GC cell (CoorsTek ceramic cup) evaporation damage

[gr8fulamerican]

I bought a Simplicity system about 20 years ago. Used it for several years then moved out of state. The unit was packaged up full of liquids and chemicals and placed in a plastic tub and moved with us. It was placed in storage and forgotten for 15 years. I decided to start refining again and opened it to find it completely dried out. My question is would the chemicals in the GC cell have crystalized in the ceramic and rendered it useless. It appears to be solid and in good shape visually. 1. Does anyone know if it is likely damaged? 2. Would I test this by running a batch and if the gold goes into solution is this proof it is operating correctly? Any help would be appreciated.
verymuchappreciate

 

[Yggdrasil]

I bought a Simplicity system about 20 years ago. Used it for several years then moved out of state. The unit was packaged up full of liquids and chemicals and placed in a plastic tub and moved with us. It was placed in storage and forgotten for 15 years. I decided to start refining again and opened it to find it completely dried out. My question is would the chemicals in the GC cell have crystalized in the ceramic and rendered it useless. It appears to be solid and in good shape visually. 1. Does anyone know if it is likely damaged? 2. Would I test this by running a batch and if the gold goes into solution is this proof it is operating correctly? Any help would be appreciated.
verymuchappreciate

Welcome to us.
Well that depends on what kind of chemicals it is.
Some takes this relatively well others decompose relatively quick.

 

[gr8fulamerican]

Thank you for the quick response! Excellent point. To the best of my knowledge the chemicals inside the cup would have been "GC salt", gold and the accompanying metals that make up karat gold such as silver, copper, nickel, etc.. Outside the cup it would have been sitting in GC salt and I believe the metals that pass through the .5 micron pores in solution?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thank you for the quick response! Excellent point. To the best of my knowledge the chemicals inside the cup would have been "GC salt", gold and the accompanying metals that make up karat gold such as silver, copper, nickel, etc.. Outside the cup it would have been sitting in GC salt and I believe the metals that pass through the .5 micron pores in solution?

The question is, what is GC salt?
There are no chemical with the name GC as far as I know.

 

[4metals]

The one thing everyone complains about with Shor products is they take common inexpensive chemicals and give them their own brand name and mark them up exponentially. The fact that it is called simplicity is humorous because their business model is simply don't tell anyone what they are really using!

This old thread may help, it discusses the system.

 

[gr8fulamerican]

Thank you, I've read the forum discussions on Shor and their markups. From reading the replies, and being referred to the patent, I believe the "GC salt" is probably comprised mostly of NaCl. My question pertains to any possible damage done to the .5 micron ceramic cell as the electrolyte completely evaporated over 15 years in storage. I guess the damage I am imagining would be in the form of the pores of the ceramic cup which separate the anode from the cathode being plugged up. If this were the case should I attempt to run a batch and if it is "plugged up" would I simply get no current flow between the anode and cathode? Is there some method of cleaning a .5 micron ceramic filter cup that I should try first?

 

[4metals]

If the filter cup has a sintered glass plate that has clogged they are difficult to clean. Especially when the identity of what has crystallized there is unknown. I would start by filling it with hot distilled water and sucking that through as water is the universal solvent. Even large sintered glass filter discs are tough to clean once they clog.

You could also inquire at Shor, they likely will sell you a product (this is sarcasm!) called HD24 Super Solvent to clean it up. But it's probably water anyway!

 

[Yggdrasil]

If the filter cup has a sintered glass plate that has clogged they are difficult to clean. Especially when the identity of what has crystallized there is unknown. I would start by filling it with hot distilled water and sucking that through as water is the universal solvent. Even large sintered glass filter discs are tough to clean once they clog.

You could also inquire at Shor, they likely will sell you a product (this is sarcasm!) called HD24 Super Solvent to clean it up. But it's probably water anyway!

I went into Shore's site and they claim a lifetime guaranteed replacement of broken parts as long as they are not abused.
In this case it will be claimed as abuse but they will probably sell the part.
So who knows....