# Some silver just isn't dissolving



## Rreyes097 (Nov 30, 2022)

Hello forum. I am currently dissolving some Sterling scrap jewelry in nitric acid and distilled water. The necklace dissolved the other bits of that I put in their dissolve but the ring which I thought was silver 925 isn't dissolving. It's a heavy man's ring and stamped 925 but doesn't look like much if any has dissolved after being heated and probably 20ml of nitric in total. The total weight of items was 25.6g. so I'm pretty sure that should be plenty to dissolve that little bit of silver. I took out the ring brushed it off with a toothbrush to get the top coating off and I clipped into it and seen no other color such as copper or I don't know any other color so it seemed to me like it was pure silver. But like a dummy I didn't bother to do a scratch test. Should I just do that now? What couldn't be the problem that it doesn't dissolve if it was indeed pure silver?


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## FrugalRefiner (Nov 30, 2022)

That's why I don't buy much jewelry. For less than $10.00, anyone can buy a 925 stamp, and stamp anything they want. I never rely on a stamp on jewelry.

Absolutely go ahead and test it now. You have nothing to lose. If it proves not to be silver, you can stop chasing what isn't there and save your chemicals.

There are plenty of white metals. In fact, most metals are white, other than gold and copper. There are a couple of others that aren't quite white, but most metals are white. Some, like nickel, are strong whiteners, so when added to inexpensive copper, the alloy is white. Consider the 5 cent coin. It's 75% copper and 25% nickel, and the alloy is very silvery.

Dave


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## eaglekeeper (Nov 30, 2022)

If you have a strong neodymium magnet check the ring to see if it's slightly magnetic. I've seen class rings made of stainless steel and are slightly magnetic.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 1, 2022)

It's just a solid band. Rounded to feel smoother on finger. No frills thrills just man's ring. And I used a neo magnet on all the items I put into solution and the only things that have any magnetism we're the springs in the clasps of the necklace. Which my magnetic stirrer thing managed to stick to and I was able to retrieve those. So I'm not sure what it's made of. I took it out earlier after several more ml. of nitric. Had a layer grey slimy stuff on it. Well not sure if it was slimy or not but I rinsed that off and the ring is still very much solid but cut in half and flattened out. I was hoping that cutting it would allow more area for acid to reach but nope. So I cleaned it off and will test it tomorrow with the silver test acid and a scratch stone. Unless y'all disagree?


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## eaglekeeper (Dec 1, 2022)

Okay thanks...

Not all stainless is magnetic, I just figured that was a quick check to you get you an answer quickly. Is there any other markings inside the band. 

I assume your nitric is diluted with distilled water?..... water is important in this reaction.

If you have stannous chloride you can shave off some metal then add filings to AR. Once the the filings dissolve you can test for possible PM's, plus the color of the solution may help identify.


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## Shark (Dec 1, 2022)

Did you try to dissolve it before or after clipping into it?


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## cejohnsonsr1 (Dec 1, 2022)

Don’t use a scratch stone to test silver. Use a small file and make a cut deep enough to get well below the surface. Then use Schwerter’s(spelling). If it turns red, it’s silver. If it turns green, it’s probably copper. And, as someone already mentioned, you need to be using distilled water to dilute the Nitric.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 2, 2022)

eaglekeeper said:


> Okay thanks...
> 
> Not all stainless is magnetic, I just figured that was a quick check to you get you an answer quickly. Is there any other markings inside the band.
> 
> ...


Thanks anyways  your reply helped out a lot. Gave me some things to check into but sadly nothing came of it. 
So yes I'm using distilled water as well. It's home made but it did the trick on the other things of silver I placed into the beaker with the ring. I'll shave off a piece tomorrow and try the AR. Because I took the ring out of the nitric and it is still very much intact. 
As for makings, I don't know if you can see it in the terrible picture I put up but it has the outline of the 925 that made me think it that it was silver but maybe I didn't read it right?


