ceramic processor question

[myfalconry76]

I have all these ceramic processors and hardly a grasp on refining them. I understand the AR process. I feel I can do it that way, however I have no nitric acid. Can I use the hcl and bleach process? I've read some remove the gold caps and iv seen that some don't! I haven't found any info yet on acid/bleach recovery of them. Was just curious if the acid/bleach would work like the AR or would it be better to wait till I get nitric acid? And while I'm on the subject of AR, has anyone had any experience with the gold recovery kit that is sold on eBay?
Thank you

 

[Topher_osAUrus]

I have all these ceramic processors and hardly a grasp on refining them. I understand the AR process. I feel I can do it that way, however I have no nitric acid. Can I use the hcl and bleach process? I've read some remove the gold caps and iv seen that some don't! I haven't found any info yet on acid/bleach recovery of them. Was just curious if the acid/bleach would work like the AR or would it be better to wait till I get nitric acid? And while I'm on the subject of AR, has anyone had any experience with the gold recovery kit that is sold on eBay?
Thank you

Welcome to the forum.

Bleach and HCl would work, but you will have a ton of solution, and it would be a balancing game trying to keep the solution acidic while dissolving gold.
Acid-bleach ia beat used to dissolve fine powders or foils, it can even take awhile/a lot of solution to dissolve foils if they are thick ones (if you're one of the lucky ones that *gets* thick foils :lol: )

What kind of ceramic processors is what determines whether the caps are removed or not. Some just nuke it all in AR, some remove the caps and process them separately. Mostly a preference thing.

You dont want to mix black fiber, ceramic, and green fiber. Even some ceramic ones should be separated from other ceramic cpu's.

I wouldnt get anything off ebay, unless it was from a forum member.

You would be better off finding a store that sells Hi Yield nitrate of soda, or hi yield stump remover, both od which are nitrates which you can make poor man AR with, or your own nitric.

Hope this helps to get you started, but, searching the forum and reading about what you will be processing is your best bet. Read and read and read to a point of ad naseum, then read a bit more. If you can, you will do fine at this venture. There is no magic bullet as some say, and it is no get rich quick venture either.

Best of luck.
Toph

 

[myfalconry76]

Will nitric acid 67% work well enough? It's like 40 dollars a bottle and the shipping is through the roof. But I'm having to much fun.
And another question, about magnetic pins! Could I mod a vent hood to blow all the gas from my recoveries through a container filled with magnetic pins to have them braking down while I recover fingers? It was just a thought that in a container filled with pins and the gas cooling and condisating it the container may may start the process of breaking down the metal. Say I run fingers for a month and all that gas going into the container filled with pins, may be easier to process later with less acid! Am I wrong in this train of thought or is it possible? I read some add them to the stock pot or cover them in a tub with water and let them rust!

 

[myfalconry76]

This is the alleged kit on eBay.http://m.ebay.com/itm/Aqua-regia-chemical-supply-kit-w-smelting-flux-kit-Gold-refining-supply-kit-/162098127695?nav=SEARCH

 

[goldsilverpro]

Aqua regia (AR) is the only way that I know of to dissolve the gold alloy brazes holding the gold plated lids onto the seal rings and holding the chips onto the gold plated pads. In many cases, these brazes make up the bulk of the gold value on the package.

The kit is for making poorman's AR but there is only 1/4 pounds of the chemical you use with the HCl instead of nitric (it's sodium nitrate) and that's not much. The poorman's AR is inferior to the regular AR but it should work. I've never had a need to use it. There are a few people on the forum that have mastered it's use and have written about it. The sodium nitrate is commonly sold as fertilizer here in the states. It is often labeled nitrate of soda.

 

[Refining Rick]

Way back when I started, that is the seller I bought my kit from. When I bought mine he sent it with copperas as the precipitant and he was allowed to say sodium nitrate in the listing.
I would recommend it to the first time hobby refiner. Not bad for the money. Comes with stannous chloride crystals, flux and borax. You can toss out the urea if your going for platinum. Denox another way.
The bad side is, the instructions are seriously lacking, but it comes with everything you need. Except the guidance of this board and the fine work of Mrs. Hoke. READ READ READ first.

Edit: I have done all my processors with "poor mans" A/R without problems. Adding to much sodium nitrate, and the subsequent denoxing have been my only issues to date.

