# Ceramic cpu's/batch



## Pumice (Feb 10, 2013)

My 1st post and yes I have read Hoke and still read it often. I have only been a member for a month but already have hit my 1st ounce, so I have had good success. I have several boxes of brand new ceramic chips so I have a couple questions about processing chips specificly. I have searched the forum too but no luck, so sorry in advance if I am asking a common question.

A-how many chips can I do in one batch within reason with AR?

B-How long on average would it take to do this size batch?

C-And how much nitric would you use on average for this size of batch?

Just looking for some opinions of different members who have experience doing chips. Thank you in advance!


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## Palladium (Feb 10, 2013)

No one can answer that question. It all depends on what type of chips they are and what materials (Base metals) they are made from.


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## Pumice (Feb 10, 2013)

Sorry for the lack of info. So far I have pulled aside a few hundred Intel i486 and i960 chips if that helps? That is why I am asking, I have thousands of chips like this. So what would you recommend for the i960 for example? I also have a Niton metal analyzer if this would help me with the other chips I have stored in shipping containers.


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## Palladium (Feb 10, 2013)

http://www.goldnscrap.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=2


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## Pumice (Feb 10, 2013)

Awesome! Thanks bud I appreciate the links.


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## Pumice (Feb 11, 2013)

I read those links and did learn a couple things I didnt know about chips thank you. But because I have so many I still wonder how many I could do at one time without being rediculous? 1,2,3 lbs or??? I just wonder if at some point it affects the reaction, or is it still maybe quicker to do more/smaller batches?


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## tek4g63 (Feb 11, 2013)

Just depends on the size of your reaction chamber. 

Maybe you should start with one pound, find out how much solution you had to use for that pound and the math should be easy from there.

If its your first time with ceramic CPUs then you would want to do a small batch first to become familiar with the process, right?

Its all about what your setup for and comfortable with.


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## Pumice (Feb 11, 2013)

I guess there is no real answer to my question as far as how many chips at once to do. I will just keep doing bigger and bigger batches until one day I say "oops that was way too many" lol. Thanks guys.


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## modtheworld44 (Feb 11, 2013)

Pumice said:


> I guess there is no real answer to my question as far as how many chips at once to do. I will just keep doing bigger and bigger batches until one day I say "oops that was way too many" lol. Thanks guys.



Pumice

From all the yield data that I've seen here on the forum for ceramic cpu's,It ranges from 0.1gr-0.5gr per cpu . So to me that suggests to do at least 10-20 cpus per batch.That way you end up with no less than 1gram per batch.



modtheworld44


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## Palladium (Feb 11, 2013)

How many total chips do you have to process?


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## mitchd (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You might be at this for years with thousands of cpu's.

I do thing maybe a bit off the norm and do about 40 to 60 cups at once in a 6 quart crock pot with home made nitric acid 20% to 25% so a weeker acid than 69% that comes with a bunch of problems like making silver cloride if using tap water the dreded tin nitrate, that every one hates and forming some crystals if left setting to long and much more things can go wrong. I leave the crock pot turned on high for 8 to 12 hours. The forum does not like useing nitric acid due to the red fumes called for good reason RED DEATH so I hope you don't have anyone living close by or pets. this will make about 1/2 the pins flote to the top and you can skim them out and save until you have enought to redo the nitric and then use AR again this is way over simplfide and will take match more learning and start off on a much smaller scale and learn how the deal with what happens and can happen. After 8 to 12 or so hours drain out and filter the spent acid and save the blue liquid for silver recovery and copper recovery, and add fresh nitric acid to the crock pot with the same cpu still in the pot for another 5 to 12 hours. this should get most of the gold from the cpus but it may take long to get the inside chip to fall off so you can recover the gold under the chip... when all goes right which is half the time, you are left with a blank ceramic chip the gold and a silcon chip from each cpu and lots of used acid along with 6 to 10 coffee filter papers loand with silver and lead cloride, tin nitrite and about .005 to .01 of gram of gold for each filter and some other things which need to be burned and put in HCL to deal with the tin then washed and saved for a day of recovery from filter papers which is yet another prosses to learn and need to be addressed. 

Each batch takes at least 2 full days and some time 3 days and makes about 3 gallons to 4 gallons of spent acid that must be nutralized after the silver and copper are removed. with thousands of cpus you will have 100 to 500 gallons of spent acid to deal with.

With this info I hope that it is at least give you some sort of idea just how much work it is to recover gold from cpus and this is only how I do it and not what I think you should do, you need to find a prosses that works well for you and this will take some time.

Happy recovery and stay safe.
Mitch.


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## bswartzwelder (Feb 11, 2013)

If I read your post correctly, you said 40 to 60 cpus will generate 3 to 4 gallons of spent acid. This number really seems kind of high. Also, a thousand cpus should never generatte 500 gallons of spent acid. If I am wrong, someone show me the error of my ways. Your numbers just seem a bit high.


