# Nitric acid



## corijohnson (Oct 19, 2009)

Alright, I need nitric acid, but have no chemical stores nearby, and online is EXPENSIVE. I've hear that you can make it from potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate or ammonium nitrate and some HCL. Is this true, or would we (my husband and I) kill someone, namely ourselves. We would like to use it for silver, as we've seen in lazersteve's videos.


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## Anonymous (Oct 19, 2009)

no, that will not make nitric acid. please do a lot of reading before you do actually try and make any chemical.

jim


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## Chumbawamba (Oct 19, 2009)

Sometimes you just need to be pointed in the right direction (or get a swift kick in the butt):

LazerSteve's recipe:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=315&hilit=concentrate+nitric+acid&start=20#p2572

LazerSteve improves on his recipe:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=5825&p=50568&hilit=lazersteve+nitric+acid#p50197

And his "Poor Man's AR" (if you want to cut straight to the Aqua Regia chase):

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=30062#p30062

Next time, search and read, search and read. The "Search" box is there for a reason


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## gorfman6154 (Oct 19, 2009)

Corijohnson, if you are serious about recovery of silver from computers, this is the place to be. The amount of free information on all aspects of PM recovery and refining on this forum is staggering. To gain this knowledge, it will take some effort on your part, in the way of reading, learning and understanding the fundalmentals of the processes, which will be of use to you. One of the best places to start, is by reading the safety threads, then the Silver threads, listed on the Board index. The next thing would be to read Hoke's book, there are links to it all over this forum.

While you are digesting :mrgreen: all of this information, use your spare time to add to your stockpile of PM bearing material. As you read, you will find numerous other types of Silver bearing material to gather. Also, if your going after Silver, don't forget about some of the other metals, which you will come across. such as Gold, Palladium, and Platinum.

Also note that, recovering PM's is very rewarding 8) but don't overlook the safety and enviromental issues, which are paramount.

I don't mean to make this sound like a drag, it's just the opposite. I've learned such an incredible amount from this forum, and i can't wait to get home and log on, and learn more.

Just remember that to make a profit from e-waste, you need to get large amounts at a very low cost, or free is even better!!

A whole new world is at your fingertips courtesy of the fantastic members of this forum. 

Best of luck on your new adventure. gorfman


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## Palladium (Oct 19, 2009)

Very well put Gorfman.


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## corijohnson (Oct 23, 2009)

Thank you gents. I'll get to reading and eating right now.


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Oct 25, 2009)

Mrs. Corijohnson:

We are waiting for your first silver nuget...when you get it,please,post a pic...if you do that you will be the first woman to get a silver nuget in this Forum.

Good luck.

Kindest regards.

Manuel


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## IGutYa (Apr 29, 2010)

corijohnson said:


> Alright, I need nitric acid, but have no chemical stores nearby, and online is EXPENSIVE. I've hear that you can make it from potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate or ammonium nitrate and some HCL. Is this true, or would we (my husband and I) kill someone, namely ourselves. We would like to use it for silver, as we've seen in lazersteve's videos.




your speaking of NurdRage's youtube video for Nitric Acid ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yE7v4wkuZU ). it works. copper, hcl & nitrate salt react to make nitrogen dioxde gas that is bubbled threw iced - water or 30% h2o2. or via distillation of nitrate salt with sulfuric acid, which produces it at close to 98% conc. according to nurdrage.

it is relatively safe if done outside or in a fumehood. i would suggest the fumehood if you have pesky neighbors. for the non-distillation method i used an old whine bottle with rubber cork & some vynal hose with a glass pipette. yea nitric acid reacts with rubber, but for a one time use it will be fine. the glass pipette is needed even for one time. try an eye dropper maybe? i lucked out and was given some 1' glass pipettes a few months ago and they worked perfect.

the red gas is poisonous with the ability to kill you. do not breathe. your car makes the same gas so its not that uncommon. just disperse it well.


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## philddreamer (Jun 19, 2010)

That's an awesome video. Thank you!

P.S. Awesome, because I could use the regular glassware I have, to make the nitric.