 

[myfalconry76]

I think I'm just going to get a bottle of 67% nitric acid on Monday. I've almost got all the supies for building my fume hood may have it completed by Monday and everything moved into the shop and better organized. Just got another 15 pounds of ram for free today. So I will be stripping 60lb of from for the next month. ( while reading) by then I will be ready for refinement of the recovered finger gold and can introduce my self to AR. Hopfully properly!
Thanx again folks, I'm grateful for your responses. So far the people here have been way easy to talk to.
Thanx

 

[goldsilverpro]

How large is the bottle? One liter of nitric, used alone as 50/50, will only dissolve about 240g of the common base metals. When used with HCl, as aqua regia, the nitrate will stretch about 5-7 times further.

 

[myfalconry76]

How large is the bottle? One liter of nitric, used alone as 50/50, will only dissolve about 240g of the common base metals. When used with HCl, as aqua regia, the nitrate will stretch about 5-7 times further.

49.38oz is $44.00 plus $33.00 shipping!

 

[upcyclist]

To answer your earlier question, yes, 67% is what you want. Also, "technical grade"--you don't need analytic grade or anything super-pure for most work. 42° Baume is equivalent to 67% (roughly azeotropic) nitric acid.

Edit to add: Obviously, most of that shipping charge is the hazmat fee. Once (if) you get rolling, you can buy in larger quantities, and the hazmat fees will be less proportionally.

 

[myfalconry76]

To answer your earlier question, yes, 67% is what you want. Also, "technical grade"--you don't need analytic grade or anything super-pure for most work. 42° Baume is equivalent to 67% (roughly azeotropic) nitric acid.

Edit to add: Obviously, most of that shipping charge is the hazmat fee. Once (if) you get rolling, you can buy in larger quantities, and the hazmat fees will be less proportionally.

This bottle should last a while I've decided against trying to process connector pins. And just focus on finger and processors. I'm just going to find someone who will buy my motherboards. Wich I've found to be a pain in the alphabet! Most so far only buy if you have a ton of them. Right now I only have about 200lb of assorted boards mostly mother boards hard drive boards and disk drive boards. And what to do with the power supplies other than part them out for thin electric motors. The tin and heat sinks I haul off for scrap tin, aluminum and copper. And there's the plastic, plastic, plastic!
I am thinking about sending it all to boardsort, if I ever get the drive to do weight and inventory on it all.

 

[myfalconry76]

So for the beginner, on the point of highest yeild with the least complications. Wich would be better, the poor man's AR or the real AR? I'm not concerned with what will be safer. As I will do everything in my power to be safe. I enjoy my life! Most of the time. I would think the original would be the easiest to get right and I do feel more trusting with it. But wanted to get some advice.

 

[nickvc]

As GSP has said either will work but poormans has its limitations, it all depends on what you can get, the ease of getting it and the cost.
One point to stress is to know what to expect with either mix or any process, it's very easy to jump in too soon and create one big mess, your gold is going nowhere unless you throw it out, so read up on the forum about the ways other members process similar materials, there are more than one way with certain items.

 

[myfalconry76]

As GSP has said either will work but poormans has its limitations, it all depends on what you can get, the ease of getting it and the cost.
One point to stress is to know what to expect with either mix or any process, it's very easy to jump in too soon and create one big mess, your gold is going nowhere unless you throw it out, so read up on the forum about the ways other members process similar materials, there are more than one way with certain items.

So basically what your saying is there is more than one way to skin a cat. Wich I know from reading the forum and seeing how many different ways there are to skin a cat.
(To anyone new who may read this skinning cats is not a step in the process) I guess I'll stick to the classics 100.00 bottle of nitric it is.
Could someone be so kind as to explain those limitations. It seems the mistakes that are made in the process can be avoided by knowing your material you plan to refine. And there seems to be a bit of variation in what the limitations are clearaty would be nice.
Ps I'm dyslexic, but I do read the forum. Actually need to probably need to take a break for a day or two. W's are starting to look like Z's and my R's have become H's. This is how I know when it's time to take a break. Other than that I'm brilliant.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

As GSP has said either will work but poormans has its limitations, it all depends on what you can get, the ease of getting it and the cost.
One point to stress is to know what to expect with either mix or any process, it's very easy to jump in too soon and create one big mess, your gold is going nowhere unless you throw it out, so read up on the forum about the ways other members process similar materials, there are more than one way with certain items.

