How to suspend a copper bar?

[heliman4141]

Way over thinking this part of the process.

Cut some copper. Drop in the bucket and let sit. You need some sort of opening to allow gas to release so it doesn't pressurize and blow the lid off. Every time you get near the bucket, give it a swirl. When you are ready to add more spent solution, move some of the contents into the next bucket with steel to remove copper.

Points of interest:
You should never have more then half a bucket of waste solution combined. Any more and you are hoarding. STOP IT...

Wash what ever copper you use off first with dish soap to remove oil and dirt.

Any liquids doing something, ie. digesting, needs some sort of vent so it does not pressurize and cause an "accident".

Buckets or anything relating to this field definately needs to be secure enough so there will be no! "accidents" period.

Be safe and remove the possibilities of problems. Like having an elephant in the room.

B.S.

Have no fear I do NOT place the lids on tightly on anything outside only on my acids in their bottles obviously, I just lay the bucket lids on gently so venting or pressure release is a non issue, just want to keep it minimual to open air is all.
I agree 100% about waste hoarding issues, that is why ive stopped all refining until ive processed this bucket to where it can be disposed of except the PMs at the bottom. Im going to remove some of the acid to a plastic jug or two to lower it just incase of any fizzing reactions to the copper for safety, as always I thank you for the safet input about everything. Im trying to be as safe as I can afford, my only pita is I wish I had a fume vent & scrubber in a nice heated shed but alas no way can I afford that setup, would be cheaper to just get out of refining all together. Ill just have to be patient & do very small batches to keep waste down to a min. Ive now learned to be minimual with the nitric & add in small increments so im getting better at this.

Thanks for the advice as always,

Dave

 

[Pantherlikher]

Good plan
I went with 2 crock pots and a 5gal bucket.
Pot 1 has copper to drop PMs
Pot 2 has steel to drop everything else
And then there's the bucket...(chuckle)

Last summer I was on a roll and did alot of stuff, my comparison of what I had. And ended up with a 5 gal bucket 3/4 full. After about 1lb of backing soda and still very acidic solution, I stopped processing and delved into ways of raising the PH to deal with the end waste.

Read about using wood ash so got my pyrolization process figured out and fired up my Chimnia? Pottery fire pot with a large chimny like top. I didn't burn enough wood yet but got alot of ash and it raised the PH nicely but not high enough yet. I'll get further when the weather lets me, and the wife says so when I get the garage cleaned out.

Right now, alot of solution in the bucket has evaporated out which is great. I put all liquids through the waste stream so nothing gets dumped to cause problems.

 

[Anonymous]

I like the process on the 2 pots Panther.

I also agree with what you said about dropping the copper in and leaving it because I've found that to work well.

Thanks

Jon

 

[heliman4141]

Hi Guys,
Ive had my copper strips laying in the bucket several days now & stir it a few times a day. 4 pcs. of 3/4 copper cut in half making 8 total, cleaned & I even sanded them so the solution could get a good bite right away.
My acid was reading 2.5 on my litmus strips before I ever introduced any copper so the PH was ok at the start.
My acid waste at the onset is so dark it looks like ink.
When I stir it there is a very tiny bit of fizzing, very minimual, then it immediatly stops after about 1 min. and I have the bucket outside where temps are hovering around freezing or above, none of the waste is freezing etc..
Im wondering how long at such low temps I should do the copper interaction, I know heat is a big helper but that is not possible due to the amount im working with.
Anyone have any idea such as when it no longer fizzes at all its ready, or something like that? Will the PH change at all?
Most of what ive read speaks of doing processes at room temps or heating solutions so im thinking at this moment that time is my best aid since this process is obviously slowed down big time due to the cold.
Any input would be app. as I can't seem to find much info on doing this at such low temps.
Im thinking at least a week to maybe a few weeks min?
Its not an emergency & it probably won't warm up here for at least another month so im in no hurry to get back to any refining anyway. If I should just let the copper sit in solution a month with daily stirring that is just fine too with me, if that is the best solution to be certain all PMs have dropped.
I could but do not want to run a bubbler to speed circulation up, it would make the lid messy when I open it up. So id prefer to go slow & just stir since ive no fume hood or scrubber.

Dave