Hey guys I have just a broad stroke kinda question. Do you guys think they put tungsten as a base playing metal in the bgas of the green fiber processors? I’ve got a metal I’m trying to melt that I thought was platinum but even with a oxy/propane torch I am having one heck of a time getting it to melt it bead. It’s a silvery/whiting color.
Green fiber processors
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I have never heard of tungsten in a bga. Are you sure you're getting far enough past the melting point of platinum for long enough to melt it?
Pt MELTS at 1768 C (3215 F), and so if you're only just reaching that temp, it will take a LONG time to melt. In a melt dish, you're losing heat RAPIDLY, so it may be impossible to do it without oxy-acetylene. I've seen how long even gold takes to melt in a melt dish, and gold melts at only 1064 C (1948 F).
Pt MELTS at 1768 C (3215 F), and so if you're only just reaching that temp, it will take a LONG time to melt. In a melt dish, you're losing heat RAPIDLY, so it may be impossible to do it without oxy-acetylene. I've seen how long even gold takes to melt in a melt dish, and gold melts at only 1064 C (1948 F).
There are no Pt in western electronics, at least not besides a thin plating on minute parts.
You are looking at Iron or Kovar I think.
Well it’s not iron I used aqua regia and this was the metal that would only dissolve slowly when heated to 300C. I turn most of it into a yellow salt with ammonium chloride. It’s doing some really funny things. It’s silvery/white when I start melting it but when I get everything melted and try to heat it hot enough to bead up it just pools and turns a glassy black when cooled. I have found I am melting the crucible some so I know I’m getting it to at least 2500C. I’m not sure why it won’t bead up. I can’t keep the entire mass heated high enough that it will melt all at the same time. I bought some heat fiberglass and kinda built a little box around it which helped a lot but the metal will still not bead up. It has to be something with a higher melting point then 2500C.
I just read about kovar and it seems to be what it is but the material is not magnetic. And wouldn’t it dissolve in aqua regia? Cobolt and nickel both dissolve in aqua regia.
It looks like what you have there is a mix of molten salts and oxides. It's just junk.
stella polaris
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Could it be some type of ceramic? How do you know its a metal?
When I start to melt it it turns a silver/ white metal.
This is when Wikipedia says about kovar and it looks that way if you look at the picture. A grey, grey-blue or grey-brown color indicates a good seal. A metallic color indicates lack of oxide, while black color indicates overly oxidized metal, in both cases leading to a weak joint.[2]
I’ll give this a try just for confirmation. Is it dilute HCL?
No precious metal will be used where there are good cheaper alternatives.
And modern electronics has no PGMs in them besides some relatively rare MLCCs containing Pd and Ag.
Full strength, and low boil seems to work fastest for me. HCl doesn’t hold up well to boiling so it may be used up early if to much kovar is used. It it stops, decant and add fresh HCl and heat again.
I assume your crucible is a ceramic melting dish that is usually glazed with borax before use.
The color change you are observing is a color phase shift caused by the heating. You aren't getting anywhere near the melting point of a ceramic (see below). What you are "melting" is excess borax used to prep the dish before use. This excess melts and will ooze (run/move) like a blob - the underlining ceramic doesn't melt. During the borax melt, it picks up most contamination already in the dish such as the molten salts and oxides that @Alondro mentioned above. That is why your "metal" looks black. Hit it with a hammer and it will probably shatter like a glass.
BTW, using a borax melt/ooze is a way you can clean your crucibles. But, it probably is cheaper to buy a new "pre-glazed" one.
Oxy/fuel Temps -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxy-f...text=A common propane/air flame,C; 6,332 °F).
Peace and health,
James
The color change you are observing is a color phase shift caused by the heating. You aren't getting anywhere near the melting point of a ceramic (see below). What you are "melting" is excess borax used to prep the dish before use. This excess melts and will ooze (run/move) like a blob - the underlining ceramic doesn't melt. During the borax melt, it picks up most contamination already in the dish such as the molten salts and oxides that @Alondro mentioned above. That is why your "metal" looks black. Hit it with a hammer and it will probably shatter like a glass.
BTW, using a borax melt/ooze is a way you can clean your crucibles. But, it probably is cheaper to buy a new "pre-glazed" one.
Oxy/fuel Temps -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxy-f...text=A common propane/air flame,C; 6,332 °F).
Peace and health,
James