So basically what your saying is there is more than one way to skin a cat. Wich I know from reading the forum and seeing how many different ways there are to skin a cat.
(To anyone new who may read this skinning cats is not a step in the process) I guess I'll stick to the classics 100.00 bottle of nitric it is.
Could someone be so kind as to explain those limitations. It seems the mistakes that are made in the process can be avoided by knowing your material you plan to refine. And there seems to be a bit of variation in what the limitations are clearaty would be nice.
Ps I'm dyslexic, but I do read the forum. Actually need to probably need to take a break for a day or two. W's are starting to look like Z's and my R's have become H's. This is how I know when it's time to take a break. Other than that I'm brilliant.

The limitations are that you have to learn to work with it and know how much to use for your process just as you do regular nitric.

 

[myfalconry76]

As GSP has said either will work but poormans has its limitations, it all depends on what you can get, the ease of getting it and the cost.
One point to stress is to know what to expect with either mix or any process, it's very easy to jump in too soon and create one big mess, your gold is going nowhere unless you throw it out, so read up on the forum about the ways other members process similar materials, there are more than one way with certain items.

So basically what your saying is there is more than one way to skin a cat. Wich I know from reading the forum and seeing how many different ways there are to skin a cat.
(To anyone new who may read this skinning cats is not a step in the process) I guess I'll stick to the classics 100.00 bottle of nitric it is.
Could someone be so kind as to explain those limitations. It seems the mistakes that are made in the process can be avoided by knowing your material you plan to refine. And there seems to be a bit of variation in what the limitations are clearaty would be nice.
Ps I'm dyslexic, but I do read the forum. Actually need to probably need to take a break for a day or two. W's are starting to look like Z's and my R's have become H's. This is how I know when it's time to take a break. Other than that I'm brilliant.

The limitations are that you have to learn to work with it and know how much to use for your process just as you do regular nitric.

Yes but that is only part of the answer. Learning how much to use is not a limitation. The math solves that problem. If you know your material! Wich when it comes to actual math I've only seen a couple here use it in their threads.

 

[Refining Rick]

Just a post to show poor mans A/R results. A fairly large batch of ceramic CPUs (approx. 24 various kinds, large and small, including one newer PRO) and some fingers. I did this this weekend with sodium nitrate, HCl, sulmafic, and SMB. I am pretty happy with the results. 2.8 G

After learning and following Geo's sulmafic example, I no longer use urea. I only use a prill to check for reaction to make sure my nitric is dead.
As far as when to add more sodium nitrate, I just watch. When the reaction starts to slow and I can clearly tell there is still metals left, I add a spoon more. Continue until digestion is complete. Use a large vessel to de-nox in and there seems to be little to no problem.

 

[nickvc]

The one trick when using either process is to start with the material in more HCl than you need, this causes no problems in precipitation, then add in increments your nitric or substitute reagent, this is best done with hot solutions, when all reaction has ceased after the last addition of nitric or substitute add a little more HCl to make sure that's not why the reaction has ceased if you get no further reaction you should be done.

 

[myfalconry76]

The one trick when using either process is to start with the material in more HCl than you need, this causes no problems in precipitation, then add in increments your nitric or substitute reagent, this is best done with hot solutions, when all reaction has ceased after the last addition of nitric or substitute add a little more HCl to make sure that's not why the reaction has ceased if you get no further reaction you should be done.

This is what I had planned to do, thank you for confirming it for me much appreciated!

 

[myfalconry76]

Even the gold cap Pentium processors and the and gold caps seem to be magnetic. How much of a difference will in make in AR? I am reading hoke, but like I said befor I struggle with dislexia! I don't mind sharing that. But it really dose hinder my learning. If it was a audio book I would have had it memorized the first day as I am audiographic.
I have to read things several times to get half of it.
I've seen videos, of folk just smashing the processors and processing them as stated above. Without separating any magnetic properties out. At least that's what I gathered from the video. With the SMB what will it drop out the iron or kovar htiw the gold? I know Hoke said iron and fine strands of copper could be used to drop out Gold or cement it back I think. But will SMB drop other metals? I haven't came across anything about Kovar in her book. I'm guessing that may be because it wasn't invented when the book was wrote? I also haven't read anything about precipitation of gold with sodium metabisulfite yet either, unless I missed it.
I don't wonk, winking any of you deal with dyslexia. But it can be a real challenge to read. Your reading and all the sudden your a paragraph down farther than where you started! And if you don't catch it you miss a lot. Floating letters and lines make it real difficult. Not to mention letters turn or even sometimes change shapes. But I really am far from stupid.