferences:
Option 3) This is where I'm heading. My reading suggests that it's the most efficient and most versatile. I still need to be competent at the other two methods though.
Not sure about the steel plated parts.
Questions:
Either way, the steel presents a problem. And it has been stated for any refining process, garbage in garbage out.
In the smelt option, should the steel be removed prior to grind? Can I grind to 40, then remove via magnetic conveyor? Seems like I'd lose a lot to frictions.
Even if I were to just melt them down to do an assay, how is the steel best handled?