Electrolytic copper refining cell

[Shark]

If you go back to the very first post you will see the amps should be 25 to 28 amp per square foot. A square foot is 144 square inches. 144 divided by 25 equals 0.1736. 144 divided by 28 equals 0.1944. Your max amp should be between 0.1736 and 0.1944 per square inch. If you raise it higher it can/will start to bubble and off gas which is wasting energy as well as filling your work area with hazardous gasses. You can get copper sulfate at most home improvement/hardware stores in the plumbing section and a little goes a long way. Also when you run a high amperage your cathode will be a soft, flaky deposit that falls away very easily and causes problems. Keep it with a steady amp in the correct range and it will plate out hard and solid and much easier to reuse than the flaky stuff.

This now brings me to another idea I have been curious about and want to try. If the loose deposits can be washed enough to make it a form of copper powder clean enough to be used to cement solutions of PM's such as the stock pot? I might need to revisit a small copper cell this spring.

 

[Kaiser613]

Shark, I haven't measured the surface area of my cathode, but it's about 4 inch long approx 1 inch diameter tubing ( it's been mentioned only to count the side toward the anode but the whole surface collects deposits so?) With a deeply currogated surface, a rough estimate , if the currogated doubles the surface area, is 25.2 square inch on the outside only, inside surface collects too so... Well below suggested amp density, esp since yesterday I switched out the 3a Max psu with an 18v/1a DC adapter, so as to save running hours on the switching supply

My to do list today is to see if I can restore the black solution from my first cell by processing through the anode half cell and try to get a ride to the big orange homeless despot for some root killer,

What %by weight is copper sulfate copper?

 

[Shark]

I always measured my cathode by the side facing the anode as a general guideline. Once running I would drop back the amperage based on the amount of bubbling I noticed. Keeping that under control you will see the deposit become very solid. So solid that cutting it in half will show a crystalline structure inside. Running it to high it becomes very soft and "mushy" for lack of a better description on my part. This can easily be scraped off even with a limber piece of wood or plastic spoon. It also helps if the anode and cathode can be close to the same sizes. Both being a piece of 4 inch by 4 inch for example. It can vary some, but seemed to work better if they stay close to the same dimensions. Split your pipe open and flatten it out, I think you will find it works better that way. Keeping things simple in the beginning is very much easier than trying to figure out all the oddities when you keep changing things around.

If I was starting out now, I would use a lab bench type power supply. Mine will do 30 volts at 10 amps. More than enough for a decent sized, basic cell. I also would use pipe split open and of equal sizes to get the feel for how these cells work, then move on as I learned more and actually seen how they work. I learned a lot doing these cells, and it certainly helped me to get started with silver cells more easily.

One other thing that can make a huge difference is distance. You can change the amount of volts and amps by changing the distance between the anode and cathode. If your power supply is small, you can aid it by varying the distance. It takes some experimenting but it can play a major role in how your deposition occurs.

I have always used Zep brand Root Kill. It comes in at 99% by weight Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate, with 1% other ingredients. I use it because it is what is easiest for me to get, I am sure other brands will work as long as the concentrations are high.

 

[Thipdar]

...and try to get a ride to the big orange homeless despot for some root killer...

I used Amazon to get my Copper Sulfate, US$30 for 10 pounds and free delivery if I exercised my patience.
I've since obtained a new 2-gallon bucket with sealing lid for storing it.
Wrote the contents and the date on the bucket & the lid.
Bucket & lid were found in the HD paint department.

-- Thipdar

 

[Kaiser613]

I didn't double post

 

[Kaiser613]

Bought some zep and put together larger cell, finally got hard pink metallic deposit, also got a peace of silver plated(I think) so that might to in the cell

 

[Rahul]

Hi sir,

I get impure anode mud how can i refine it ?
Please help me out on this .

 

[Martijn]

I would like to get pure anode slimes too
But seriously, what did you expect, and what did you get?
Are you used to getting 'pure slimes' or is this your first attempt and did not expect this result?
How far are you in recovering and refining experience?
Tell us a little more about your process, source materials and background.

Martijn.