# Solid Pd pins plated with Au?



## romaniarecycle (Aug 21, 2014)

I got those sockets that are marked Au Pd is it posible that they are solid palladium?


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## goldsilverpro (Aug 21, 2014)

Maybe Pd plating is used, instead of nickel, for a migration barrier between the copper and gold. This is done on jewelry mainly for people allergic to nickel. For contacts, maybe using Pd gives more the part more reliability. I see no technical reason to spend the extra money to use a solid Pd pin, but some manufacturers do weird things. 

If the female pin is long enough, grab each end with pliers and bend it back a forth until it breaks. Examine the broken end(s) for colors. Copper is normally pink or yellow. Cutting the pin can result in a smearing or pinching that can distort the colors and make the test less reliable. Filing a notch could also work but breaking is the best way to see what is under the gold, etc. You need about a 10X magnifier. I use a 15X loupe.

If the interior is white, it could be a copper alloy or, who knows, Pd. Dissolve a pin in a little hot 50/50 nitric. If the solution turns green or blue, it's copper. If red brown, it's likely Pd. If somewhere in-between, it's probably Au plating/Pd plating/copper base. You can verify Pd by testing a drop of the solution in a spotplate with DMG solution and looking for a yellow precipitate. Here again, I use a loupe.


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## romaniarecycle (Aug 21, 2014)

goldsilverpro said:


> Maybe Pd plating is used, instead of nickel, for a migration barrier between the copper and gold. This is done on jewelry mainly for people allergic to nickel. For contacts, maybe using Pd gives more the part more reliability. I see no technical reason to spend the extra money to use a solid Pd pin, but some manufacturers do weird things.
> 
> If the female pin is long enough, grab each end with pliers and bend it back a forth until it breaks. Examine the broken end(s) for colors. Copper is normally pink or yellow. Cutting the pin can result in a smearing or pinching that can distort the colors and make the test less reliable. Filing a notch could also work but breaking is the best way to see what is under the gold, etc. You need about a 10X magnifier. I use a 15X loupe.
> 
> If the interior is white, it could be a copper alloy or, who knows, Pd. Dissolve a pin in a little hot 50/50 nitric. If the solution turns green or blue, it's copper. If red brown, it's likely Pd. If somewhere in-between, it's probably Au plating/Pd plating/copper base. You can verify by testing a drop of the solution with DMG solution.



I think its just used as a barrier between copper and gold because i ripped one but couldnt make out anything and then i scratched a large area and after the gold plating(pretty thick), i got to a silvery layer (also very thick) and then to a copper color, so you are right, if i were to put them in nitric and then filter out the gold foil how would you precipitate the palladium?. And if i wash the pins first in Hcl (solder) would that affect the palladium? or the overall process?
Thanks alot for the answer.


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## goldsilverpro (Aug 21, 2014)

romaniarecycle said:


> goldsilverpro said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe Pd plating is used, instead of nickel, for a migration barrier between the copper and gold. This is done on jewelry mainly for people allergic to nickel. For contacts, maybe using Pd gives more the part more reliability. I see no technical reason to spend the extra money to use a solid Pd pin, but some manufacturers do weird things.
> ...


Refer to Hoke and/or Search for the palladium.

Unlike some other methods, DMG will drop most all of it but it forms a light fluffy precipitate that is fairly difficult to handle. Then, you can convert the precipitate to metal. Some other methods are probably easier in the long run. All Pd methods are tricky. Try small quantities until you get the hang of it.


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## kurtak (Aug 22, 2014)

As old as that looks odds are that the solder is the old tin/lead alloy so that is going to make dealing with solder more difficult - the lead being the one that is going to be a problem

Not saying it can't be dealt with just that it needs to be addressed & dealt with properly

You might want to go back to Hokes & read pages 67 through 70 again

Kurt


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