# Stannous Chloride Crystals.



## Slayer-PGM (Apr 25, 2014)

Hey guys can you please confirm Stannous chloride? 
I am getting white crystals of Stannous chloride here. Will this work good? I know we have to mix pure tin powder in to HCL but what is this white colour crystals of Stannous chloride? 

http://www.abenterpriseindia.com/drug-intermediate.html#stannous-chloride

Now the reason I am confused is that Steve gave this recipe for Stannous chloride and he didn't mentioned the crystals at all and according to him only Tin and HCL is needed to make the Stannous chloride so what do the guys above selling which is white powder crystals?? 

1) 2 grams of pure powdered tin
2) 30 mL 32% HCl
3) Heat until fizzing begins (this takes around 10 seconds depending on your heat source)
4) Stop heating and let react uncovered until the solution clears, the solution should be colorless.

Thanks.


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## FrugalRefiner (Apr 25, 2014)

Slayer-PGM,

When you dissolve tin metal in hydrochloric acid, you create stannous chloride solution. If you were to evaporate off all the liquid, you would end up with stannous chloride crystals. These crystals can be redissolved to form stannous chloride testing solution.

If you download the book in my signature line, you'll find a description of making the testing solution from the same stannous chloride crystals.

Dave


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## Slayer-PGM (Apr 25, 2014)

FrugalRefiner said:


> Slayer-PGM,
> 
> When you dissolve tin metal in hydrochloric acid, you create stannous chloride solution. If you were to evaporate off all the liquid, you would end up with stannous chloride crystals. These crystals can be redissolved to form stannous chloride testing solution.
> 
> ...



Thank you for the reply. After reading the book I am more confused now. As per Hoke she said to use Stannous chloride crystals, TIn powder (both ) in HCL and even diluted HCL but Steve said to use only pure TIn powder and HCL to create the SC solution. As per my understanding :
I can just buy pure tin from a shop and add it in HCL and heat till it form colorless solution. This is perhaps the best and easy way to create the solution and cheap too. 
What exactly to do with Stannous chloride crystals? Whats the use of buying the crystals if one has to mix it with Tin and HCL. Why not just use pure Tin and HCL in the first place? 

Thanks


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## maynman1751 (Apr 25, 2014)

You can also use 95/5 solder (95%tin 5%antimony) dissolved in HCl. Search the forum. You'll find your answers.


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## Slayer-PGM (Apr 25, 2014)

maynman1751 said:


> You can also use 95/5 solder (95%tin 5%antimony) dissolved in HCl. Search the forum. You'll find your answers.




Please don't confuse me more. The more I search the most complicated it is. I am getting pure Tin in my area so can I just add in HCL and heat it? I also have Stannous chloride crystals (White) with me now. Can I use that instead of Tin in to hcl and heat it??

I read the book and saw Steve tutorial too. I did my research and please tell now which method would I use?
Thanks


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## butcher (Apr 25, 2014)

What you are trying to make is a tin salt solution (tin metal dissolved in solution), called stannous chloride.
The tin in solution you want is SnCl2, this stannous chloride is what we used to test for gold, it will reduce gold in solution giving gold ions electrons, which reduces (gain of electrons)the gold, While the stannous is oxidized (loss of electrons) in the reaction, forming a purple solution of colloidal gold, small clumps of elemental gold in solution which reflect light giving the solution a purple color called purple of Cassius.

The stannous chloride can be made with a salt (crystal) (or powder) of tin chloride, or can be made from elemental tin, with tin metal dissolved In HCl, or with the tin powder (or crystal) dissolved in water with a little HCl to keep the solution acidic.

the stannous chloride SnCl2 can change into other forms of tin salts in solution, which will not test for gold, this normally happens with the stannous chloride solution SnCl2 when stored.

In water SnCl2 hydrolysis can occur forming an hydroxide tin salt:
SnCl2 + H2O <--> Sn(OH)Cl (s) + HCl
Free HCl can help to keep this reaction to the left, keeping your stannous chloride in solution from forming this hydroxide.

