# Preparation of stannous chloride with solder



## Ellorath (Apr 16, 2018)

Hi Gold lovers!

Since there are plenty of mixtures I have to test with stannous chloride and I am verrry eager to produce as much as I can, I would like to ask about this; What would happen if I produce stannous chloride with solder which includes 60% Tin and 40% Pb... Let me hear the drums!
I saw in a video, that it actually works when you use the used solder on the electronics! However, I am not sure if the lead which will dissolve in HCl can also contaminate the goldy solution :G :mrgreen: . 

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Ello


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## g_axelsson (Apr 16, 2018)

Works just fine. just flatten it out really good since lead chloride doesn't dissolve so easily and the surface will be covered with lead chloride and the dissolving process will slow down and take longer time.

If it is solder with a flux core, just melt it first to get rid of it.

Göran


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## kernels (Apr 16, 2018)

If you harvest some solder balls from electronics from the last 15 years or so it is very likely to be lead-free, so mostly Tin. It is also already in small bits which dissolve much faster. I would just break a BGA chip from a PC motherboard and scrape the balls from the bottom of that.


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## Ellorath (Apr 16, 2018)

Thanks kernell and göran!
Here is what I am going to do according to your given info. Instead of buying a solder wire, I will pick out solder balls and will crush them really good to increase its reaction area also speed. Since lead dissolves poorly in hcl I will wait till some metals are not dissolves which will be obviously lead and some lead covered tin. If the tin is covered by lead I cannot dissolve it since PbCl will cover around it and won't be in contact with HCl. Then filtering and evaporation NY slight heat until it gets crystal, since I don't know the exact tin amount I need to evaporate for sure I assume.

Hoping it to work Thank you both for widening my perspective!

Ello


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## kernels (Apr 17, 2018)

No need to evaporate anything, just dissolve a gram or two of the solder balls in about 10 to 20ml of HCl. You use it as a solution. Store it in a dark place / dark bottle with some tin in the bottom of the bottle. Will last a few months. 

You are unlikely to have any problems with lead if you use solder balls from BGA ICs, most have been lead-free for a long time. Most ICs have their manufacturing year and month printed on the top, so look for something like "1240" meaning 40th week of 2012.

Another source of Tin is from lead-free fishing sinkers, but they are probably harder to get than a few solder balls.

You will need heat for the HCl to consume the Tin balls, you probably want to heat it to about 60 deg Celcius or so. You cannot do this indoors without a fume hood as the HCl fumes will be a problem. You also don't want to heat regular glass, so it is best to do this in a small beaker or flask.


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## Ellorath (Apr 17, 2018)

Wow Thanks a lot for the detailed info especially the one which is about leaving some tin on the bottom to prolong the expiry date of the stannous chloride.

I will try and show the result

Ello


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## kernels (Apr 17, 2018)

Ellorath said:


> Wow Thanks a lot for the detailed info especially the one which is about leaving some tin on the bottom to prolong the expiry date of the stannous chloride.
> 
> I will try and show the result
> 
> Ello



No worries, when you get to test your solution, place a few drops of your possibly Gold containing solution in a white plastic dessert spoon, then drop a drop or two of your SC test solution into the puddle. Depending on what combination of metals is in your solution and their concentration, you will get a color change varying between light purple and pitch black. 

SC works best when you have some 'known' Gold solution to test against. This is also a good way to prove that your SC is still good.


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## kadriver (Apr 18, 2018)

Ellorath said:


> Hi Gold lovers!
> 
> Since there are plenty of mixtures I have to test with stannous chloride and I am verrry eager to produce as much as I can, I would like to ask about this; What would happen if I produce stannous chloride with solder which includes 60% Tin and 40% Pb... Let me hear the drums!
> I saw in a video, that it actually works when you use the used solder on the electronics! However, I am not sure if the lead which will dissolve in HCl can also contaminate the goldy solution :G :mrgreen: .
> ...



check this. I bought about 100 grams 7 years ago and I've still got a bunch left:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stannous-Chloride-SnCl2-99-ACS-Grade-Powder-1-Oz-in-a-Space-Saver-Bottle-USA/222102086141?epid=1942784621&hash=item33b650e1fd:g:EgEAAOSwT5tWQZoz

Here is 1 pound pure tin shot, also seven years ago when with plenty left:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tin-Metal-Element-1-Pounds-99-85-Pure-Tin-Shot-nice-product-TOP-SELLER/322599854419?hash=item4b1c732153:g:E0cAAOSwUV9WnCjh

It's cheap and you can make stannous that lasts for months with these two ingredients.

