# What to look for in circuit breaker



## Topekole (Dec 4, 2018)

I got to know I can get silver from this circuit breaker so I break it open, please what should I look for and how should I process it?
Thanks


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## Dr.xyz (Dec 4, 2018)

You should find a hobby other than silver obsession.

Start collecting computer keyboards if you just have to have silver.


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## butcher (Dec 4, 2018)

Only the contacts (contact points or pads of the switch) will be a silver alloy, many times copper parts are also silver plated.


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## galenrog (Dec 4, 2018)

Typically, circuit breakers have few metals involved. Those are steel, copper, and brass. In a few applications, a few parts may be made of aluminum. Precious metals, if any, will be silver, in the form of plating on some copper or brass parts. 

Some older circuit breakers have another source of silver. That is the braided copper wire may have some silver to aid in conductivity, but, as I said, these would be older. And would be specific to the application.

I usually let things like this accumulate for a day when I have nothing else to do. Lots of labor. Little reward.

Also, no need to double post. 

Time for coffee.

Edit: Looks like a moderator already deleted the second post. Thank you moderators.


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## silversaddle1 (Dec 4, 2018)

Dr.xyz said:


> You should find a hobby other than silver obsession.
> 
> Start collecting computer keyboards if you just have to have silver.



Right, collect keyboards. And, I'll sell you as many as you want, a penny a pound, but you have to pick them up here, and bring a truck.


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## snoman701 (Dec 4, 2018)

I don't find circuit breakers to be worth disassembling. There's just not enough silver in the small ones, and it's buried beneath a lot of steel that is hard to disassemble.

Even on the large ones, the contacts are small, often alloyed with moly or lots of cadmium, and there is a lot of steel and difficult to disassemble assemblies. 

Now, if you have a hammer mill/shredder, it might be a completely different story.


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## kurtak (Dec 5, 2018)

snoman701 said:


> Even on the large ones, the contacts are small, often alloyed with moly or lots of cadmium, and there is a lot of steel and difficult to disassemble assemblies.



Not quite right --- the contact points that come out of circuit breakers are not alloyed with moly or cadmium

they are "sintered" with tungsten & they will run between 30 - 40% silver (the rest is tungsten)

However - there is also some cadmium found in processing contact points - but the cadmium is found in the silver solder used to braze the points to the copper/brass bus bars --- some contact point from "other then circuit breakers" may also have cadmium alloyed with them

In order to recover the silver from the silver/tungsten point that come from circuit breakers you "NEED" to literally BOIL them in nitric

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=24688&p=261130&hilit=points#p261130

The best way I have found to remove (de-solder) the points from the bus bars

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=21173&p=218315&hilit=points#p218315

Kurt


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## snoman701 (Dec 5, 2018)

I honestly don't keep track of what's in them anymore. I have found such a wide variety that it's easier to just toss them in a bucket instead of caring.

Right now I know I have at least one five gallon bucket full of the stupid things. I wish I had chosen a smaller bucket as it's heavy...but still not worth my time for a one time recovery. Probably do ten this summer then use it as a down payment on an xrf.

I'll shear off excess copper on the busbars and dissolve the copper immediately adjacent to the silver in nitric. Shearing will take less than ten seconds per contact. Any other method is too much labor for me.

Milling anything with sintered tungsten in it seems like a recipe for chewed up cutters. I occasionally turn a copper tungsten alloy and it's not exactly kind to cutters. 

I guess if I had a thousand identical points of the non tungsten variety I could set them up in the cnc mill, but I still doubt I'd do it. I spent some time pushing the little green button...it's not for me.

As for the tungsten, after the bulk of the material is dissolved, I'll boil those for a couple days.

I find it easiest to use hcl to precipitate the silver, regenerating the nitric for the next batch. 


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## snoman701 (Dec 5, 2018)

Here's an example of my frustration with breakers. This is not a particularly small breaker.

You can see the little pad of silver in the second picture. It's on the underside of the silver plated copper.











This is the other half of that contact I think, as well as a more traditional silver contact.


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## kurtak (Dec 5, 2018)

snoman701 said:


> Milling anything with sintered tungsten in it seems like a recipe for chewed up cutters. I occasionally turn a copper tungsten alloy and it's not exactly kind to cutters.



Hmmm - did you actually read the link I posted ?

I did not suggest "milling" the points off the bus bars

that was a question/suggestion posted by Eric

I then posted my method for "de-soldering" the points from the bus bars

Which works quite nice especially when doing large batches &/or large points on large bus bars

Kurt


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## snoman701 (Dec 5, 2018)

The link wouldn't load from tapatalk for some reason.

Desoldering is efficient, but you lose a little silver in the braze, and you risk cadmium exposure. I've done it both in the induction heater and with a torch aimed at the back of the busbar.


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