Stannous chloride SnCl2 in solution can also oxidize from air or oxygen forming stannic (tin) salts SnCl4 (stannic chloride):
6SnCl2 + O2 + H2O --> 2SnCl4 (aq) + 4Sn(OH)Cl (s)
Keeping the solution acidic with a little free HCl in solution and some elemental tin metal, we can keep the stannous chloride solution SnCl2 fresh longer and working to detect gold.
Stannic chloride with tin metal:
SnCl4 + Sn -->2SnCl2 (aq)

We can go on with this but basically, when you make stannous chloride, whether made from tin salts (powders) (crystals), or with elemental tin, adding a little extra HCl and tin metal will keep your stannous chloride fresh longer, and working to detect gold in solution, keeping the stannous chloride SnCl2 from forming one of the other tin salts in solution, like stannic or hydroxide...

I make my SnCl2 with tin metal, I use tin solder about 95% tin with 5% silver or antimony, ( I smash the tin solder wire metal flat, and shave off some slivers of tin with a pocket knife add a little HCl and heat to dissolve the solder,to make the SnCl2 clear solution, I put this in the small testing dropper bottle, add bit of HCl and small piece of tin to the bottle, to keep the stannous chloride fresh, (I also keep it stored out of light for good measure),I also try to fill this bottle with solution to keep air volume down, I do not make much at a time.

SnCl2 solution goes bad eventually, it does not have a long shelf life, free HCl and tin can make it last longer, with this in mind you really do not want to make it and store it, if you do not use it often you can just make it fresh each time you need it, if you do store it having a solution of gold standard (gold in solution) to test to see if your stannous chloride is still good is needed.


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## jimdoc (Apr 25, 2014)

Having a known gold solution to test your stannous is very important.

Jim


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## rickbb (Apr 25, 2014)

Slayer-PGM said:


> I read the book and saw Steve tutorial too. I did my research and please tell now which method would I use?
> Thanks



Either one, they both will provide you with the test solution you need. Use which ever one that is more convenient for you.

And as Jim said, having a solution that is know to carry gold to test your SnCL2 against is also important.


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## arsenic123 (Apr 26, 2014)

Great post guys. 
As far as I understand one can buy pure tin powder and dissolve in hcl with a little heat. That is one way. 

Secondly one can use crystals also to dissolve in water with a little hcl to make SC. 

Thank you


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## butcher (Apr 26, 2014)

Bingo, adding HCl and tin will make either last a bit longer, keeping the SnCl2 fresh for a longer time.


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## MarcoP (Aug 25, 2014)

I've finally find, online, some SN99,3/CU0,7 solder, in my area when I ask for lead free material they all think I'm nut :evil:

Thanks a lot for explaining all different methods in making SnCl2!


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## Claudie (Aug 25, 2014)

A long time ago, I bought something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-LB-TIN-POWDER-99-9-PURITY-325-MESH-/191178314446?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c831d92ce

It is what I still use to make Stannous Chloride. 1Lb will probably be enough to last 50 years or so. :|


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## MarcoP (Aug 25, 2014)

For 100gr of tin metal powder they ask about €11 but for 250gr of 99.3% tin solder its only €15 http://m.ebay.it/itm/281045691353 it took a while but I found it 8)


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## g_axelsson (Aug 25, 2014)

I bought a beated up pewter bowl in a second hand store for about 80 cents. (5 Swedish krona) It will last me a lifetime, I'm just cutting a piece of it whenever my old stannous have gone bad. The pewter is made up of 97% Sn and 3% Sb, works just fine.

Is there any contamination that would make stannous chloride not working? I mean, we are testing dirty solutions of mixed base metals and gold so there are already a lot of contamination in the mix already. If some comes from the stannous it shouldn't matter too much.

Göran


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## MarcoP (Aug 30, 2014)

I'm finally making mine! 1gr Sn + 30ml HCl + 90°C heat till all Sn is dissolved. After taking the picture I've noticed the solution going down to 25ml so I topped it up and covered with a plastic lid. I believe I will need a watch glass, an Erlenmeyer or boiling flaks for the job.






Yes Göran, I believed that from the beginning. Thanks for confirming it!


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## MarcoP (Aug 30, 2014)

Uhmm I ended up with crystals in solution.

I've used 1gr of hammered and sliced Tin solder as described above, 30ml of HCl which went down to 25ml and I had to add another 5ml to make it up, heated to 90°C till all tin was dissolved.

I've storing it in a 30ml dropping bottle to keep most air out of it, added a bit of Tin solder and few drops of HCl ready for storage.






Did these crystals formed because I added too much heat thus evaporating the solution and reducing some Stannous Chloride solution to its salts? Seems easy but the smallest change in chemistry can make a lot of difference.

edit: or does it needs a little water to dilute the slightly concentrated HCl?


