A list of good practices, a member supported ongoing list

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4metals

4metals

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I had an idea of making a list of simple good practices which have been proven to help in the refining processes. I think every member who wishes to add a technique or practice should do so and it will be subject to the typical scrutiny all posts receive but in the end we will have a list of useful techniques all posted on one thread for future reference. I will go through the list and as ideas are accepted by the group I will add them to a list that is in a locked thread so it is read only without all of the comments.

I will start with a good practice.

Stannous chloride has a bad habit of going bad without warning. As a result it is good practice to have a small vial of aqua regia you know has gold in it made by simply dissolving a half a gram or so of fine gold sponge in acid and keeping it to test the accuracy of your stannous test solution when your stannous chloride indicates no gold in a test solution. It's always good to be sure.

I have many more of these I can post but I wanted to see how this thread moves and welcome other tips or scrutiny of any tips.

So now it's your turn.
 
GREAT IDEA

Make your stannous chloride with "Store Bought" Stannous Chloride (Powder, flakes, or Crystals). Purchased on eBay it costs $9.99 for 1 ounce (free shipping) to $14.99 for 4 ounces ($5.20 shipping). I mix 50 ml HCl and 150 ml water, add 1/4 teaspoon of the Stannous Chloride and drop in 3 to 4 small prills of pure tin (also available on eBay for $2.25 per ounce). I store mine in a (WELL MARKED) dark amber bottle in the refrigerator and have been using from the same bottle for over a year now. Used with auric chloride to make sure it is still effective and you have an unbeatable pair.
 
one of the things that helps me the most is to lable my beakers and make notes on them as i progress through the refining process. I keep a sharpie next to the fume hood and label whats in the beaker and what i add to the beaker and any other little things that i do to a solution (I actually wright on the watchglass i use to cover the beakers, but the beaker itself would work too) . This helps me not forget where i am in the process and all the little particulars. I ofter have a couple of beakers settling/digesting/precipitating at the same time and often leave things for a couple days at a time. this has helped me immensly.
 
A clean and organized work area with all chems clearly and correctly labeled.

Inspect your safety equipment before you need it. (Nothing like sticking your gloved hand in acid to find out then that if leaks.)

Thoroughly rinse off your safety gear after use, leaving it with a random small splatter on it is a chemical burn waiting to happen.

Have an outline of the steps for each process you do and review it before you start. Or have it posted over your work area as a reminder. You may have done it a thousand times, but we all can forget some small thing and have an oops moment.
 
Dedicated filter funnels and flasks for a given material--i.e. silver nitrate is handled with its own apparatus, aqua regia with its own.

Preventing cross contamination.


Another good practice is secondary containment, be it something underneath the beaker on the hot plate, or a tray under a digester, etc. If something breaks, your values aren't lost.


Lou
 
Another good practice is secondary containment, be it something underneath the beaker on the hot plate, or a tray under a digester, etc. If something breaks, your values aren't lost.
Click to expand...

I always refer to these as Oops containers. Never know when you're going to need it until you really need it.
 
To add to 4metals post:

Make your Stannous Chloride from HCl with tin solder in it. Far cheaper than buying it. Store it in a small glass jar out of the light. Leave some solder in the bottom and shake it up before you use it. Test it if you think the result might be wrong using the small vial of gold bearing solution that 4metals kindly suggested.

It's cheap and it works. I've used the same 25ml for 18 months.
 
I know I am new to this but the one thing that helped me the most was to keep things consistent. Anything from making Stannous to mixing AR to making nitric, do it to the same standards. Once I find a working method I try to reproduce it as close as possible. Amounts may vary but the standard is still there. It makes it easier to back track and discover any problem you run into. Keeping notes is very helpful as well. It also never hurts to be insistent about clean glassware.
 
I keep a notebook with detailed notes every time I recover and refine. Starting material and weight, process I am going to use, amount of chemical used, the reaction observed when chemcals are used. Problems that occur, how the problem was solved and the results. I also make notes of observations when I melt as well.
I have found that writting things down as well as studying the forum helps me to retain what I learn. I believe Harold V had done the same thing as well as the other accomplished memebers here.

One more thing....have patience when waiting for reactions to finish. It will save you from losing values and waisting time trying to get back on track.
 
I always keep a couple of pyrex graduated cylinders nearby for settling of solutions. These work great for when I'm washing gold powder after a drop. Each wash or rinse can be poured off into one of these cylinders for settling later. This allows me to get on with the business of washing the powder quickly and melting a button within an hour. The gold powder (and any silver chloride)from the washes can have time to settle and be recovered later.
 
I find it is good practice to wash pins and cpu's and fingers in soap and water. Unless you collect the material your self and used clean gloves, it's the only way to make sure your material is dirt and oil free.
 
i would say, that a good practice for me is to keep a spray bottle with plain water FULL and make sure to have scott towel at arm lenth. those two should be ready to be picked with only one hand at any time.
 
This one is for Harold.......Always incinerate materials as necessary! As far as I know it can only help and never harm. If in question......incinerate. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Some fumes can not be seen when the fumes are the same temperature as the air around you and will stick to skin and hair. It is good practice to wash you hands immediately after working and a shower as soon as possible.
 
Be patient.
Reactions take time to work, solids take time to settle out of solution, chlorine takes time to evaporate, let things happen as they should and don't try to shortcut the process.

EDIT: Clarification
 
mls26cwru said:
one of the things that helps me the most is to lable my beakers and make notes on them as i progress through the refining process. I keep a sharpie next to the fume hood and label whats in the beaker and what i add to the beaker and any other little things that i do to a solution (I actually wright on the watchglass i use to cover the beakers, but the beaker itself would work too) . This helps me not forget where i am in the process and all the little particulars. I ofter have a couple of beakers settling/digesting/precipitating at the same time and often leave things for a couple days at a time. this has helped me immensly.
Click to expand...
If you're using a Sharpie on the white square on the beaker (its purpose is for labeling), it's hard to remove in case you want to re-label it. Pencil works best. It's quite impervious to the chemicals and you can erase it.
 

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