Electrochemistry Laser mouse gold legs I.C. o.k. in Sulphuric Cell?

[924T]

I recently discovered that the legs on the I.C. chip in laser mice are gold plated (I've taken about 60 of them
apart now, and although the chip can vary in length, every one of them has had gold plated legs),

and I'd like to find out if I desolder the chips from the circuit boards, and use the Copper screen like LazerSteve
does in his video, shouldn't I be able to put the mouse chip(s) in a Sulphuric cell (legs in contact with the
Copper screen) and deplate the Au from them?

I bought the parts from LazerSteve to make a Sulphuric cell, and I recently got some Rooto H2SO4, but I want
to make sure it's not unsafe to put chip(s) in the Sulphuric.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Geo]

it should work as long as the legs are making contact with the mesh.

 

[924T]

Thanks, Geo.

I'm assuming that the Sulphuric acid won't have any effect on the plastic body of the I.C. chip?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Geo]

concentrated sulfuric will wet ash organics given enough heat and/or time. if the cell runs hot enough to effect the HDP body or it has to stay long enough for the same effect, you will have more problems than you can deal with.

 

[924T]

Thanks, Geo.

I've seen the phrase "wet ash" used a fair number of times on the forum, but hadn't yet been
curious enough to investigate it.

I'll do a search on that.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Geo]

WARNING: wet ashing should only be attempted by a trained chemist in a laboratory with the correct equipment. concentrated sulfuric acid is hygroscopic and is a very powerful drying agent. this effect is what makes it so dangerous.it will draw the water from molecules or living cells leaving only the carbon behind. since the human body is mostly water and only a few pounds of carbon, sulfuric acid will decompose flesh very quickly.it can disfigure and dissolve flesh and bone in seconds (especially if heated) and can blind you permanently on contact with eyes.

 

[924T]

Then wet ashing is out of my league, for the forseeable future.

I'll still want to read about it, to find out what can be accomplished with it.

Thanks for the cautionary warning!

Cheers,

Mike

 

[butcher]

Incineration should be in your tool box.

 

[924T]

You are absolutely right, butcher!

Where I live, the houses are really bunched together, so to incinerate, or pyrolize, I'm probably
going to have to have a rig with an "afterburner", just to keep the neighbors from going ballistic
over any unusual odors. There may be other solutions, but I'm so mechanically challenged that
I'll probably have to buy whatever the ultimate solution turns out to be.

And, I'm still mentally wrestling with how to incinerate/pyrolize in the winter---------not sure if I'd
have to get some refractory cement and cocoon the incinerator to protect it from what I consider
to be severely low temperatures (0 to -25F) in December/January, or what.

I'm definitely open to any and all input concerning how to conquer these 2 problems!

Cheers,

Mike

 

[butcher]

Take an old stainless steel pan on a camping trip, just be sure to roast the hotdogs before you use the fire to roast your scrap.

There may be gold inside the chip beside the plating on the legs.

 

[924T]

If I remove the laser mouse chip from its board, and smash it with a hammer, would any gold inside the chip
be visible to the naked eye, or would I need to put it under a microscope?

I do like the idea of taking the pyrolosis to the great outdoors (% Dan Akroyd, and the late, great John Candy).

Cheers,

Mike

 

[butcher]

Try the hammer and see, I do not know.

 

[924T]

I'll smash one tomorrow.

This gives me reason to go on a search for my cheapo 10x microscope, so I can get
a close-up look at the smashed chip.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[924T]

Am still looking for the box that those mouse chips are in-----------it'll be quicker if I just locate another
laser mouse and take it apart.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[steyr223]

Well that's an awful long time to swing a hammer

And to think the day after i read this I bought a
box of these off a Guy at the scrapyard

As soon as I finish my deplating project
I will give my chips a try

I would like to compare notes, yields, processes
Maybe have a friendly competition

Heck, all we could do is maybe learn something new :shock:
thanks Steyr223 rob

 

[tek4g63]

No need to smash these chips. There should be a small hole in the plastic casing, for the optics. Carefully stick a small screw driver in the hole and just pop the cap off, like opening a paint can lid sort of. The cap just snaps off and YES you can clearly see the gold.

I have several pictures of this, but my phone and tablet won't post pictures on here.

No need for a hammer. Just thought I could help.

 

[steyr223]

Optics hu,
Kinda like when you peeled the sticker off the old
PC BIOS chip or I guess a cmos and the PC wouldn't
Work anymore cause you just wiped your eprom
With simple light :lol: