# Aluminum wire



## mikeinkaty (Jan 2, 2013)

Had a thought today while reading through some of the silver electrolysis posts. Since aluminum does not react with Nitric why couldn't you drill a small hole in your silver bar, stick in an aluminum wire, and then give the block a good whack with a hammer to press fit the wire in the hole? This as a method to get electrical connection to the block. Or, does aluminum react with Silver Nitrate?
Mike


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## modtheworld44 (Jan 2, 2013)

mikeinkaty said:


> Had a thought today while reading through some of the silver electrolysis posts. Since aluminum does not react with Nitric why couldn't you drill a small hole in your silver bar, stick in an aluminum wire, and then give the block a good whack with a hammer to press fit the wire in the hole? This as a method to get electrical connection to the block. Or, does aluminum react with Silver Nitrate?
> Mike



mikeinkaty

Take a look at this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnyBldC4Ra4&list=UUIgKGGJkt1MrNmhq3vRibYA&index=43

He uses aluminum as cathode .so don''t see why you couldn't just heat anode bar and push aluminum wire into it real quick and let it solidify . That to me would be better than drilling out some of your weight.Hope this helps you decide the right course of action for your project.

modtheworld44


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## goldsilverpro (Jan 2, 2013)

modtheworld44 said:


> mikeinkaty said:
> 
> 
> > Had a thought today while reading through some of the silver electrolysis posts. Since aluminum does not react with Nitric why couldn't you drill a small hole in your silver bar, stick in an aluminum wire, and then give the block a good whack with a hammer to press fit the wire in the hole? This as a method to get electrical connection to the block. Or, does aluminum react with Silver Nitrate?
> ...


Since the melting point of Ag is 540 degrees higher than that of Al, the Al would melt and you would surely form Ag/Al alloys. I haven't worked with Ag/Al alloys but I have worked with Au/Al alloys, especially "purple plague", as it's called in the semiconductor industry. Alloys of PMs and Al have some strange properties and it's better to avoid making them.


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## mikeinkaty (Jan 2, 2013)

I knew that AL had a lower melting point.

But, that video is interesting. I have seen it before. Higher current- finer chrystals. Lower current - thicker fatter crystals.

What crystal size is best? The thinner crystals would break off faster and sink to the bottom. That might prevent bridging of the crystals to the cathode. I asked in an earlier post about optimum current density. So many things are going on though. The solution would be getting hotter and less saturated at the same time. A temperature compensating circuit could be derived. One could devise a separate circuit that compensates for the varying saturating. Put a couple of non reacting wires about 1" apart in the solution (AL would do) and measure the current between them. That would be an indirect way of measuring the change in saturation. The cell would have to be shut down though when the temp got to high.

That would be an interesting experiment. Hook the wires up to batteries and an ampmeter and observe the current change in that circuit through time. I'm guessing it would show a linear response. That is if the drop in saturation is linear.

Might be a fun thing to try on a rainy day!

ps - GSP, how does one compensate for a dropping saturation? What concentration is ideal?

Using silver to make silver seems sort of non-productive to me!!!

Mike


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## goldsilverpro (Jan 2, 2013)

The video is very interesting but, when it comes to production, it is meaningless.

In my experience, the best crystal is the shortest and most dense crystal. It's much easier and faster to rinse. It's easier to get all of the copper solution out of it. Long beautiful crystal is crap, production-wise, as far as I'm concerned.

The best silver concentration is dependent on the copper concentration. I would never let the silver concentration drop below 30 g/l, no matter what.



> Using silver to make silver seems sort of non-productive to me!!!


If you want pure silver, you use a silver cell. It's very productive when you do it right and fully understand the process and its limitations.

Mike,

I like you and I've really tried to help you. However, you'll never really know anything until you dive in and get your feet wet. So far, it's been learning, learning, learning. Start with some doing, doing, doing. You know enough now to really get involved. This field is about 1/3 knowledge and 2/3 experience.


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## mikeinkaty (Jan 3, 2013)

I'm spinning my wheels till the nitric gets here.


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