CPU pins & DDR foils

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worker0

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 25, 2019
Messages
82
Heloo firends, I get lot of CPUs for allmost no cost.
Problem is that I dont have enough space to store them. Then I decided to try with minor sample of 6 pcs to remove just "fingers" from them. I try with blow torch because I dont have heatgun. They only got burned.
Then I decided to put them in HCL. I put 5-6 pcs in glass jar, and cover them with HCL. Absolutly nothing happening, for allmost 12 hours. Do I need to add peroxide. I just need pins to fall of CPU, without gold dissolving. Same is with DDR dimms. Can I use HCL+ small amount of H2O2 to "strip" connector foils WITHOUT dissolving them?

If not, what can I use to just separate pins and DDR foils, but without dissolving?

Long tie ago I put 1 CPU in concentrated citric acid, and after LONG time pins fall of CPU.

Thanx in advande
 
HCl alone will not attack copper or gold.

HCl will attack copper oxides (the rusts of copper).

HCl acid with air will oxidize and dissolve some copper, making a copper (II) chloride bright green salt solution.
It is this Copper (II) Chloride that will dissolve the copper, and when it gets used up it will turn to a brown solution of copper (I) Chloride.

Adding air and just a tiny amount of HCl acid will renew the power of the solution to dissolve more copper, as it converts the copper (I) Chloride (brown) back into Copper (II) Chloride (green).

3% hydrogen peroxide is used to give the solution a jump start, in the beginning, to get some air or oxygen into the solution to get some copper (II) chloride started.

If you bubble air into the solution it will work the same as adding the 3% hydrogen peroxide.
H2O2 even at 3% is strong enough of an oxidizer with HCl acid to dissolve gold.
 
butcher said:
HCl alone will not attack copper or gold.

HCl will attack copper oxides (the rusts of copper).

HCl acid with air will oxidize and dissolve some copper, making a copper (II) chloride bright green salt solution.
It is this Copper (II) Chloride that will dissolve the copper, and when it gets used up it will turn to a brown solution of copper (I) Chloride.

Adding air and just a tiny amount of HCl acid will renew the power of the solution to dissolve more copper, as it converts the copper (I) Chloride (brown) back into Copper (II) Chloride (green).

3% hydrogen peroxide is used to give the solution a jump start, in the beginning, to get some air or oxygen into the solution to get some copper (II) chloride started.

If you bubble air into the solution it will work the same as adding the 3% hydrogen peroxide.
H2O2 even at 3% is strong enough of an oxidizer with HCl acid to dissolve gold.
Click to expand...

To dissolve copper or to make pins fall of CPU? I can see for now that RAM stick is gold free, so there is no gold on pins and copper under gold foils changed color. If gold is dissolved, how to recover it? I was thinking that gold foils on RAM module will just fall from RAM stick, and also pins, because i read that only AR can disolve gold. I dont want to dissolve gold, I just need pins to fall off. Also with RAM sticks and SIM cards, then I will collect until final purification. After removing materials ( ram sticks and plastic & ceramic ) from HCL and H2O2 I need to filter solution and thats it?
 
What you are likely to be seeing is a small amount of Tin having dissolved and plated back onto the gold foils. The gold is still under that although it looks like it has dissolved.
 
How to recover it if it is dissolved? Watched on youtube and read about it and every one says that HCL and H2O2 will not dissolve gold... just to " strip" foils off.

Is it possible to strip foils and pins with HCL and fishtank bubbler if H2O2 disolve gold???
 
If the gold was dissolved into solution, using the solution to dissolve more copper will make the gold come back out of solution as a brown powder.

The copper will displace (or trade places with) the gold.
 
Brown powder without copper? I noticed as I put DDR stick gold disapeared and copper under changed color. How to use copper to recover gold? Put piece of copper wire until coper wire get dissolved, remove huge pieces and then filter it? Thanx in advance

Solution have black-ish color for now. Maybe I used too much H2O2. I was in hurry and in glass jar put about 5dL of HCL and about 1,5dL 12% hydrogen which is jelly like with cream, for hair coloring. Now Im found 3% H2O2. In glass jar is about 5 CPUS and 2 stick of DDR for test. So I destroyd gold or to put class 1 copper to recover brown gold powder? It confused me because I watched videos of process and read about it, and nobody say that gold can be dissolved in this solution, just make " gold sludge" on bottom.

PS I know I used too much H202 but it is for hair and there is lot of creme in it and it is not lab grade.

Which process can be used just to peal of fingers from cpu and foils from ddr sticks?
 
worker0,
You are making things harder on yourself.
You are doing before understanding.

