# what is the best way to process Rf connetors



## Metalgold (Dec 23, 2015)

Hello I have recently acquired some rf connectors in the picture. I'm familiar with using sulfuric cell to recover the gold. However I read somewhere in the forum that ap would be more suited to insure that the gold coverred by plastic (center pin) in the middle of some of the rf connectors are also recovered.

Anyone care to comment please?


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## patnor1011 (Dec 24, 2015)

Try on few pieces. You will never know how that piece of plastic react with acid unless you test. 
I would deconstruct them, remove any plastic there before I would attempt any recovery. 
Garbage in, garbage out - that mean that if you introduce garbage in your process it will not magically disappear, you will get it back with your gold. Some plastic or nylon may react with acid and create more headache along the way.

In this case I would not recommend AP. Way too much base metals involved comparing to small amount of plating so cost of refining along with time involved will be astronomical. Signifficant amount of waste created which will have to be accounted for and dealt with. Cell is the only way in my opinion. I would not consider AP in this case, if you cat use cell then ebay them.


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## Anonymous (Dec 24, 2015)

The simplest, fastest and most effective way is a leech for this product. If you are not geared for it, and the quantity is large then I would recommend strongly that you find a trusted member who is, and agree a fee for processing. Using AP for this stuff is soul destroying. Alternatively take Pat's good advice and use your cell if the quantity isn't large.


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## Metalgold (Dec 24, 2015)

patnor1011 said:


> Try on few pieces. You will never know how that piece of plastic react with acid unless you test.
> I would deconstruct them, remove any plastic there before I would attempt any recovery.
> Garbage in, garbage out - that mean that if you introduce garbage in your process it will not magically disappear, you will get it back with your gold. Some plastic or nylon may react with acid and create more headache along the way.
> 
> In this case I would not recommend AP. Way too much base metals involved comparing to small amount of plating so cost of refining along with time involved will be astronomical. Signifficant amount of waste created which will have to be accounted for and dealt with. Cell is the only way in my opinion. I would not consider AP in this case, if you cat use cell then ebay them.



Thanks for the kind advice patbor. Most likely this is the route I will most likely follow. Just being curious alternative. This is 5 lb lot. I was curious if there are better alternatives for this kind of material.


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## Metalgold (Dec 24, 2015)

spaceships said:


> The simplest, fastest and most effective way is a leech for this product. If you are not geared for it, and the quantity is large then I would recommend strongly that you find a trusted member who is, and agree a fee for processing. Using AP for this stuff is soul destroying. Alternatively take Pat's good advice and use your cell if the quantity isn't large.



Hello spaceships, what would you consider a good amount and would recommend anyone in particular? I live in canada. The batch I recently acquired is a 5lb lot...but I do carry more on hand.


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## jason_recliner (Dec 24, 2015)

I have tried chloride leach before and I have tried a sulfuric cell - with admittedly a low concentration of around ~80%, which failed pretty miserably.
I can't give solid yield values, but it is my belief that there is a deceptively thin plating of gold. Dissolving the entire connector will take a lot of acid, leave a lot of waste, and may not be worth your time and expense.

When I next do these, I will use pre-prepared copper chloride + fresh HCl, without adding any H2O2, so that no gold can be temporarily dissolved. I would then agitate regularly until they look mostly clear of plating, rinse them clean, and discard the bare connectors.

In my opinion, chasing the last 2% of gold would take 90% more energy. YMMV.


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## Metalgold (Dec 25, 2015)

jason_recliner said:


> I have tried chloride leach before and I have tried a sulfuric cell - with admittedly a low concentration of around ~80%, which failed pretty miserably.
> I can't give solid yield values, but it is my belief that there is a deceptively thin plating of gold. Dissolving the entire connector will take a lot of acid, leave a lot of waste, and may not be worth your time and expense.
> 
> When I next do these, I will use pre-prepared copper chloride + fresh HCl, without adding any H2O2, so that no gold can be temporarily dissolved. I would then agitate regularly until they look mostly clear of plating, rinse them clean, and discard the bare connectors.
> ...



I'll experiment and see if copper chloride + fresh hcl method and see if I get better yield. This will be a good use of some erlynmeyer I just ordered.

Thanks Jason.


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## Anonymous (Dec 25, 2015)

Gents my apologies I wasn't clear in my first post. 

By a leech I mean something along the lines of Cyanide, hence my point about being geared for this. It looks as though you're not so I would honestly suggest that my preferred method for a small batch like this 5 pounds would be your sulphuric cell. Don't go anywhere near AP for this if you have that cell. 

I have processed some of those items you have, they look as though they could be from Ericsson or Nortel base station equipment. If that is the case then the yield is surprisingly reasonable compared to other products that look similar but have light flash plating.

The duller the gold the thicker the gold.


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## Metalgold (Dec 25, 2015)

Ah yes...I definitely would not venture into touching cyanide. I enjoy processing and getting nice buttons but wouldn't want to take that huge of a risk lol! 

BTW Merry Christmas to all!


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## kdaddy (Dec 27, 2015)

If you want to make any money sell them on ebay! If you want to learn how to recover gold you should find something better to work with such as fingers or GF. If however, you are determined to process... De-plating cell is your best option and you should crush the connectors to allow internal areas to be recovered. FYI, unless you have LOTS more of these you will spend more on sulfuric acid and a battery charger than you will recover in gold.


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## kdaddy (Dec 27, 2015)

Also the plastic spacers inside are usually Teflon so no worries there...


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## darinventions (Dec 27, 2015)

I agree with Patnor1011 ...use a sulfuric cell..and don't worry about the plastic..its teflon..acid won't react with it...it doesn't matter how much material you have to run if your using a sulfuric cell..why i say this is because first you need to make a vacuum syphon vessel ...its simply a sealed jar with two tubes..one is connected to the vacuum the other is open to suck up whatever solution you choose...just only use one jar for one solution...if you use a cell you can syphon up all your electrolyte regardless of the amount of value it may contain for safe storage until your ready to use your cell again


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## darinventions (Dec 27, 2015)

You can view the picture of the vacuum syphon on (Info on sulfuric deplating/stripping cell)...ill be posting instructions on how to make it an many other useful items on (Build your own equipment) soon after the first of the year


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## Metalgold (Dec 27, 2015)

spaceships said:


> Gents my apologies I wasn't clear in my first post.
> 
> By a leech I mean something along the lines of Cyanide, hence my point about being geared for this. It looks as though you're not so I would honestly suggest that my preferred method for a small batch like this 5 pounds would be your sulphuric cell. Don't go anywhere near AP for this if you have that cell.
> 
> ...



Hey spaceships, I forgot to ask earlier, what was your pproximate yield if they are ericson/Nortel rf connectors? I'm debating whether I list some on ebay or process the whole lot with my cell. Thanks!


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## Metalgold (Dec 27, 2015)

Darinventions, I look forward to seeing your work. The cell looks interesting, I'm trying to understand how the whole set up works. I'll probably get a better idea when I see your step by step process.


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