Hi all from OC, CA

[scottocbased]

Hi all,

This is a great forum that I have been studying for the past 5 months. Thought I should introduce myself and show off the results from the education you have given me. I do this as a hobby so the .51612 OZ I have refined is a real pleasure for me. Love to look at them and try to add to them slowly. I do make mistakes but try to read and learn from your posts. I don't think whining on posts will do anything for me other than annoy you guys.

Thanks for the knowledge!

Scott

 

[Harold_V]

Well done, Scott.

Don't be afraid to lend a few comments. They're always welcome from folks with manners.

Harold

 

[scottocbased]

Thanks for the kind words Harold!
The best thing I learned here was not to add too much SMB. Learned that the hard way though. I also liked it when I learned how to reverse the process with tin foil once I did make a mistake. I'm looking forward to my next session. I have some RAM and flat packs to do.

Again, thanks for the welcome Harold!

Scott

 

[Harold_V]

You're certainly welcome, Scott.

A comment on tin (aluminum) foil.

Using aluminum in any of these processes tends to create about as many problems as it fixes. Once in solution, it's very difficult to filter. It also cements copper, which would be nice to leave behind. I'd suggest that if you must cement, use copper for the process. It doesn't create any problems.

Harold

 

[jack_burton]

Welcome Scott, nice shineys you have there. 8)

 

[Smack]

Hey Scott, did you test them or have a jeweler test them yet? If you did or do let us know what Karat they ended up being. Well done 8)

 

[scottocbased]

Great tip Harold! I did try Copper but it was slow. I'll try it again if I create a monster again...

Jack, yes they are very shiny. Love the feel of 1/2 OZ in my hand. The other is still too small to enjoy but its there and I'm happy my buttons are growing.

Smack, no I haven't had then tested yet. I'm waiting till I get 1 OZ before I do that. Might take me a bit to do that but I will let you know what the purity is once I get them tested.

You guys are GREAT!

Scott

 

[Harold_V]

Great tip Harold! I did try Copper but it was slow. I'll try it again if I create a monster again...

You can speed up the cementation by adding more copper, although cleanup would likely take longer. You'd have to balance that with the amount of difficulty you'd have with filtering aluminum bearing solution. At any rate, looks like you have a firm grip on the process, so I suspect it's not going to be an issue.

There's nothing quite like the feel of a nice button of gold in your hand. Bettered only by a button of platinum, so far as I'm concerned.

Harold

 

[scottocbased]

Hi Harold,

I went out and got a 3 foot long copper tube yesterday at HD for about $5. I'm thinking of cutting it up to be able to add more than one tube to my messed up solution. I know the monster is coming to a nubbie like me soon. My last drop I let the solution stand for about 24 hours and sure enough I got some white/silver powder settle at the bottom. I'm thinking it's Platinum. I didn't use any other participant other than SMB, just time (24 hours). I don't think it's silver since I didn't use any salt and just used distilled water while processing. Plus it's powder and not crystals like with silver chloride. Well I will keep it since it is very little and add to it when I get more. Hope to have that platinum button in my hand too sometime in the future.
Well I won an auction yesterday on ebay of 100 old Pentium 4 CPU's for about a buck a piece. I will be processing them (getting the pins off) then reading a bunch of posts here. My last attempt at CPU pins created that monster I mentioned. Not a bad one, just went volatile on me since I used too much nitric. I'm using the powder form from nitric di soda and haven't got the mix right yet. I think next time I will wait for a sunny day and get the muriatic acid warmed up before I add the nitric powder. But I plan on only adding the nitric until it starts reacting. Just about a spoon full I'm thinking. I would like to use AC from Lasersteve's video but I'm not sure it will dissolve the pins.
Wow, sorry I got so long winded :mrgreen: .

Thanks for the post Harold!

Scott

 

[jimdoc]

Well I won an auction yesterday on ebay of 100 old Pentium 4 CPU's for about a buck a piece.
Scott

Just to let you know, that is way too much to pay for those.

Jim

 

[scottocbased]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for that. I was cringing when I wrote the price.

Scott

 

[jimdoc]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for that. I was cringing when I wrote the price.

