# Stock pot processing



## Dbaschiera (Nov 3, 2021)

Good morning all….I am wondering if someone can direct me to a good thorough thread on how to process the material in my gold stock pot? I have searchEd the site and find many threads, but am still uncertain as to the best practice/procedure.

The weather where I live is getting extremely cold and I have my buckets stored outdoors and temp highs are 40 and lows are 25 degrees. This is my last week to get out and process the material given a slight warm up before temps are regularly below freezing.

my stock pot contains the waste from processing a few batches of foils from earlier this summer and my copper pieces. I just don’t want anything to freeze and cause other issues for my self.

Thank you in advance to everyone willing to point me on the correct path/thread to success.

Have a great day and thanks again, Dino


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## FrugalRefiner (Nov 3, 2021)

There are several threads in the WASTE section of the Library.

Dave


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## upcyclist (Nov 3, 2021)

I have found that my solutions rarely freeze--keep in mind that salts (e.g. copper chloride, iron chloride as waste) dissolved in water lower the freezing point of that solution. I do definitely try to avoid having any glass outside in the winter, but the stock pots survive just fine here in Maryland, where the temps generally stay above 0°F. 

You could also decant your pots as "the last thing you do" when your refining season ends. Less water to expand when it freezes means less chance of a burst or overflow.


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## Dbaschiera (Nov 4, 2021)

FrugalRefiner said:


> There are several threads in the WASTE section of the Library.
> 
> Dave


Thank you Dave for the direction to head greatly appreciate the assistance

and thanks to everyone here for all they have done and continue to do!
Dino


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## Dbaschiera (Nov 4, 2021)

upcyclist said:


> I have found that my solutions rarely freeze--keep in mind that salts (e.g. copper chloride, iron chloride as waste) dissolved in water lower the freezing point of that solution. I do definitely try to avoid having any glass outside in the winter, but the stock pots survive just fine here in Maryland, where the temps generally stay above 0°F.
> 
> You could also decant your pots as "the last thing you do" when your refining season ends. Less water to expand when it freezes means less chance of a burst or overflow.


Upcyclist….thank you again for the helpful advice! I will be doing it in the next 2 days (temps will be high of 60)…I live in the Driftless area of Wisconsin temps here get very cold…we live up on a ridge top. I do have 2 glass jars of waste so I’ll address those first.

Dave also directed me to the waste section of the library.

just want to say I’m grateful to be a member of this forum.

Dino


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## nickvc (Nov 5, 2021)

A simple cure for your concerns would be to place your stockpot solutions into a plastic container, put a loose fitting lid on and then place that inside another larger plastic container again with a lid with a few holes drilled around the top of the container in case any fumes are been produced. 
That should give you time to do the necessary reading to be able to recover any values and safely dispose of the waste solution.


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## Zhazham (Nov 6, 2021)

Are there some examples of how copper and Iron chloride lower the freezing point? I'm also worried of my waste buckets because soon temperature might drop to -30C. I try to process everything before that but here it might happen overnight. My waste is in plastic buckets but from experience, i can say rapid freezing can broke plastic buckets too.


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## upcyclist (Nov 9, 2021)

The chemistry majors may have a way to calculate freezing points of a given molality or find graphs for it, but if you hit -30C then it's probably time to make sure you cement & siphon. That is, cement your PM stock pot with copper, siphon/decant to the next pot, cement with iron, move to next pot and neutralize to drop the rest of the metals. Sludge _should_ be fine if it freezes before you get it completely dry, but put some catch basins/trays underneath in case even that freezes enough to burst your plastic.


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## Dbaschiera (Nov 9, 2021)

nickvc said:


> A simple cure for your concerns would be to place your stockpot solutions into a plastic container, put a loose fitting lid on and then place that inside another larger plastic container again with a lid with a few holes drilled around the top of the container in case any fumes are been produced.
> That should give you time to do the necessary reading to be able to recover any values and safely dispose of the waste solution.


Thank you Nick….I have done exactly what you have suggested.

I just posted another post that I need help on, if you have the time, thank you for responding too. Dino


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## Zhazham (Nov 10, 2021)

Thanks's for the advices. I better stop my operation, handle the waste and wait for next summer...


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## Noggin (Nov 10, 2021)

I used to work in an unheated barn and had to take a couple years off of refining. Two 5 gallon waste buckets about 3/4 full were fine. I’m an inside dog now but you likely have little to worry about.


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## Hempyre2014 (Oct 17, 2022)

FrugalRefiner said:


> There are several threads in the WASTE section of the Library.
> 
> Dave


I'm new how do you get to the library


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## FrugalRefiner (Oct 17, 2022)

Go to the main home page of the forum. Scroll down. The Library is in the Learning section.

Dave


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