# is there silver in these



## Geo (Nov 17, 2011)

i have quite a few of these and have tested a few with silver testing solution but im not sure i can trust it.the solution turns deep red then slowly turns green.does anyone know if it has silver or not?


----------



## element47 (Nov 18, 2011)

Variable capacitors. Yes, looks like there is silver plate and I know from experience it is common to have them Ag plated. Whether you get extract it economically is another question.


----------



## Ardibash (Nov 18, 2011)

Soak it in small quantity of 70% nitric acid fro 10-20 seconds, remove, then add concentrated salt (Sodium chloride) water, if you get white precipitate forming it's silver chloride.


----------



## niteliteone (Nov 18, 2011)

Geo,
Here is what I found

http://www.surplussales.com/Variables/VariableTrimmers/VarTrimm5.html

I did not find an exact match but it appears to be silver plate over brass.

Tom C.


----------



## johnny309 (Nov 18, 2011)

They have silver....
How much....depends....maybe 2 grams per piece and up to 6 grams if they are solid silver.One single item in nitric should uncover the mistery.
The tarnish is from silver,so....keep going...you are on the right path.


Edit:

They sell for about 2 dollars a piece,so....my guess is that is silver plated over brass......lower precentage of silver....
The code from your piece is in the middle of page:
http://www.rfparts.com/caps_airvariable.html


----------



## Geo (Nov 18, 2011)

great, thanks guys.if it has silver i will find a way to reclaim it without alot of cost.ive already digested silver clad connector pins in AP,im sure this will work too.


----------



## niteliteone (Nov 18, 2011)

Geo said:


> great, thanks guys.if it has silver i will find a way to reclaim it without alot of cost.ive already digested silver clad connector pins in AP,im sure this will work too.



Be sure to let us know how it works out for you. 8) 

Tom C.


----------



## nickvc (Nov 19, 2011)

Geo if they are just plated melt them into bars and use them for your cementation of your silver solutions that way you save on copper and recover your silver for nothing.


----------



## johnny309 (Nov 19, 2011)

If you condiser melting into bars ,be aware of the presence of tin(in your first picture,under the 5 is the solder joint which contain tin).


----------



## Geo (Nov 19, 2011)

im still sorting them out.i have a few im sure thats not plated,it seems to be nickle plated or stainless steel.my silver test solution turns green as soon as i put it on a piece,and too they are too shiny with no luster.


----------



## MMFJ (Nov 25, 2011)

nickvc said:


> Geo if they are just plated melt them into bars and use them for your cementation of your silver solutions that way you save on copper and recover your silver for nothing.



As a pretty dedicated "I'm not good at playing with chemicals" guy that is amassing a lot of various scrap, I'm always looking at ways I can take what I have and turn it into smaller 'something' that either I or someone else could use.

In reading your post, it seems that, perhaps, this will help with some parts I got out of an electrical relay (actually, about 100 relays I got in a lot - many still to tear apart....)



Certainly, they are silver plated brass, so will it be reasonable to just melt them down (I do have a furnace that I'm trying to find a good use for - purchased it before I knew that recovery of PM is more about chemicals than just "melting"...)



If I can melt them down, would they have a commercial value to those on this forum (and/or say, fleaBay??? - though not sure how to advertise it, most of those buying over there really do not have a clue.....)

With hundreds of these pieces (and many more silver plated bits pulled from these relays that are similar - you might find a video I did of the process useful? Part 1 is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9cvr5jfmpE), there is a lot of material that needs doing something with and the bit of playing I've done with chemicals has proven my attention span on such detailed level is not something I should be doing (part of success is knowing when you find your limits and that is certainly one of them for me!)

I've also got a pretty good collection of silver jewelry, though I believe it is best to leave it intact (at least those pieces that are marked) for future trading purposes - they can always be melted if/when needed, but it is sure hard to prove what it is when there's a big block of 'something' sitting there! I don't know if that would play in to this at all, but just a side-note in case it does...

Your input on what to do with the relay parts is great - I haven't had the need to do anything with them just yet, but glad I ran across this post.


----------



## Geo (Nov 25, 2011)

i have found that the info you can find on silver plated material really doesnt apply to this kind of scrap.we need a more detailed break-down of what the percentages can be.reasoning tells us that smaller individual pieces like the ones in your picture contain more silver by weight than lets say, flatware or candle sticks because you have more area of plated brass than a large heavy piece of brass.i believe the silver can be alot higher percentage on these small pieces.the problem lies in the process used to seperate silver from base metal.ive tried AP and it worked for me on a small scale.when i get to a point where i can i will make a small video showing the AP method for silver plated pins.


----------

