# Invert memory chips in ap



## kmarchand (Oct 14, 2012)

I am new to this sharing thing but have been doing things wrong for 22 years...but I do some things that seem right.

ALSO DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING I POST OR Anyone at their word...discover for yourself...and be safe!

My recipe : (for 1 pound memory boards)

I tied same likeness chips togehter

1. tie 10 memory chips together with rubber band (more if you want, you want to keep gold plating out of solution)
2. Invert chips gold side up in shallow dish , here is where you decide how level your dish is and how much ap to add
3. Add Muriatic (HCL) 32% is what I use and Hydrogen Peroxide (3% is what I used)
what I am trying to do is save a bunch of work here by letting the acid drop the chips off the memory boards
Do not let the acid reach the fingers on the board (though I have found the acid fumes still react with the base metals above the solution)
4. Now you have a bunch of ceramic ships in with a solution of a bunch of unknowns.
5. Next lift the chips out of ap solution with the rubber band
6. Some gold foils may be lifted out with the memory cards so you want to rinse these into a bucket? or something you may want to collect your 25 cents from later
7. I am not an expert...nor do I know anything ... this is just reasonable thinking
8. Within 24 hours the chips will fall or be forced off the boards. ( I wear goggles , gloves, and apron unless you like purple spots on your clothes)
9. I am only sharing this recipe for improvement
10. Now you have a bunch of ceramic chips which are falling off or give a bit of help
in ap solutions
11. Now you can use a salad strainer. or 1/4" sieve to separate your chips from acid and ceramic pd stuff
12, Wash chips etc into bucket keeping chips and washing your 25 cents worth into bucket
13. The rest of the process I have learned here...burn chips to white ash ( how you do this is up to you and your neighbors) 
14. Do fingers or whole memory boards in ap solution with gold contacts in solution this time

I am only posting this because I am looking to improve on a process...
eg. take away the hammer and chisel


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## patnor1011 (Oct 14, 2012)

Heat gun. Faster and cheaper. It will also allow you to collect monolythic caps and resistors for Ag and Pd.


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## kmarchand (Oct 14, 2012)

Hello,
I no nothing.

I only want to contribute to the forum because I have gained so much.

Now addressing the problem:

A heat gun requires your total attention ... or fire etc... acids work for free

Ken


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## patnor1011 (Oct 14, 2012)

But it will allow you to collect different values.

Acid create additional waste to deal with.


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## kmarchand (Oct 14, 2012)

I am looking for help in separation ...not refining...the salad strainer that I use does a good job of separation...now I have ceramics Pd or other values in it's own ontainer.

What I am looking for is help on separation and process.

I like chemicals because they work for free

I am safe

Let me introduce myself to you and the forum

Name: Ken Marchand
Experience: None (half my life 50 yrs.)
By None I mean I mean I am still learning but hope to contribute
Location: Canada


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## mjgraham (Oct 14, 2012)

I did at one time think just using acid would be the quickest(easiest maybe) way however in the end it just made it a lot more work seperating stuff and washing things plus you need more acid, I found some capacitors broke down into lots of sheets and made it hard to filter. I did not try just putting them in upside down just put them in whole, did not use H2O2 but after exposure to the air and copper in the circuit boards it made an AP like mix anyway. Like said before the heat gun is about the best method, depending on how many and how fast is another factor, I was doing about one sitck in less than a min, had hundereds to do. But a lot depends on what works best for you, if that plan is good then your set.


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## nickvc (Oct 15, 2012)

Ken we never say we know all the answers here on the forum as circumstances often direct us to the processes that work for us individually,whether that circunstance be difficulty finding various chemicals or a preference for slow and cheap or fast and more expensive. What works is fine but never say never, some of these guys are pretty smart at solving problems and innovating new processes and work arounds, some of what you have been doing alone may well be a new view on a given recovery process so post them but expect others to comment and don't take it personally, we are all aiming for the same goal but approaching from different directions sometimes these merge especially when proved to make things cheaper or easier to reach that goal.


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## butcher (Oct 15, 2012)

nickvc,

I always enjoy reading your posts.


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## Marcel (Oct 16, 2012)

I used the HCl method a few times, but I prefer the heatgun over it. Apart from the trouble with the MLCCs that get lost or become waste, I once processed old memory boards that contained lead and created leadchloride (white needles) I was no fun to fiddle around in this messe, It looked awful, smelled awful and PbCl is dangerous stuff....

One interesting thing about AP and HCl, the most precious metals and salts are always at the bottom. What is in solution usually is less valuable than what is solid. 
And the solids also form some sort of value layers. Here leadchloride on top, followed by tincloride.
Correct me if I am wrong, just my own observation.

Marcel


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## Geo (Oct 16, 2012)

pretty good observation. the needle like crystals are lead chloride and the square white crystals look like tin chloride.


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## evL (Nov 17, 2012)

Well I must say that I do like the Heat Gun method. For myself anything I can do without chemicals saves cleaning. I found this post interesting though. 

I have a lot of memory cards and after removing the fingers I am going to process them. But I want to run those flat packs as well. One thing that I need 
to research is the fact that some of these cards have more visible gold under the solder mask that I want to get at with out making a mess. 

Ok, getting off the subject... Anyhow, I like the Heat Gun idea. Thanks.


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## SFC (Nov 17, 2012)

Hello Everyone, I have seen a video about six months ago, where a man used an air chisel to depopulate a motherboard.

Do you think this man had a good idea or not?

Charles


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## Marcel (Nov 17, 2012)

An air chisel seems to be a bit over the top for me. A simple knive can do most of the chips very well. in addition you have fewer BMs later to deal with, if you cut of all the leads.


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## Geo (Nov 17, 2012)

SFC said:


> Hello Everyone, I have seen a video about six months ago, where a man used an air chisel to depopulate a motherboard.
> 
> Do you think this man had a good idea or not?
> 
> Charles



some pins on a motherboard is made of BeCu. any sawing or oscillating cutting will create dust of these metals. you dont want this stuff in your environment. whether its a shop or even an outside work space. inhalation of these metals is very harmful.


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