You need to understand before doing it.

Yes, you dissolved gold, and the hair bleach may give you more problems.
Now you just have a mess.

Find a copper pipe, cut a piece and split it open and hammer it flat, torch off any oils or varnish and polish it clean.
Use this copper to cement gold from solution, stirring will help, as well as gentle heat, if the solution is dark brown add some air and a few drops of HCl acid until the solution is green, as the copper dissolves the solution will go brown again...

While you probably will have very little gold in this lot, you should spend a little more time studying the process to gain a better understanding of how it works and why that way you know how to fix problems.

Use the forum search with Words like:

CuCl, CuCl2, cupric chloride, acid peroxide leach, AP, as you learn more you will have more words to use in your search.
In the advanced search, you can use authors, like Laser Steve who saw the potential of the etching process used to make circuit boards, to recover gold foils from circuit boards, and introduced it to the forum.

View attachment Cupric Chloride Etch.docx
 
Thank you my friend. I did this just for test. On youtube people get piled gold foils and I was trying to do that... Is it possible to achieve this by using 3% h2o2 and HCL in way less ratio? PS and dissolved gold wil stick to copper?

What is the easyest way to remove gold pins and foils from sticks or sim cards? I must reduce my inventory very very urgently.

EDIT: Just came from my first job. Checked solution: It is transparent light green color. Some RAM foils is pealed off like on youtube video, and CPU pins seems like they swinging in solution but not fall off CPU.

It seems that I did not dissolve gold since pins is still shiny :)
Reaction dont boil. They sit in solution for only 6 hours. Now I will add another smaller shot of HCL and H2O2 3%
 
butcher said:
You just need to bubble air into the solution, the H2O2 is not needed any longer, it is normally used just to get the process started.
Click to expand...

I did it like you said.
Next batch: 10-15 CPUs few DDR sticks. First I remove back cover of CPU ( Aluminum ) on which you usualy put thermal paste...

I Take 750 ml Nutella glass jar, put materials in, and put about 550-600 ml of 10-13% HCL and 100 ml of H2O2, and heated by double dish method. After half hour solution is light greenish but there is no bubbles like with 12% H2O2. So I put fish tank bubbler inside. Bubbles is midsize but enough to make litle "shaking" of parts in jar. For now some pins and some foils felt to bottom of the glass jar. Interesting is fact that some gold foils float on top. Is 3% H2O2 and 10-13 % ( written on the bottle ) weak?
THANK YOU ON ALL USEFUL TIPS AND RECOMENDATIONS @Butcher
 
Why does you mix cpu and gold fingers? Where do you have your AP solution? Dont you have any Pyrex glass?
Is i wice to fill your Nutella glass? Where are your waist chemicals going?
 
worker0 said:
Next batch: 10-15 CPUs few DDR sticks. First I remove back cover of CPU ( Aluminum ) on which you usualy put thermal paste...
Click to expand...
I would process CPUs and RAM fingers in separate batches. Did you throw whole "DDR sticks" in, or did you remove the components first or process just the fingers from the RAM?

I Take 750 ml Nutella glass jar, put materials in, and put about 550-600 ml of 10-13% HCL and 100 ml of H2O2, and heated by double dish method. After half hour solution is light greenish but there is no bubbles like with 12% H2O2.
Click to expand...
Too much H2O2. The HCl is also pretty weak, but if that's all you have, that's all you have.

So I put fish tank bubbler inside. Bubbles is midsize but enough to make litle "shaking" of parts in jar. For now some pins and some foils felt to bottom of the glass jar.
Click to expand...
The size of the bubbles isn't very important. The bubbles create circulation in the solution. Most of the oxygen exchange happens at the surface of the solution.

Interesting is fact that some gold foils float on top.
Click to expand...
That usually happens if there was any oil/grease on your feed material. Even finger prints on the fingers are enough to make foils float.

Is 3% H2O2 and 10-13 % ( written on the bottle ) weak?
Click to expand...
3% is what is typically sold in grocery stores and drug stores here, and it works fine. 10-13% is getting strong. Be careful with it. Wear gloves and eye protection. It can burn you.

Dave
 
10-13 % was for HCL. but forgot to write "HCL". Something is wrong. I put 150 about 150 mL of H2O2 3% and 600mL HCL 10-13%. Acid worked for 10 minutes and stoped. Afted that 15 mins I put SIM card and after 6-7 hours it looks the same. bubbler was also inside. H2O2 stronger than 3% is not allowed to sell in my country. I think that amount off added H2O2 to compensate weaknes , make HCL more dilueted, and this acid cant work anymore. I will try with puttting about 75-100 mL H2O2 and same ammount of acid. Also heated with double dish and nothing...

