# Will HCl digest silver?



## depperl001 (Jul 30, 2010)

Hi,

I have come to the conclusion that home made Nitric acid is no good for digesting silver. So here is the question: will Hydrochloric acid digest silver and copper, 80% silver and 20% copper.
Thanking you all in advance,
regards,
Josef Vavryn


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## goldenchild (Jul 30, 2010)

No for silver yes for copper.


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## lazersteve (Jul 30, 2010)

depperl001 said:


> I have come to the conclusion that home made Nitric acid is no good for digesting silver...



It all depends on how are you making the HNO3. 


Steve


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## depperl001 (Jul 30, 2010)

goldenchild said:


> No for silver yes for copper.



Thank you, so theoretically if the silver is not being digested it is possible to refine it sufficiently that it can be reused for sterling? The silver has been corn flaked.
once again, thank you,

Josef Vavryn


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## depperl001 (Jul 30, 2010)

lazersteve said:


> depperl001 said:
> 
> 
> > I have come to the conclusion that home made Nitric acid is no good for digesting silver...
> ...



Hi Steve,

The home made Nitric was made to your recipe using Potassium Nitrate, 13% nitrate. Sodium Nitrate is only available as a Corning Mixture that contains 12% sodium nitrate plus other assorted garbage: flavour, added salt and so forth. I found that the resulting mixture might be good for corning beef, but useless for Nitric Acid.

Regards,
Josef Vavryn


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## Barren Realms 007 (Jul 30, 2010)

Something must not be right in your process then. Here is some home made nitric that is being surpressed by ethylene glycol and hydrogen peroxide. It has boiled over twice in the container so it is very active and has the strength to work it's majic. It was made with sodium nitrate. But that should not make much of a diffrence.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkhadL_tAIA[/youtube]


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## goldenchild (Jul 30, 2010)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Something must not be right in your process then. Here is some home made nitric that is being surpressed by ethylene glycol and hydrogen peroxide. It has boiled over twice in the container so it is very active and has the strength to work it's majic. It was made with sodium nitrate. But that should not make much of a diffrence.
> 
> [youtube][/youtube]




Did you get the glycol/peroxide idea from my post?


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## Barren Realms 007 (Jul 30, 2010)

Yea from the video. With my home made nitric I didn't have much success with my reaction when I tried it like the video, but then I rememberd that my nitric was diluted :!: . In this batch on the video I waited till fumes started after I had been inside for about 20 min. I added peroxide and the glycol and whent back inside for a few more minutes and when I came back it had reacted and overflowed into the plastic bucket. I'll get the hang of it. 8)


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## depperl001 (Jul 31, 2010)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Something must not be right in your process then. Here is some home made nitric that is being surpressed by ethylene glycol and hydrogen peroxide. It has boiled over twice in the container so it is very active and has the strength to work it's majic. It was made with sodium nitrate. But that should not make much of a diffrence.
> 
> [youtube][/youtube]



Hi, Barren Realms 007,

I know that I am not doing something right. What is your recipe for H/M Nitric? Here in Rockhampton Sodium Nitrate is impossible to buy. I bought potassium nitrate on ebay and used Lazersteve's recipe with Potassium Nitrate, which, in a previous post, he admits he has never tried. I will go back to what I have been doing before, that is file the 80% silver down to filings and use Sulfuric acid to get rid of the copper.

regards,

Josef Vavryn


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## g_axelsson (Jul 31, 2010)

depperl001 said:


> will Hydrochloric acid digest silver and copper, 80% silver and 20% copper.



No, as an alloy there is too much silver in it and it will be covered in silver chloride protecting the copper and silver and the reaction will stop..
If you have just a small amount of silver in the alloy then all of it will be converted to silver chloride.