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## butcher (Aug 30, 2014)

You may need a little more free HCl may help to dissolve the tin stannous salts, and keep them dissolved, and to help keep the solution fresh, keeping a little bit of free metal in solution will also help to keep it fresh.

When I make stannous chloride I do not heat it to evaporate the solution that much, just enough to help speed the reaction somewhat, I do not see that you have done would do much harm with your heating it the way you did, (and may even be beneficial), as most of what evaporated was mostly water involved in your original HCl acid, when cooling you did have less solution to keep the tin dissolved in solution, which most likely did form the stannous salts, adding some more HCl should put these back into solution, you do not want to add, or have excess water in solution, as the stannous chloride can hydrolyze or form a tin hydroxide with more water involved.

Now if you add to this thread with more posts and pictures of making you making your gold standard (test solution), to test your newly made stannous chloride with, and showing the results of those tests, you will be helping others to learn from your experiments, giving them more to go on by seeing your work, good start for an educational thread, not only for you but also for others trying to learn with you...

Good job keep up the good work.


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## GotTheBug (Aug 30, 2014)

I make mine in a small dropper bottle, brown plastic from the pharmacy to be exact, and keep a few pieces of solder in the bottom for freshness. Hasn't failed me so far, and I find having 50 mL is more than enough for me.


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## joekbit (Oct 11, 2014)

I'm a noob at all of this. Spent about the last 2 months researching, watching vids, reading massive amounts of wiki chemical info and experimenting with a few random scraps, As to the subject at hand. I found a post about stannous chloride and how to make it and I tried it. Same method as mentioned here. With one exception, I don't heat it. and its' always crystal clear with no crystalline development in the bottom and it seems to be doing the job perfect. 

I have some AnCl / I think that's correct for gold chloride. I created it using a 22k gold stamp so I knew I had no impurities. The result was as advertised, immediate reaction, purplish color then as black as coal in just a few seconds.

With that being said, quit heating it, and I bet you never see another crystal in the bottom. Just let it sit at ambient /room temp until the tin is dissolved and the bubbles stop. and like the last post said I add a bit of tin and a few drops of HCI now and then just to freshen it up.


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## Shark (Oct 11, 2014)

I only heat mine to hot coffee temperature just long enough to see the reaction going pretty good. I then take it off the heat and let it work on it's own. You don't have to boil it or even heat it for any length of time. I have found running hot tap water on the side of the glass to be enough to get it going pretty quickly also. If your going to use tap water to heat it, install an outside hot water line, don't do it in the house.


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## kurtak (Oct 12, 2014)

joekbit said:


> I have some AnCl / I think that's correct for gold chloride.



AuCL --- not AnCL

Kurt


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## kurtak (Oct 12, 2014)

Shark said:


> I only heat mine to hot coffee temperature just long enough to see the reaction going pretty good. I then take it off the heat and let it work on it's own. You don't have to boil it or even heat it for any length of time. I have found running hot tap water on the side of the glass to be enough to get it going pretty quickly also. If your going to use tap water to heat it, install an outside hot water line, don't do it in the house.



Correct - there is no need for excessive heat to make stannous - unless for some reason you are in a real hurry to get it done --- excessive heat just concentrate's the HCL down (evaporation) which then allows for crystal formation when it cools --- if you are going to put it on heat till the reaction is complete - then put a watch glass on your beaker to minimize evaporation. 

Like Shark - I will put mine on the outer edge of my hot plate just long enough the get the reaction started - then the reaction generates its own heat - when the reaction slows down at the end I sometimes put it back on the hot plate for a short time just to finish the reaction - that's if I am really in need because my old went bad 

Kurt


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## solar_plasma (Oct 12, 2014)

joekbit said:


> I have some AnCl / I think that's correct for gold chloride. I created it using a 22k gold stamp so I knew I had no impurities. The result was as advertised, immediate reaction, purplish color then as black as coal in just a few seconds.



Only two small corrections also from my side:

I would say you have 8% impurities in the feedstock. But it should work fine as is and if even processed painstaking, you really might be around the +99%.

AuCl? This would be monovalent gold. You have AuCl3 or H[AuCl4] or Na[AuCl4], depending on which process you have used for the last dissolution..


