HVAC 3 phase shut off box ?

[Mech]

I was going by one of my areas dumpsters and found a large [ about 20" x 3' ] HVAC switch box .
Did a little diving , & it followed me home & got dismantled .
Always looking to add to the hardware collection - do a lot build , repair / and hardware is getting way too costly .
Assumed I would get some brass , well after taking apart the contacts knife blade had a slight yellow & a little dark color .
Scratched with a knife & see a very white / silver color .
I'm thinking a high silver content alloy ?
Any others recycled these ?

 

[Martijn]

I was going by one of my areas dumpsters and found a large [ about 20" x 3' ] HVAC switch box .
Did a little diving , & it followed me home & got dismantled .
Always looking to add to the hardware collection - do a lot build , repair / and hardware is getting way too costly .
Assumed I would get some brass , well after taking apart the contacts knife blade had a slight yellow & a little dark color .
Scratched with a knife & see a very white / silver color .
I'm thinking a high silver content alloy ?
Any others recycled these ?

Can you take a picture?

 

[kurtak]

I was going by one of my areas dumpsters and found a large [ about 20" x 3' ] HVAC switch box .
Did a little diving , & it followed me home & got dismantled .
Always looking to add to the hardware collection - do a lot build , repair / and hardware is getting way too costly .
Assumed I would get some brass , well after taking apart the contacts knife blade had a slight yellow & a little dark color .
Scratched with a knife & see a very white / silver color .
I'm thinking a high silver content alloy ?
Any others recycled these ?

What Martijn said - hard to say without pics

Kurt

 

[offtrailhiker]

Generally a high voltage contact is of a tungsten alloy. If you happen to have a melting furnace or forge toss it in. Tungsten won't melt however hot your home forge may get.

 

[kurtak]

Generally a high voltage contact is of a tungsten alloy. If you happen to have a melting furnace or forge toss it in. Tungsten won't melt however hot your home forge may get.

I don't mean to be rude here but this is a somewhat misleading post

First of all - just because they (contacts) are high voltage does not mean they will be tungsten (alloy)

It is not a question of their voltage that determines if they are made with tungsten - or other alloy

Rather - it is their "application" that determines what they are made of

Secondly - IF (the BIG IF) they are made with tungsten then they will be a "sintered" product & NOT a true alloy

An alloy is made where two or more metals are actually "melted" together making an actually "chemical bonding" of the metals with each other in "the alloy"

A sintered product is made by taking two or more metal "powders" & "compressing" them under HIGH heat & HIGH pressure so they are NOT actually chemically bonded - they are just different metals packed "very tightly" together

Generally speaking - about the "only" place you will find the "sintered" tungsten/silver type contacts is in hand thrown circuit breakers" --- such as the circuit breakers in your house hold electrical panel as well as LARGER industrial "hand thrown" circuit breakers --- these points run between 60 - 70 tungsten & 30 - 40 percent silver

These points can NOT be melted in a furnace due to the VERY high melt point of the tungsten (which why they are sintered & not a true alloy) nor can they be simply dissolved in nitric like you normally dissolve silver "alloys" --- in order to leach the silver "out" of the sintered tungsten they MUST be literally BOILED in nitric & to get ALL of the silver leached out of the tungsten it can take 24 hours to 48 hours of BOILING them in nitric

The other more/most common types of contacts are ether high voltage "magnetic disconnects" - or low voltage relays

High voltage magnetic disconnects will ALWAYS be a silver "alloy" & will generally be "about" 90% (plus) silver - these will melt in a furnace & as well dissolve in nitric like any other silver (true alloy)

Low voltage relays can be a silver alloy - or gold "plated" silver - or silver/palladium alloy - or solid palladium - or silver & other PGM alloy - or other solid PGM

There are a FEW other types of silver contacts /switches out there but they are not real common

This is why I asked for pics of what the OP has - so we can determine the "type" switch/contact he has & then determine if (worth) &/or how to process

Kurt

 

[Martijn]

Generally a high voltage contact is of a tungsten alloy. If you happen to have a melting furnace or forge toss it in. Tungsten won't melt however hot your home forge may get.

And beryllium copper is often used in high voltage contacts.

 

[anarxi]

in general, it's a completely useless and even dangerous thing in places.
it wasn't even worth raising...

although, frankly speaking,
I don't understand why you would ask a question without posting a photo.
after all, it's worth spending 15 seconds, taking a photo and posting it in your message.
using your phone.