/Göran


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## Anonymous (Jul 31, 2010)

The issue with the "boilovers" using the nox suppression formula needs to be addressed.I have been diligenly working on a new formula.I feel the boilovers are a direct result from too much h2o2.I have used gallons and gallons of 32% over the years and it is highly volatile,therefore either the concentration needs to be reduced or the total percentage used needs to be reduced.Either way it needs to be fixed and I am working on that.Also I do not feel that the fumes are being suppressed due to solution keeping the nitric in the liquid state,I believe the fumes are not being suppressed at all,rather being delayed.However I will wait until I have further proof before continuing.
One more thing,I do not suggest anyone make this concoction and store it for any length of time.I have had 2 solutions,"self erupt" several hours after being made.Both solutions contained 32% h2o2 and both had been sitting for a few hours uncontaminated.


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## qst42know (Jul 31, 2010)

Rather than add it all at the outset couldn't it be dripped in as needed?


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## goldenchild (Jul 31, 2010)

qst42know said:


> Rather than add it all at the outset couldn't it be dripped in as needed?



Yeah I guess you would have to slowly add the nitric as the h202 has to be preserved by the glycol and have to be mixed. I've been wanting to revisit this experiment but have not got hold of h202 since the last time.


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## Anonymous (Jul 31, 2010)

> Rather than add it all at the outset couldn't it be dripped in as needed?


I have not tried this method as of yet,however It may work effectively.I have some adjustable pippetes and I will try that method in the next few days.


> I've been wanting to revisit this experiment but have not got hold of h202 since the last time.


I've been purchasing it from a local pool suppply store for years.If one around you does not stock it,maybe they can order it for you.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Jul 31, 2010)

depperl001 said:


> Hi, Barren Realms 007,
> 
> I know that I am not doing something right. What is your recipe for H/M Nitric? Here in Rockhampton Sodium Nitrate is impossible to buy. I bought potassium nitrate on ebay and used Lazersteve's recipe with Potassium Nitrate, which, in a previous post, he admits he has never tried. I will go back to what I have been doing before, that is file the 80% silver down to filings and use Sulfuric acid to get rid of the copper.
> 
> ...



The formula I am useing is:

100 ml distilled water
170 g sodium nitrate (nitrate of soda from local garden supply store)
56 ml concentrated sulfuric acid ( I use the acid from my cell after the gold has settled and removed and the acid run thru a filter like a charmin plug)



Sodium nitrate contains 16% nitrogen I think potasium nitrate is 14% so you will have to adjust your figures by adding 14% more potassium nitrate than sodium nitrate. If potassium is 12% you will have to adjust by 33% to achive the same volume.

The volume I'm making is

5,000 ml water
8,500 g sodium nitrate
2,800 ml sulfuric acid

Make sure you have all your ingrediant's weighed and measured before you start.

I use a SS pot on a propane fish cooker to heat my water and dissolve the sodium nitrate. I heat the water to boiling with a low flame, once water starts churning I add 300-500g of SN then I let the water heat to chrun again. I continue this cycle till all the SN is dissolved. I then turn off the heat and let solution cool to around 120-140F. Don't let it continue to boil after SN is dissolved or you will find your crystals coming out of solution. After solution has cooled down I transfer to a plastic bucket setting in a large ice chest. I add the sulfuric acid in 1 cup increments till all has been added. I then let the solution cool to ambient air temp(which is about 95 deg these days). I then get 80 lbs of ice and put in the cooler to cool the solution down. This dosen't get it to 0C like Steve suggests but it does the job fairly well. I have a batch setting since last night the temp on the solution is 35F (1.1C). I will filter this in a little while and have some new nitric acid.


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## goldenchild (Aug 3, 2010)

I finally got around to going to the pool supply store and bought 2 gallons of "Softswim Clarifier C". According to the msds it is 27.5% concentration. Now that I have this there is one experiment that I've been itching to try out. I think its something that hasnt been seen or even discussed by our members. Videos coming to a forum near you...


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 3, 2010)

Oh boy hydrogen peroxide..What strength is that?

What tricks are you up to? 8)


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## joem (Aug 4, 2010)

I think it's 27.5%


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