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

Well looks like I have some information to report and I think I know what it means but I'm really not sure. Since there was no visible gold plating, am I to deduce that it is white gold?!  Or could this just be a dirty glass that I didn't clean well enough after using it with AR and dropping gold? It took a few minutes for me to get even that purple reading. Let me back up.
So I did as suggested and I cut a sliver of what I thought was a925 sterling ring. But like the thread says it would dissolve with the other sterling. The other pic hopefully comes out well enough for you to see the silver. Any suggestions on where to go from here?
My thoughts are to go ahead and hit it with more AR? Or maybe not because it won't dissolve. Because of the silver and using nitric won't work because the karat count is too high. Am I correct? So what make shot out of it and add more silver to lower karat then try nitric? Or am I was off base?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 3, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Well looks like I have some information to report and I think I know what it means but I'm really not sure. Since there was no visible gold plating, am I to deduce that it is white gold?!  Or could this just be a dirty glass that I didn't clean well enough after using it with AR and dropping gold? It took a few minutes for me to get even that purple reading. Let me back up.
> So I did as suggested and I cut a sliver of what I thought was a925 sterling ring. But like the thread says it would dissolve with the other sterling. The other pic hopefully comes out well enough for you to see the silver. Any suggestions on where to go from here?
> My thoughts are to go ahead and hit it with more AR? Or maybe not because it won't dissolve. Because of the silver and using nitric won't work because the karat count is too high. Am I correct? So what make shot out of it and add more silver to lower karat then try nitric? Or am I was off base?


If you put it in Nitric and it is a Gold alloy which contain too much Silver, it might still dissolve enough to give Silver Chloride precipitation if you add Salt to it.

On the other hand it will probably test well on a XRF since it is plain metallic.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

Well looks like I have some information to report and I think I know what it means but I'm really not sure. Since there was no visible gold plating, am I to deduce that it is white gold?!  Or could this just be a dirty glass that I didn't clean well enough after using it with AR and dropping gold? It took a few minutes for me to get even that purple reading. Let me back up.
So I did as suggested and I cut a sliver of what I thought was a925 sterling ring. But like the thread says it would dissolve with the other sterling. The other pic hopefully comes out well enough for you to see the silver. Any suggestions on where to go from here?
My thoughts are to go ahead and hit it with more AR? Or maybe not because it won't dissolve. Because of the silver and using nitric won't work because the karat count is too high. Am I correct? So what make shot out of it and add more silver to lower karat then try nitric? Or am I was off base


Yggdrasil said:


> If you put it in Nitric and it is a Gold alloy which contain too much Silver, it might still dissolve enough to give Silver Chloride precipitation if you add Salt to it.
> 
> On the other hand it will probably test well on a XRF since it is plain metallic.


Yes but to get it tested, well the only place I know is an hour away. I'm not sure who does it in my area. The place I know of is a simple pawn shop that probably wouldn't want to just test things for fun. So I'm hesitant to ask.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

Any ideas on what it could be?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 3, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Any ideas on what it could be?


There are so many different alloys that I really do not know.
If it said 950 I would have guessed a Platinum alloy.
What is its SG?


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

SG? It looked to me that the only stamp it had looked like 926 or at least 3 digits . So it could be anything. I don't remember where I got it.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 3, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> SG? It looked to me that the only stamp it had looked like 926 or at least 3 digits . So it could be anything. I don't remember where I got it.


Specific Gravity.
Silver has around 11 and Gold 19.
Pt has 21


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

I never tested that.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 3, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> I never tested that.


You can do it now.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

How?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 3, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> How?


Search the forum or internet.
It is a well known procedure.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 3, 2022)

I just started to. But it talked about specific gravity of a liquid. So I'll research more. Thanks


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 6, 2022)

Well here's the ring after an AR run that initially showed a positive result. Well it was a small sliver of the ring. And well since I got the positive finding I went ahead and put it some AR. But since that one time it has given me only one other very faint, quite possibly be negative, positive. The ring looks very much the same and the solution became a bright yellow ish green? So after AR failed to visibly dissolve it much at all I took the ring out and tried to see it would precipitate any gold via SMB. But nothing! Now I was thinking of evaporating evaporating the solution but do this point I'm not sure what to do. Here is a picture of the ring now.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 6, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Well here's the ring after an AR run that initially showed a positive result. Well it was a small sliver of the ring. And well since I got the positive finding I went ahead and put it some AR. But since that one time it has given me only one other very faint, quite possibly be negative, positive. The ring looks very much the same and the solution became a bright yellow ish green? So after AR failed to visibly dissolve it much at all I took the ring out and tried to see it would precipitate any gold via SMB. But nothing! Now I was thinking of evaporating evaporating the solution but do this point I'm not sure what to do. Here is a picture of the ring now.


