IC chips

Heloo,

Few days ago I got about 1 KG IC chips from RAM memory.
Today I put chips in glass baking pot and cover with H2SO4 about 2 inches from chips.

Ignite fire under ( wood stove ) and boil for 2 hours for now.

1 hour afer boiling ammount of H2SO4 allmost evaporated and I add 1 more liter of accid. Before I added acid there is some H2SO4 but it did not want to boil even higher temparature. Then I added 1 moere liter and wait. It boils slowly for now, but chips looks allmost same when I added them in acid. How long they need to lay in boiling acid until achieveing desired change? H2SO4 is 34%

Thanks

Please tell me you're not doing this in an enclosed space!

Sulfuric acid is dangerous. Concentrated, boiling sulfuric acid is extraordinarily hazardous!

Since you're starting with 34% acid, you probably boiled away all the water and perhaps some of the acid.

What "desired change" are you expecting?

Dave

I buy 34% and it declared on the bottle as 34% H2SO4.

No Im doing this outside ( dont worry )

Waht I expect? I expect to remove plastic or resin which cover golden wires.

EDIT: Boiling for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Top of dish is full of black foam, but not yet visible wires. I removed foam with piece of wood and put in barell for waste disposal company. After foam removing I added abot 0,5dL of acid and it reacted vigorously. What is wrong?

EDIT: 4 hours cooking. I get only black plastic foam but still no wires visible. Decided to dispose acid in disposal barrel and put new acid. In link is picture afrer disposing acid and before putting new one. What Im doing wrong ?
https://ibb.co/PNSbynJ

worker0 said:

What Im doing wrong ?
https://ibb.co/PNSbynJ

Click to expand...

You are using acid, that's what you are doing wrong.

The standard processing for chips is to incinerate, use a magnet to remove iron/steel then use water flotation, (panning), to recover any gold.

Assuming of course you are trying to recover gold.

Yes, gold...

I seen people using acid to dissolve resin/plastic. With success.

I ended batch. Put acid in barell for disposal and wash and collect IC chips. Some if them get opened and I extracted nice gold plate from it.they are much softer now and I can brake it with finger.

I dont understend why is this way wrong when people use it. I assume that acid was too weak or strong or ammount of 1L 34% for 1 KG of chips is insufficient?

I believe what you're trying to do is known as wet ashing. It is an extremely dangerous process. Since I've never attempted it, I am not qualified to give any advice on the process.

Dave

Yes wet ashing. Is someone try this method so we can discuss bout it and point me to mistakes?

Worker, in my opinion your mistake is in attempting this process without having a complete understanding of it and the hazards. I'm not trying to be mean. It's just that the process is probably one of the most dangerous ever discussed on the forum. Sulfuric acid is dangerous. Concentrated sulfuric acid is very dangerous. Boiling, concentrated sulfuric acid is unbelievably dangerous.

I've seen videos of people doing this with no protective equipment at all, just as you probably have. I've also seen photos of people who have been burned by sulfuric acid. They are horribly disfigured, if they survive at all.

My advice would be to find a different process that is less dangerous.

Dave

I weared all protective gear and read all safety instructions, even prepared base solution if something go wrong. Equiepment and protective gear - lab grade.
Yes very dangerous and definitely most dangerous process.
Thank you

I would consider grabbing the popcorn for this thread, but I have the feeling this comedy will end in tragedy. Wet ashing? Really?

Just to start, can you please detail how, step by step, you will mitigate fumes from boiling sulphuric acid, such that you do not destroy your lungs, the health, and the property of those around you. Simply doing this outside shows you have no idea how to mitigate dangers of your process, and likely do not have experience enough to understand what wastes you are creating and how to process these wastes for disposal.

Then, again, I am only four days post-op, and am still on pain medication. So perhaps I am understanding this wrong. If Dave would chime in again, I will check in again after a short nap.

Time for more coffee. Sorry, no rum with the oxycodone. Will put that back in the coffee in a few weeks.

I really hate how people see things on youtube and automatically assume just because one fool/idiot does something that makes it safe.

WORKER stop trying to do this process. If so much as just 1 drop of water gets into that boiling sulfuric acid it will erupt/explode causing boiling sulfuric acid to go everywhere. Even moisture in the air can cause this. It can dissolve the clothing that you are wearing in less time than it would take you to realize what happened. I had a friend that had this happen with a full pot of molten lead ( we are plumbers) he is permanently scarred. He is lucky it didn't splash on his face.

galenrog said:

Then, again, I am only four days post-op, and am still on pain medication. So perhaps I am understanding this wrong. If Dave would chime in again, I will check in again after a short nap.

Click to expand...

Galen, I don't want to leave you hanging, but I think I've already said what I can here. Even on meds, I think you have a solid grasp on the dangers. I just want others who may read this thread in the future to understand this is not a good idea.

Dave

I have done wet ashing once in a fume hood and a protective glass window, on small scale. It was scary and I will never do this again. Doing this outside is just too dangerous, if you inheale just a tiny bit of the fumes, you create sulfuric acid deep inside your lungs. A lab coat and gloves do not protect you from hot sulfuric acid.