I break stick in half and put in without removing anything. I will also put bubbler to see results.
 
It sounds like you are using too much H2O2.

The cupric etch is a slow process, you may not see much happening, but that does not mean it is not dissolving metals into solution.

With adding excess H2O2 you may see a more vigorous reaction, but that higher level of oxidation in solution will also begin to attack your gold and then cement it back out onto the remaining copper...
 
butcher said:
It sounds like you are using too much H2O2.

The cupric etch is a slow process, you may not see much happening, but that does not mean it is not dissolving metals into solution.

With adding excess H2O2 you may see a more vigorous reaction, but that higher level of oxidation in solution will also begin to attack your gold and then cement it back out onto the remaining copper...
Click to expand...

Maybe. Acid is weak and when I added h2o2 it dulute more.

Friend told me to mix 10-13% HCL with 3%h2o2 with ratio 3:1. Again get my test samples and hit the bucket. Stick is clean but on sme stick there is remaining pins.

Is there any ratio which I can use to be on "right road" for 3% h2o2 nad 10-13%?

Today is day for processing nano sim cards. In every batch I put few sim cards to see what is going on. Sometimes gold dissapear completely from cards but still remain on DDR pins. I was considerin 1 by 1 pealing. It will be slow. AP process will destroy foils like they did with 20-30 sim cards. What do you think about burning them and harvesting leftover and do gravity separation of gold and burned plastic?

I ignited reaction with h2o2 3% and hcl 10-13% put bubbler in. What timeis usualy requierd to finish? I did not hol any sample longer than 12 hours. Do I need to hold them more than 12 - 16 hours?In last test batch some pins fall of CPU instantly and other did not at all. but I know why, CPU is cerramic and gold cover tin/copper and gold on pins spread all way from top of the pin to cpu and tin/copper is also covered with gold. On this cpu ceramic around pin is also covered with gold and obviously AP cant aproact to copper/tin.

Today I wait for delivery of 12% h202. Can you tell me ratio for 12% h2o2 and 10% hcl?
 
worker0,
Have you studied how this leach works?
Forget using H2O2 you do not need it.
The very little bit of the dilute 3% H2O2 that would be used to get a tiny amount of copper in solution at the beginning can be replaced by just bubbling air, the real purpose for the H2O2 only purpose is to get the leach started, once the solution turns a bit green with copper(II) chloride, all that is needed is air.

The dilute HCl acid will work just fine, it will just take longer, a low gentle heat ( warm sunshine) would concentrate solution through evaporation and make it dissolve the copper faster...

Spend some time studying, at this point you are wasting your time because you do not understand how the leach works.
 
because of that im trying. To learn. I get some nice samples :) what time is usualy requierd to finish? Im also noticed when I bubble solution goes to darker color. What do you think about sim cards, and what do you think why some foils from DDR fall down and 20 out of whole ddr stay on stick?
 
The oxygen in the acidic HCl solution oxidizes the copper. this rust of copper is dissolved into the solution as a green salt of copper, or cupric chloride CuCl2, it is this green solution of copper salt that is used to dissolve copper, iron, or many of these base metals into solution.

The leach will become contaminated when other base metals besides copper are dissolved into solution, this can change the properties of the leach, for example with Iron we can change the solution from being a cupric chloride leach into a ferric chloride...


Several reasons why the solution goes darker.
The green Cupric chloride CuCl2 as it dissolves copper changes to the brown cuprous chloride CuCl, this copper (I) chloride consumes some of the free HCl acid in solution to convert back it back into cupric when the oxygen and the free HCl is consumed the solution will need more air and free HCl to convert the cuprous back into the green cupric.

Iron in solution will be either yellow, green, or brown, to an insoluble rust rouge red, so iron or other base metals in the solution can also give the solution a brown or darker or another color...
 
I filtered sloution. Im happy it will be probably 18k gold.CPU pins dissapeared but my logic says to mi that material under gold on pins oxidised and/or get dissolved and then gold on pin turn to "foil". I have few condensators in my filter and few pieces of plastic. Filter is cotton peace of cloth, I will put everything in furnance and see. Plastic will evaporate probabbly. since boiling point depends of plastic type but boiling point is about 350 - 450 degrees C.

How much time is needed for this method? Is 12 hours enough, and what do you think about SIMs?

EDIT: you say that I dont need H2O2 even on beggining. Just put material in jar, cover with HCL and put bubbler?
 

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