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## joekbit (Oct 13, 2014)

kurtak said:


> joekbit said:
> 
> 
> > I have some AnCl / I think that's correct for gold chloride.
> ...


thanks for the correction Kurt


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## joekbit (Oct 13, 2014)

solar_plasma said:


> joekbit said:
> 
> 
> > I have some AnCl / I think that's correct for gold chloride. I created it using a 22k gold stamp so I knew I had no impurities. The result was as advertised, immediate reaction, purplish color then as black as coal in just a few seconds.
> ...


I will tell you what I did, I used 65% HCI with common house hold bleach 9% . first I dropped about 5 drops of HCI on the back of the stamp to delaminate the paper backing which I then removed. After that I washed it with some water and used a tooth brush to scrub off as much of the remaining pulp as I could. I then dried it and placed it in a 45ml jar. 

At that time I used 3ml 65% HCI and 1 Ml of the bleach. In truth I was astounded, that stamp was gone so fast I really never saw the reaction. And yes I am aware of the very minimal impurities. After all it was 22k not 24k. I have about 500 of these stamps so I figured I could use a few to create some proofing solutions. I have 1 precipitated for a visual comparison and 1 for chemical comparison. 

I believe this process comes under the Au(111) / Gold(3)


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## Siddique (Jul 25, 2017)

I have made tin chloride SnCl2

Now I want to convert it to Crystal form. How should I convert it to Crystal???


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## Topher_osAUrus (Jul 25, 2017)

Evaporation would cause the stannous chloride to crystalize out of solution.

It will happen faster if the solution is saturated with tin.
Of course, be sure to filter it before your evaporation to make sure the crystals dont include impurities


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## Cyborrg (Sep 21, 2017)

I made my solution using the below mentioned processes.

1) 1gram stannous chloride powder
2) 10mL HCL.

Shook the both till it dissolved completely. The solution turned milky white and a little cloudy also when the bottle placed at rest. The solution didn't work.

Second method I used from this thread was, I mixed 3 grams of stannous chloride powder in 30ml distilled water and added about 7-8 drops of HCL. Dissolved it. The solution turned milky white but it didn't work either. I test it on the gold solution I made myself. I refined some scrap fingers and dissolved the gold particles in Aqua Regia. But I am unable to make a working stannous chloride solution.

P.S: I am not able to find lead-free solder, pure tin metal & gold standard solution in my city. So I'm pretty much on my own at making it. Should I try to heat the solution untill it becomes colourless and then test it? 

Some experts opinion/suggestions is required for me to move on to the next step. I'll highly appreciate it.

Regards.


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## niks neims (Sep 21, 2017)

cyborrg - are you shure about your standart gold solution?

for example - maybe there is too much nitric acid, so stannos test doesn`t work? how exactly are you testing, and describe what happens?

maybe you could explain to us how did you prepare your auric chloride? how much fingers, how much acids exactly?

if i recall correctly i have prepared both SnCl+water+HCl and SnCl+water and both did work for me, only difference being that after dissolving SnCl powder in water it turns milky and after adding HCl it turns back clear again... I also put some pure tin metal in there, but as i understand it is just for extending shelf-life...

I really suggest you do not continiue without mastering Stannous testing tecniques, it really is your eyes and ears, I am shure some more expirienced members will come by shortly and sort it all out

I guess if you are unsure of your SnCl you can perform cross testing with some copperas... it is all in the Hoke`s book....

also: Welcome to this great forum


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## g_axelsson (Sep 21, 2017)

Cyborrg said:


> I made my solution using the below mentioned processes.
> 
> 1) 1gram stannous chloride powder
> 2) 10mL HCL.
> ...


I got an old bottle stannous chloride last winter and I had a similar experience. I think that it had oxidized so it had gone bad. It will do that over time and if not kept in an air tight container.

But you don't need lead-free solder. Any solder with tin in it will do. I'm using an old pewter bowl that I cut up in small pieces and dissolve in HCl, works every time.
Even old circuit boards can be used to make stannous.

A gold standard solution is also easy to do your self, just dissolve some gold in aqua regia and use that.

Göran


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## artart47 (Sep 21, 2017)

Hi my Friends!
In the last post, the quote was, "the solution was milky. I made some gold solution with AR and the test solution didn't work"
Are you sure you didn't have unreacted nitric in your gold solution? If so, it won't work. 
Add more gold to the AR till it won't dissolve any more. Then test!
Art.


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