FrugalRefiner said:

galenrog said:

Then, again, I am only four days post-op, and am still on pain medication. So perhaps I am understanding this wrong. If Dave would chime in again, I will check in again after a short nap.

Click to expand...

Galen, I don't want to leave you hanging, but I think I've already said what I can here. Even on meds, I think you have a solid grasp on the dangers. I just want others who may read this thread in the future to understand this is not a good idea.

Dave

Click to expand...

Thank you, Dave. I noted several years ago that you are a lot smarter, and far more experienced in precious metal recovery than I will ever be. Just wanted to ensure my drug influenced post was not far off the mark.

The best thing I ever did regarding precious metal recovery was to learn my limitations. Due to these limitations, including regulatory, waste management, time, space, equipment, and a myriad of other limitations, I do little beyond recovery. If I can not set up a proper illustrated flow chart for a procedure, from beginning to end, including all anticipated problems, then I can not do it at this time. Don’t have proper equipment? Set idea aside. Watching trains with my grandson it more important than any of this.

Two significant surgeries in three weeks. Damn, I hate getting older. At least right now I do.

Ok friends. No more wet ahing. To be honest I saw 4 or 5 videos "detailed explained". People did not have any protective gear or anything. It does not mean that I dont need. They treated acid like it is water, but whatever.

I chosse wet ashing because when I was in one discussion somebody ( here on forum ) told that incinerating can damage gold. It was disscussion about 0,5 x 0,5 pin in 200 rows. Connector from SATA controller for SAN network. Pin is very sharp and have protection from extracting when pulled or pushed, and I ask another member how to do it, they said use hammer. Plastic is so hard that hammer cant do anything to it and asked for incineration. Answer was that incineration can damadge gold and black "tar" (black trace of evoparated plastic. and that I dont know how to use hammer. ...... ) destroyed my gold plating. Is it true at all???

For fumes I used Fans from same server - high speed high pressure fans 4 of them ( 2 in each PSU ) and put on hood to suck all gases and "inject" into second stove in which I kept really big and hot flame. Something like afterburner,but different. I did not want to ignite and waste acetilene for this batch which is first and obviously last for me.

Can we just analyse next things:
Incineration of gold plated pins in that connector will damage gold?
Incineration of SIM cards will destroy gold?
And Ireally would like to knowwhere I made mistake, even I will never again use thiss process? IT is HAOTiC REALLY. Even when boiling and add etc0,2dL of acid it react vigorously, so would like to know how this messy process work even I will never use it agin, chemist making youtube videos in which they finish in 20 minutes.. does anyone have enough time/ 7 minutes to watch and say what is wrong with process from video/ to elabprate this and help other members and me?

Thanks in advance.

You have to pyrolize first, then incinerate.

Direct Incineration will result in losses of gold.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pirolysation here will prepare materail for incineration since T

snoman701 said:

You have to pyrolize first, then incinerate.

Direct Incineration will result in losses of gold.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

incineration will make tempareature higher than gold boiling point you mean or it will get lost etc smelt to small invisible pieces. What to you mean under that?

I suggest you read my post in my signature line. All you need to know about the method you can use.
Wet ashing - just forget about that. I am not going to tell you what you did wrong and do not take this in a bad way - I just do not trust that you will not be tempted to try it again.
From what you said you did till now you are simply not prepared, equipped and experienced enough to do it safely so just forget about it.
I can say that I recovered quite a bit of gold and do have some knowledge and experience after many years yet to this day I steer clear from sulfuric acid and do not go within 2 meters to hot sulfuric acid even while it is in a fume hood with the hood window closed. I am THAT careful as hot concentrated sulfuric is outright deadly stuff.

Hmm but what is problem if they are burned? I see 1 refiner burned 2 or 3 batches wothout any problems?

Im not interested for wet ashing anyore, it is copmlicated, more expensive, and more dangerous in comparasion to burning/pyrolising.

Really I dont even think anymore about H2SO4. Pyrolising is way easyer, at least for me. Just willing to learn from mistakes.

worker0 said:

Hmm but what is problem if they are burned? I see 1 refiner burned 2 or 3 batches wothout any problems?

Click to expand...

worker0

Improper burning of E-waste produces "VERY toxic" fumes, gasses & vapors (which is what most if not all back yard "you tube" refiners are doing)

there are "proper" ways to do this - BUT - it "requires" setting it up with "proper" equipment &/or place to do it

Read what I just posted in the Safety section with the tread titled "What about beryllium in IC chips"

then read the threads I suggest in that post

It is IMPORTANT that you understand that ALL processes for processing E-waste are "toxic & hazardous" to you & the environment around you & "require" that you set up to do this with PROPER equipment to deal with the "toxic" by products you product when processing E-waste -- just because you see people doing it in their back yard does not mean it is safe - in FACT - most of them are slowly but surely POISONING them selves that will lead to serious health problems - including but not limited to early death (shorten their normal life span)

To do this safely & properly you need to start by doing A LOT of research - starting with researching "Safety" & "Equipment" & "dealing with waste"

Kurt