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## butcher (Feb 12, 2013)

It should be fairly simple to figure out how much acid it takes,thus about how much waste would be produced, we could figure out how much acid for the metals involved, example we know how much copper dissolves in a certain amount of nitric, and we know how much gold dissolves in a certain amount of aqua regia.

so I guess the real question is how much metal, and what type of metals are we dissolving with which process.

Now I suppose figureing how much solution in washes and so on, could complicate this more.


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## mitchd (Feb 12, 2013)

bswartzwelder said:


> If I read your post correctly, you said 40 to 60 cpus will generate 3 to 4 gallons of spent acid. This number really seems kind of high. Also, a thousand cpus should never generatte 500 gallons of spent acid. If I am wrong, someone show me the error of my ways. Your numbers just seem a bit high.



With my home made nitric acid 3 gallons is spot on for 60 cpu's and i would use the same amount weather it was 40 or 60 cpus but if it were only 40 cpus the acid would not be totally spent. after changing the acid twice and draining there still are lots of pins that are not finished so they go into a coffee pot with 10 cups of new acid and it takes about 3 times of heating and changing the acid to get all the base metal out. my acid is really weak and with out heat will not work at all but it is really cheap at around $1.00 per gallon if you use tap water.

I said 100 to 500 gallons and thousands of cpus not just a thousand.


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## Pumice (Feb 12, 2013)

Palladium said:


> How many total chips do you have to process?



Right now I have 254 Intel 960's in the shop. But at least 100's more maybe 1000's of assorted chips, we are in the process of sorting it. Many high tech companies have gone bankrupt in Ottawa Canada over the past 20 years and we bought them out by the ton. Its all stockpiled in shipping containers. Thats is why I am wondering about how many chips experienced members can do in 1 batch.


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## Pumice (Feb 12, 2013)

Wow, maybe I would be better to sell these? The BIN prices on the particular i960's I have on e Bay is $29.95. Would anyone actually pay this price???

Intel i960 # A80960HD66


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## tek4g63 (Feb 13, 2013)

I doubt that anyone here on the forum would, but you would be surprised at what people will pay for things on eBay.

No matter what route you choose, I wish you success.




Pumice said:


> Wow, maybe I would be better to sell these? The BIN prices on the particular i960's I have on e Bay is $29.95. Would anyone actually pay this price???
> 
> Intel i960 # A80960HD66


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## Palladium (Feb 13, 2013)

Pumice said:


> Palladium said:
> 
> 
> > How many total chips do you have to process?
> ...



There again it's according to what type of chips you have. You can do as many as your process will allow. Here is some pictures of how i'm processing some chips now. I think this is close to 500 chips and i'm doing them in a 5 gallon bucket set up. I take and set the 5 gallon bucket in a 5 gallon stainless pot and it leaves room for water to take up the extra space around the plastic bucket. It works like a steam bath. Place a lid on the 5 gallon bucket, set it on a turkey frier stand and turn it on low for about 24 hours.


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## Pumice (Feb 16, 2013)

Ok now thats what Im talking about that was exactly what I needed to see. I will get the stuff and try to get to that next week. Im totally swamped with card fingers and plated pins right now and need them out of the way first. But thanks again for the method Palladium that really helps I will let you know how in turns out in a couple weeks


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## necromancer (Mar 3, 2013)

Pumice said:


> Ok now thats what Im talking about that was exactly what I needed to see. I will get the stuff and try to get to that next week. Im totally swamped with card fingers and plated pins right now and need them out of the way first. But thanks again for the method Palladium that really helps I will let you know how in turns out in a couple weeks




have you had any luck in your venture ?

did you photograph the process you used ??


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## denim (Mar 3, 2013)

Palladium said:


> Pumice said:
> 
> 
> > Palladium said:
> ...




Nice idea Palladium- what process are you using here ie: nitric leach?, ar? Thanks

Dennis


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## steyr223 (Mar 25, 2013)

Hey guys

Nice palladium
How does that bucket hold up
How hot does the water get and what
Do you add to.the bucket (nitric,hcl,
Hcl +peroxide) or do you go strait to
AR
I have been reading the merged cpu. 
Thread (18 pages) but its just all over
The place.
One thing i was.wondering is can you
Use A/P for base metals and Hcl/bleach
Instead of AR on ceramics

Sorry if my questions are out of place
It seemed like this thread was near done
But ill actually post a new topic when done reading
Everything

Thanks Steyr223 rob


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## Palladium (Mar 25, 2013)

I use straight Ar on just about all my ceramic chips. The bucket holds up fine. It may get a little distorted but it doesn't compromise the integrity of the bucket. You can just about boil water in it. Have you ever seen the trick where people boil water in a Styrofoam cup or plastic spoon? You just can't run enough chips in beakers when you are trying to run production. Plus the ceramic chips will beat and scratch the crap out of your beakers like little razors.


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