# Interesting siver board from keyboard....



## powerbuy (Nov 3, 2008)

I found an interesting board in an old keyboard. Seems to have quite a bit of silver on both sides.... 

What would be the best way to process this type of scrap, and is it worth processing?


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## viacin (Nov 3, 2008)

wow...I would love to have one of those. I would encase it in a glass frame and really use it. Of course, I'm also dying to have one of these too:

[img::]http://www.techgadgets.in/images/no-key-glass-keyboard.jpg[/img]

As far as Pm content, I wouldn't know. But a cool looking piece of scrap if I do say so myself.


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## Harold_V (Nov 3, 2008)

I'm curious how you concluded that the board is silver. Color alone isn't an indicator. 

Have you tested with Schwerters, or are you simply assuming?

I expect you won't find much silver----and what is present is likely just plated. It may not be worth your time, but it is interesting to see. 

Harold


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## butcher (Nov 4, 2008)

I get gold from touch switch's quite often, also silver from keyboards and touch switchs, many other switch's contain silver and gold,also reostats (potentiometers) have precious metals in wire, usually small amounts but its there, I check all the touch switchs (plastic switchs like on cell phone ect,),have gotten a keyboard from a catscan that used gold and gold plated spring type switch's, 
For Silver I part all the plastic (mylar?)I can and incenerate(you also could use caustic but I havent), then process silver with nitric(if silver pure silver nitrate will be clear no color), then dilute it and precipitate it with copper (piece of wire)the pepper falling to bottom is your silver(it will first try to plate to wire shake it every once in a while)the copper will disolve into the dilute nitric solution turning blue , then melt with spinkle of flux, the pepper powder will look like more silver than when melted.
silver is lower in the series and will electroplate to copper
HNO3 + Ag ---> AgNO3
AgNO3 + Cu ---> CuNo3 + Ag
copper is higher in electromotive series and displaces the copper
you could also precipitate the silver from nitrate solution with sodium chloride (table salt) or Hcl making a white cottage cheese looking precipitant of silver chloride, but it should not be melted without converting it back out of a chloride (caustic and aluminum{see Harolds wonderful method and discription})
HNO3 + Ag ---> AgNo3
AgNO3 + NaCl ---> AgCl + NaNO3
notice these substances silver copper
silver nitrate, silver chloride,
sodium nitrate, copper nitrate
nitric acid and sodium chloride 
all can be used in refining and testing with, this makes a wonderful learning tool for begining refiners to learn how the chemistry and the metals react with each other . 
I suggest everyone try. also look up and do a study on electromotive series, 
of coarse gold can be refined.
but youll have to read forum to see how its done I'm tired of typing with one finger and trying to find these letters on the keyboard.
( who was the guy who invented these keyboards doesnt he know the alphabet hes got these letters all jumbled and not in order, making em hard to find, AT least he used silver in most of them


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## powerbuy (Nov 4, 2008)

I have a little silver test kit... I am no expert at this.. mainly learning from what I read here. According to the instructions on the fluid, if the fluid turns bright red upon contact with the material, it is silver. I tested with a drop on the corner of the board, and the solution turned bright red, so I assumed that it was silver....

It IS a pretty cool looking board. I might just keep it unless I can come up with a decent quantity more to make it worthwhile.


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## Harold_V (Nov 4, 2008)

Good for you! That's the Schwerter's solution I mentioned, which keeps you from running blind. A second test with a drop of nitric acid will help make the determination of the covering being solid, or plated. A drop of nitric will dissolve enough of the plated metal to yield a colored solution, in this case a blue/green color, assuming the traces are copper, which is quite common. 

If the board is plated, it's unlikely you'll be able to recover the silver at a profit, so if you enjoy owning unusual boards, I suggest you don't even try if you find it's plated. 

One other thing to look for with silver is the sulfated condition. Silver is notorious for having to be polished. It turns dark, brown, then eventually black. If parts of your board display a similar description, you can safely assume that part of the board is silver, be it plated or solid. 

Harold


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Nov 7, 2008)

To solve a problem,we,scientist men,are very complicated...we prefer to propose a hypothesis...writting chemical equations...modeling..and so for....probablly(or probablly not) we will solve the problem.

A genius,like Harold_V,FEELS that something is wrong (or that something could be improved,anyway) then visualizes the simplest way to solve it and using his broad experience the result is a solved problem with a wise advice....He has given more than 1862 wise advices without writting an equation..just exactly like another genius like Benjamin Franklin or Thomas A. Edison.

About the silver in keyboards I use nitric acid to recover it,Steve has posted some information about the silver content in keyboards.

Best Regards.

Manuel


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## Harvester3 (Nov 7, 2008)

Some of the old IBM keyboards with 24 "F" keys are made this way. Sold a couple of keyboards once for 125./ea. now I know why.


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## Harold_V (Nov 8, 2008)

Juan Manuel Arcos Frank said:


> He has given more than 1862 wise advices without writting an equation..



Thanks for your kind words, Manuel. 

Fact is, if my life depended on it, I couldn't write an equation. I make no pretense of being a chemist, nor of being educated. What I have is the ability to see things clearly, and to make decisions based on common sense. The many years I refined certainly didn't hurt, either. 

Fact is, all I do is make the best of what little I have. Many others do that as well. 

I often wonder----how far might I have gone in life had I been educated? 

Ah, well! No regrets. I've had a fun and satisfying life. I'd do it over again if necessary. 

Harold


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Nov 9, 2008)

Harold_V:

It is an honor to have in this wonderful forum a genius like you.

Regards

Manuel


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