Scott

This site will give you an idea of what different processors are worth;
http://thriftybits.com/
http://boardsort.com/payout.php

Jim

 

[scottocbased]

Awesome Jim! Thanks!!

Scott

 

[Geo]

if you use copper tubing to cement with be sure to flatten the tube very well, especially on the end to keep values from cementing inside. when i use tubing, i use my dremel and split the tube down one side and spread it open and then flatten it out. if you are working with small amount (say a couple of grams) and you use a tube, any values that cement inside the tube could be hard to retieve and may be a large part of what your working with.

 

[scottocbased]

Thanks Geo!
For now I'm just processing some RAM in AP like LaserSteve's video shows. Cementing is something new to me so I need to read up on it. Great tip with flattening the copper tube!

I wonder how long I need to wait to drop the gold from the AP if the foils go into the solution. I'm thinking I need to wait 24 hours like with AC.

Thanks again!

Scott

 

[Geo]

according to the reactivity series of metals, when you dissolve more than one metal in a solution, any solution, the metal that's lower on the reactivity scale will go into solution first. when you first start an AP process, you may have a trace amount of gold that will go into solution but as soon as the solution reaches the copper no more gold will be dissolved. if you look at the contact pad on a finger under magnification you can see the copper edge like the edge of a coin. any gold that goes into solution during the first few seconds of the process will plate back out on these copper edges. its a misconception that AP will contain gold in solution. as copper goes in, gold comes out. plus the amount of gold in the solution will be so miniscule that it can be overlooked completely even if your looking for it.

 

[scottocbased]

any gold that goes into solution during the first few seconds of the process will plate back out on these copper edges. its a misconception that AP will contain gold in solution. as copper goes in, gold comes out. plus the amount of gold in the solution will be so miniscule that it can be overlooked completely even if your looking for it.

Hi Geo,

Great info!
The last time I did these RAM's I had no gold plated foils left at the bottom of my bucket. I thought this strange but I did put too much peroxide in the muriatic acid so I thought the gold went into the solution. I left the RAM as is with the flat packs on. I was trying to make a process to remove the flat packs through the solution. That worked but the foils were nowhere to be found. Could it be that the gold came out of the solution and ended up at the bottom as mud?
Removing the flat packs this way saves a lot of nicks and cuts on my hands by removing them with a chisel or small flat screwdriver. I guess I should remove the fingers, process them in the AP then process the flat packs separate in the AP. Just would have been nice to save some acid by doing both the foils and flat packs in one process.

Scott
p.s. Should I be asking these questions somewhere else in this forum?

 

[Geo]

no problem. yes, if you put an excess amount of peroxide in it could dissolve a fair amount of gold. but first, let me ask you a question. are the pads where the gold plating was still there and if they are still there is there metal still on them? if there is, theres a good chance your gold foils are still on the fingers but have a coating of tin from the solder. if the metal pads are there but looks silver like the gold is gone, take one and make sure its dry. with your bare finger rub the pad for a minute and see if a gold color can be seen. if the pad is still there then your gold foils are still there.

 

[scottocbased]

Thanks for all your help Geo!!
Well all the foil was gone from the batch I did a few weeks ago. Also on some of the fingers on this batch but it's still processing. I looked into the bucket and there is no sign of gold foils just like before This time I measured the AP to the correct amount and didn't add any more peroxide. I used 5 cups of muriatic acid to 2.5 cups of Peroxide. I just looked at the fingers and RAM I processed a few weeks ago and they are clean. No metal at all on them.

I have processed some fingers before and didn't have this problem. The foils came off and were in the bottom of the bucket.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Geo]

well your gold didn't disappear. its in the mud or stuck to the legs on the chips. if you have all the material still, put the sticks in a container with some water and brush the sticks into the water collecting and powder that comes off. after you have done all of them, let this settle and decant down to the powder and add these to the mud from the process. put all this in a beaker and add enough hcl to cover it all and stir for about a minute. let this settle and decant down to the powder. rinse with water a couple of times till the water remains clear.decant the last time and process with hcl/cl. i am sure it will be a dirty solution but it should be workable. after all the powder is dissolved, test with stannous chloride to be sure you have gold in this dirty mess. with a positive drop the gold with SMB and refine again. you should wind up with a nice clean button out of it.