Hi, I’m Skeeter8154

[Skeeter8154]

I’m new to this group and I’m a new starter to gold and silver refining. I have been studying about this process for about 3 months. I have made a successful process of .925 sterling into .999 silver already and I’m working on my first gold refine. I’m looking into how to make a fume hood in my unattached garage. Anyone have some ideas?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Welcome to the forum.
There are many threads on this subject.
So search the forum, there is loads of info in here.

 

[4metals]

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/building-a-chemical-fume-hood-with-a-plain-steel-blower.23107/

 

[Skeeter8154]

Can you use a direct flow to outside with filters on a fume hood. The design you showed me did not have filters. At my home I would need to filter the gases.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Can you use a direct flow to outside with filters on a fume hood. The design you showed me did not have filters. At my home I would need to filter the gases.

No filters will take the gases. You need scrubbers to pick them up and sufficient retention time,
usually with fillers/"stuffing"/packers to give the gases time to contact the liquids properly.
If you read the thread properly I think there are scrubbers in there.
Example 1
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...d-with-a-plain-steel-blower.23107/post-242558Example 2
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...d-with-a-plain-steel-blower.23107/post-242563
You need to read things properly, there are more examples too.


Do you plan to do this in your home?
Even with sufficient scrubbing and suction I will not recommend doing in your home.

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

No filters will take the gases. You need scrubbers to pick them up and sufficient retention time,
usually with fillers/"stuffing"/packers to give the gases time to contact the liquids properly.
If you read the thread properly I think there are scrubbers in there.
Example 1
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...d-with-a-plain-steel-blower.23107/post-242558Example 2
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...d-with-a-plain-steel-blower.23107/post-242563
You need to read things properly, there are more examples too.


Do you plan to do this in your home?
Even with sufficient scrubbing and suction I will not recommend doing in your home.

His post says I’m his unattached garage…

You have to read things properly!! I’m only pulling your leg. It was to good to pass up.

 

[Yggdrasil]

His post says I’m his unattached garage…

You have to read things properly!! I’m only pulling your leg. It was to good to pass up.

Sometimes I forget to start at the top again.
I stand corrected, but that still opens another can of worms.

If there are metallic parts in there they will likely be damaged if the hood is forgotten or turned off to early.

So make sure there are no tools or cars in that garage.

 

[nickvc]

In my experience even with venting anything that can corrode will corrode in time and in some cases very little time .

 

[4metals]

So make sure there are no tools or cars in that garage.

This cannot be overstressed. Most refiners have a good hood and scrubber and overlook their waste buckets. If you have open waste containers where spent acids sit, you need to keep the hood on or store them in closed containers.

As far as scrubbing is concerned it depends on what you are refining. If you are collecting foils from circuits using AP, the hood is just to clear the work space and the fumes are not so bad. Unless your garage is close to someones house or their garage. But usually 10-20’ and an upward exhaust will suffice with AP.

But when you collect enough foils, that reaction needs a scrubber to eliminate the NOx if working with volume.

And all spent chemicals need to be covered sufficiently.

So I guess the next question is what are you planning to refine and how?

 

[jphayesjr]

Can you use a direct flow to outside with filters on a fume hood. The design you showed me did not have filters. At my home I would need to filter the gases.

The hoods in University and corporate labs where I used to work always had enameled steel walls and ceilings, and a slate floor. YouTube has dozens of build it yourself videos that show how to build your own hood using laminated plywood or strandboard. Some even show recommended blowers and how to build a fume scrubber. Just search for chemical fume hood.

 

[Skeeter8154]

His post says I’m his unattached garage…

You have to read things properly!! I’m only pulling your leg. It was to good to pass up.

Yes I have a unattached garage next to my home with Nieghbors all around me

 

[4metals]

The hoods in University and corporate labs where I used to work always had enameled steel walls and ceilings, and a slate floor.

There is a difference between commercial labs and refineries. I have seen many times how poorly those enameled steel hood interiors degrade with time. I would stick with either fiberglassed plywood (if you are good enough with fiberglass to seal it completely) or PVC.

Another novel application is a drum hood. Inexpensive, won't corrode, built in spill containment. Small floor footprint so you may need a few.

 

[Skeeter8154]

This cannot be overstressed. Most refiners have a good hood and scrubber and overlook their waste buckets. If you have open waste containers where spent acids sit, you need to keep the hood on or store them in closed containers.

As far as scrubbing is concerned it depends on what you are refining. If you are collecting foils from circuits using AP, the hood is just to clear the work space and the fumes are not so bad. Unless your garage is close to someones house or their garage. But usually 10-20’ and an upward exhaust will suffice with AP.

But when you collect enough foils, that reaction needs a scrubber to eliminate the NOx if working with volume.

And all spent chemicals need to be covered sufficiently.

So I guess the next question is what are you planning to refine and how?

I’m only working with scrap gold and silver jewelry and flatware

 

[Shark]

OK, nobody laugh at mine....This was my first fume hood in the building stage, and I used it for several years.

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

OK, nobody laugh at mine....This was my first fume hood in the building stage, and I used it for several years.

I think it’s a good use of a plastic closed container. If it works it’s rarely stupid. Though this is the internet, some people will argue stupid just for the sake of it.

 

[Ohiogoldfever]

What do you guys use for a fan? What’s worked best for you without frequent replacements?

 

[Yggdrasil]

What do you guys use for a fan? What’s worked best for you without frequent replacements?

There are two ways to do it.
On can make the container air tight and have a controlled inlet and outlet.
Then you can force air in and it will flow out to where ever you need it.
This is not a good way for many applications since there are multiple points that can leak.
The other way is to suck the air/gases out of the container. This will pose no risk upstream since there will be a vacuum condition, down stream(scrubber/outlet) is much more controllable. The suction may be created by a fan sucking directly or a venturi system.
Direct is easy but needs good protected fans (or regular replacement) the venturi system has no such issues, but need more powerful fans and better streamlining to work.

I think most of this is in the thread 4metals posted a link to. There are other threads too.

Edit corrected error.

 

[Shark]

On that I used a small round fan pulling out the fumes to an 8 inch pvc pipe. Back then I had access to all kinds of scrap from abandoned and foreclosed homes. So I wasn’t worried about killing the fans. I just scrapped the motors and installed another one.

 

[Yggdrasil]

On that I used a small round fan pulling out the fumes to an 8 inch pvc pipe. Back then I had access to all kinds of scrap from abandoned and foreclosed homes. So I wasn’t worried about killing the fans. I just scrapped the motors and installed another one.

Same here, 6 inch home wet room ventilator fans. But I bought them new. 15 ish dollars and they lasted a couple of years each. The downside was that when they failed they sometimes shorted and blew the fuses.
So I went to a Venturi system with a fan from these inflatable castles, reasonable cheap and silent.

 

[Shark]

I pluged them into one of those surge protectors. It usually tripped it and saved breakers from tripping. I wish I had kept it, but I scrapped it when we got the new place. I didn’t even get a picture of it after it was finished.