There is a lot back and forth with you.
Since you have not tested the alloy it us very hard to give sound advice.
A high Silver alloy will do this in AR and if it is too high in say Gold as a white Gold alloy. The Nitric will not touch it much either. This is if course just guessing.
But if that is the case you need to inquart it with Silver (best) Or Copper.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 6, 2022)

What do you mean tested the alloy? The specific gravity? Yeah I started to look into it but didn't quite get it. But I think inquarting would be next move. Thanks for everything and the back and fourth.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 6, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> What do you mean tested the alloy? The specific gravity? Yeah I started to look into it but didn't quite get it. But I think inquarting would be next move. Thanks for everything and the back and fourth.


Well it will fix the issue *IF* the issue is High Silver or Gold.
If the issue is something else, that may not fix it.
If you do not get it tested, since it is metallic XRF is fine, you won't know if inquarting can fix it.

Edit to add:
SG is just another tool, and that may or may not tell you something.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 6, 2022)

Yggdrasil said:


> If you put it in Nitric and it is a Gold alloy which contain too much Silver, it might still dissolve enough to give Silver Chloride precipitation if you add Salt to it.
> 
> On the other hand it will probably test well on a XRF since it is plain metallic.


Add salt? So if I'm using nitric and distilled water then add salt?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 7, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Add salt? So if I'm using nitric and distilled water then add salt?


It was meant as a test for a drop or two to see if it is actually Silver.


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## Martijn (Dec 7, 2022)

Specific gravity is a somewhat misleading term imo. I know it's used alot but confusing. Gravity is the attraction between two objects.
I prefer to use density. 
The density of a substance gives a certain weight at a given volume and can indicate if you have water(1kg/liter) or gold(19.3kg/liter) 
So density is weight divided by volume. 
Weight is the easy one. Volume is weighing the displaced water in kg or grams when it is fully submerged in water without touching the bottom, so weighing only the displaced water by the object. 
One gram equals one ml in volume. One kg is one liter. 

Martijn.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 7, 2022)

Martijn said:


> Specific gravity is a somewhat misleading term imo. I know it's used alot but confusing. Gravity is the attraction between two objects.
> I prefer to use density.
> The density of a substance gives a certain weight at a given volume and can indicate if you have water(1kg/liter) or gold(19.3kg/liter)
> So density is weight divided by volume.
> ...


While this is completely true, it is such a permeated unit in technical environments it might be hard to displace.


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 7, 2022)

So good morning y'all. So what exactly am to do? I also have some silver plating that I recovered from reverse electroplating and it also is not dissolving. What could the reason be?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 7, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> So good morning y'all. So what exactly am to do? I also have some silver plating that I recovered from reverse electroplating and it also is not melting. What could the reason be?


Does it dissolve in Nitric?


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 7, 2022)

No that's what I was using. Could it be that it was too diluted with the distilled water?


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 7, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> No that's what I was using. Could it be that it was too diluted with the distilled water?



For powders it shouldn't need to be very strong.
Are your Nitric actually Nitric?
And what does that have to do with melting?


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 7, 2022)

Oops I didn't mean to say melting. I meant to say dissolving. I got this silver from reverse electroplating with salt water and then I rinsed a few times with distilled water and then tried to dissolve with nitric and distilled water. But nothing ever happened. So I'm thinking I need to dry it out and melt it down? Then nitric? What do you think?
Because I was also thinking of melting down the ring and make it into shot and then do the same with the ring  as I planned on this silver plating.


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## Yggdrasil (Dec 7, 2022)

Rreyes097 said:


> Oops I didn't mean to say melting. I meant to say dissolving. I got this silver from reverse electroplating with salt water and then I rinsed a few times with distilled water and then tried to dissolve with nitric and distilled water. But nothing ever happened. So I'm thinking I need to dry it out and melt it down? Then nitric? What do you think?
> Because I was also thinking of melting down the ring and make it into shot and then do the same with the ring  as I planned on this silver plating.


I'm a bit concerned with your actions, you have still not reached basic level and your doing all kind of things without completing them.
Stop now and concentrate on one project until it is solved and you have mastered that part.
Then progress to the next project


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## Rreyes097 (Dec 7, 2022)

I've done each one of these processes more then once. But thank you for your concern but I'm able to handle 2 procedures at once. Both of them being silver related is even easier. Also I am only really working on the plated silver. The ring is cleaned and just waiting to either melt it or if the forum had different advise then I might take that.


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