Here is a video that shows how to make it:

https://youtu.be/Hz8odRIqtuQ


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## Justtrynacomeup (May 11, 2018)

Is it possible to add much tin? A lot of recipes I’ve seen range on the amount used. I’ve seen a few people say to leave it until it stop reacting (no hydrogen bubbles) and then leave any tin that’s left in the bottom of dropper bottle. This leads me to think u can’t add to much but you can add to little. Am I basically trying to fully saturate the hcl with tin?


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## geedigity (May 12, 2018)

> Am I basically trying to fully saturate the hcl with tin?



Yes, but only from the standpoint of having pieces of tin that will dissolve slowly over time after the initial reaction of the tin and HCl has occurred. However, I think it would be a waste to "fully saturate" your testing solution when using stannous chloride powder and trying to dissolve as much as you could into the solution.


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## g_axelsson (May 12, 2018)

Justtrynacomeup, please do not double post. Keep your questions in one thread.

Göran


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## Justtrynacomeup (May 12, 2018)

My bad on the double post. I’m using 97/3 solder, so this thread seemed like the better place to ask as well as being more recent. Preciate the help guys. I’m gonna try and get this stannous situation out the way so I can get these gold gold foils finished up without losing values. Hate to make a drop blind.


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## FrugalRefiner (May 12, 2018)

Justtry, welcome to the forum. Please take a few minutes to read through our forum rules. We don't allow the use of text lingo and similar shortening of words. We have members around the world, and many have to use translators to read the posts. Things like "Preciate" do not translate well. Please take the time to write your posts using proper spelling and grammar.

Thanks,
Dave


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## Geometals (May 13, 2018)

Here's my video on how I make stannous chloride with solder. 
https://youtu.be/659G75Kc3F0


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## realtechedo (Aug 28, 2018)

kernels said:


> No need to evaporate anything, just dissolve a gram or two of the solder balls in about 10 to 20ml of HCl. You use it as a solution. Store it in a dark place / dark bottle with some tin in the bottom of the bottle. Will last a few months.
> 
> You are unlikely to have any problems with lead if you use solder balls from BGA ICs, most have been lead-free for a long time. Most ICs have their manufacturing year and month printed on the top, so look for something like "1240" meaning 40th week of 2012.
> 
> ...





Please, Kernels do you mean I can use those solder balls from BGA chips and HCL to create and effective Stannous Chloride? Please, educate more on it and how best to do it because, I read on this forum that some of these solder balls fro BGA chips also contain aome tiny gold wires. I await tour candid responds


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## kernels (Sep 1, 2018)

Yes, the solder balls are 'lead-free solder', so usually they are mostly Tin. There is a very very small amount of Gold usually dissolved in the solder balls, this will not cause any problem with making Stannous Chloride.


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## realtechedo (Sep 2, 2018)

kernels said:


> Yes, the solder balls are 'lead-free solder', so usually they are mostly Tin. There is a very very small amount of Gold usually dissolved in the solder balls, this will not cause any problem with making Stannous Chloride.





realtechedo said:


> Thanks to you Kernels. All you said is copied. I will give a try and practical..


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## Seny2021 (Sep 8, 2022)

kernels said:


> If you harvest some solder balls from electronics from the last 15 years or so it is very likely to be lead-free, so mostly Tin. It is also already in small bits which dissolve much faster. I would just break a BGA chip from a PC motherboard and scrape the balls from the bottom of that.


Will try that idia of scraping the balls thanks


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