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## philddreamer (Jun 23, 2010)

One thing to be aware, & that is, when you buy your muriatic acid, don't by the buffered one for making nitric as on the video. I didn't get enough fumes to bubble the peroxide. I had no idea what happen, 'til I went to a Home Depot & saw same brand side by side, one buffered the other regular, DUHHH! :roll: 
So I picked a gallon of regular. I also tried today Steve's method & I'll be test'n it tomorrow. 
One question, What uses does the sulphate has?


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## qst42know (Jun 24, 2010)

Nitric collected from a reaction of HCL and nitrate is useless for silver. It takes very little Cl contamination or carry over to shut you down. 

Contaminated nitric eats copper well enough but will also take some of your gold with it.

To add to the difficulties not all nitrate sources are free of chlorides either.


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## philddreamer (Jun 24, 2010)

Thank you for bringing that to my attention. 
In my quest for nitric, since I ran out & also not having lab glass, I thought I couldn't use Steve's method. So. I came across a post that had the video, so I tried it. :roll: 
Then I came across Palladium's videos #1, #2 & learned I could use the glassware I had, & made a batch, & much easier than I thought. I'll be test'n it later today.
I still have the question, what uses for the left over crystals?

P.S. Sorry! Goldenchild's videos #1 & #2.


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## goldenchild (Jun 24, 2010)

philddreamer said:


> That's an awesome video. Thank you!



Its a good video but in my opinion this one is way better. :lol: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-UkqAs2MWE

Wont suffice for silver though. You need 70% concentrated nitric for that.


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## lazersteve (Jun 24, 2010)

goldenchild said:


> philddreamer said:
> 
> 
> > That's an awesome video. Thank you!
> ...



I agree, goldenchild's video is better!

The poor man's nitric can be used for silver if you remove the chlorides with silver nitrate or silver powder first. Simply add about a gram per liter, let settle, and pour off the clear acid free of chlorides. The chlorides will end up as silver chloride in the bottom of the beaker.

Another alternative is to distill the acid to remove the chlorides.

Steve


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## philddreamer (Jun 24, 2010)

Sorry gentlemen, my mistake!
I saw the emblem that Palladiun uses & didn't notice Goldenchild's signature... :roll: 

Anyway, that's an awesome video since I was able to see the step by step & understand what I had read in previous posts. That's the one that I followed to make the nitric, which is Steve's formula. 
So, to that nitric I need to add the 1gm/liter Ag? Or to the one from the first video? 
And also, do I discard the crystals left over from Steve's process, or are there any use for them?

Thank you!

Phil


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## goldenchild (Jun 24, 2010)

philddreamer said:


> Sorry gentlemen, my mistake!
> I saw the emblem that Palladiun uses & didn't notice Goldenchild's signature... :roll:
> 
> Anyway, that's an awesome video since I was able to see the step by step & understand what I had read in previous posts. That's the one that I followed to make the nitric, which is Steve's formula.
> ...



You add the one gram per liter of silver nitrate or silver dust to the very final product . When you are sure you cannot get any more crystals to form. I should bring this to peoples attention now. Sometimes you may have to put the nitric solution in the freezer more than once. 

So what you will do is put the manufactured nitric in the freezer and let the crystals form. Pour off the liquid into another container and put the new container back in the freezer. If no crystals form after the second freezing then you can add the silver nitrate/powder. Note that for some strange reason the crystals sometimes dont form while in the freezer and wont show up until after letting the bottle sit out for a few hours at room temp. So you may want to let it sit out for a while after each time it comes out of the freezer.

As far as the crystals go I have not found a use for them and just discard them. I think there may be some threads somewhere on what you can do with them. Make sure that if you have a buchner funnel you take the recovered crystals and vaccum filter them. There will probably be hundreds of milliliters of nitric on them depending on how much of a slurry you have. Oh and dont stockpile them if you arent going to use them. It will look like a giant bag of illegal drugs :lol:


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## philddreamer (Jun 24, 2010)

Roger that!
Thanks for the details. I just got this morning my lab glass & filter so I'm set for vacuum filtering. 
I'll make sure I'll discard crystals properly.

:lol:


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