Maintaining my silver nitrate electrolyte solution

[Yggdrasil]

Just an update...

The slime was definitely silver slime. I dried it out and threw it in my crucible. It's not good quality silver for sure. Treating it with silver acid solution shows a of contaminants (solution turned red.) I know there's a lot fo copper in it.

But it's probably good enough to go through another round of electrolysis?
View attachment 64820


View attachment 64822

You are talking about Schwerter's test right?
It is Potassium DiCromate.
That will be red if it is Silver.

 

[Marcel]

The slime looks terrible. Es sieht schrecklich aus ;-)
Something must have contaminated your cell....

 

[SRM]

Is your stainless steel bowl magnetic? If your only precious metal is silver, could you cupel the slimes?

 

[rightmirem]

Another update.

So I don't know if the contamination came from me, or the manufacturer of the original 30g/L silver nitrate solution - but I ordered some powdered silver nitrate and mixed my own. And now I'm getting beautiful silver crystals forming.


As part of the experiment I decided to use a silver cathode (2mm x 2mm silver wire coiled to increase the surface area.)
I abandoned the stainless steel bowl as part of the test, but I think I'll probably leave it abandoned.

 

[Darkthirty]

Another update.

So I don't know if the contamination came from me, or the manufacturer of the original 30g/L silver nitrate solution - but I ordered some powdered silver nitrate and mixed my own. And now I'm getting beautiful silver crystals forming.

View attachment 64869
As part of the experiment I decided to use a silver cathode (2mm x 2mm silver wire coiled to increase the surface area.)
I abandoned the stainless steel bowl as part of the test, but I think I'll probably leave it abandoned.

I'd guess the vibrating table is knocking the slimes out of the anode bag.

 

[BGDOCK]

Little late on this but if you drill holes on the bottom of the Tupperware anode basket then any time you disturb the anode basket slimes will fall into the solution .
1.) Try it without holes drilled in the bottom just drill holes on the side of basket
2.) Try not to disturb the anode basket

The ions will circulate through the side and not having the bottom drilled out can catch any slime debris that fall through your mesh

 

[SinisterGenuis]

Hey all I'm just starting to set up a silver cell and have collected almost all my parts but have a few questions. I cut a piece of copper pipe and formed it to the side of my stainless bow. They used a copper terminal lug to attach my negative wire. I'm using a stainless hose clamp to go around the bowl and attach to it. I see others attach several clamps at different points for even distribution. My copper clamp is about 10 inches long so would I need more than that for surface contact? Also My fine silver that my positive lead is connected to does it get submerged in the basket alone or sat on top of silver shot/granules. And those are they fine as well or would the silver cemented out of solution by copper be pure enough. As always I appreciate all the wealth of knowledge supported here.

 

[Master Nater]

Hey all I'm just starting to set up a silver cell and have collected almost all my parts but have a few questions. I cut a piece of copper pipe and formed it to the side of my stainless bow. They used a copper terminal lug to attach my negative wire. I'm using a stainless hose clamp to go around the bowl and attach to it. I see others attach several clamps at different points for even distribution. My copper clamp is about 10 inches long so would I need more than that for surface contact? Also My fine silver that my positive lead is connected to does it get submerged in the basket alone or sat on top of silver shot/granules. And those are they fine as well or would the silver cemented out of solution by copper be pure enough. As always I appreciate all the wealth of knowledge supported here.

i just make a small coil of bare copper wire and set the stainless bowl on top of it. you can attach your negative to that wire. so far, it has worked good for me. simple, and easy to disconnect (pick up bowl). just keep the copper out of the electrolyte, is really the important thing.

i would recommend that you do not submerge your anode bar into the solution. it will begin eating the bar away. try to keep it up out of the electrolyte. any metal in contact with the electrolyte will begin transferring it's silver as ions, into the solution. then you'll have to pour another anode bar. so keep it up on top of the granule pile and out of the electrolyte.

i cement all of my shot out on copper. it's just that the more copper you keep out of your shot, the longer the electrolyte will last. as soon as it becomes too contaminated by copper (turning dark blue), you will need to replace it. once it is so contaminated, your crystallized silver will begin having contaminents in it. so, feed your cell with the cleanest silver you can. if you're worried about it being contaminated, run it through with a fresh batch of electrolyte. it just takes time.

Good luck, and happy refining!

 

[SinisterGenuis]

Thanks Nater I had realized from other posts that the copper=bad for the cell. I mainly get the bulk of my silver from sterling that was used for inquartation and they cementing out with copper. Now I never got the chance to XRF it or never really cared before because I would just use it again for inquartation in a cycle. But from what I read that should be almost 99% just at that point(correct me if I'm wrong). That's the material I was going to use in my solution and in the basket under the fine. So with running it like that how long before I would have to worry about copper contamination?

 

[Yggdrasil]

Thanks Nater I had realized from other posts that the copper=bad for the cell. I mainly get the bulk of my silver from sterling that was used for inquartation and they cementing out with copper. Now I never got the chance to XRF it or never really cared before because I would just use it again for inquartation in a cycle. But from what I read that should be almost 99% just at that point(correct me if I'm wrong). That's the material I was going to use in my solution and in the basket under the fine. So with running it like that how long before I would have to worry about copper contamination?

That is one of these how long is a rope questions.
It has to be monitored in each case.
The professionals has testing equipment, for the amateur it suffice to have test tubes with know concentrations to compare with.

 

[Master Nater]

Thanks Nater I had realized from other posts that the copper=bad for the cell. I mainly get the bulk of my silver from sterling that was used for inquartation and they cementing out with copper. Now I never got the chance to XRF it or never really cared before because I would just use it again for inquartation in a cycle. But from what I read that should be almost 99% just at that point(correct me if I'm wrong). That's the material I was going to use in my solution and in the basket under the fine. So with running it like that how long before I would have to worry about copper contamination?

how clean/pure your silver is after cementation would depend upon a number of factors. like what other contaminants are in your inquarted material and whether they cemented back out with your cementing, how you do your rinsing, shot melting, and other refining procedures. for the most part, yes, a lot of times, it turns out in the high 90's%. tbh, i do not have an xrf, to check, and it really doesn't matter when you're running everything through a electrolytic cell. you can still run that material through the silver cell once you've melted it back into metallic shot, and it will be fine. it's just a matter of how long the electrolyte will last. i'm still learning how far i can push it, but i've finished up less than 50% pure, and still turned out nice silver crystals. someone on here, may know more exact %'s to where contaminants begin seeping into your cell, but there are always unforseen variables like temp, and the particular contaminants, etc. if you're ever in question that you've taken it too far, and it may be contaminated, you can just run it through again. those contaminants will just stay in solution on the next run through.

it also might be something you want to play with and learn throughout your processes where YOU want them to be. what i choose to do, you might not like. for instance, sreetips likes to run his cementing a bit faster than i do. he produces nice fluffy crystals, where i like them to be a bit more dense, so i run the voltage a bit lower. makes things easier for storage for me.

after running your cell for a few cycles, you'll be able to tell how dark blue your electrolyte is, and whether you need to change it out or not. learning this new stuff and setting up a process that works for you is part of the fun! so don't let me ruin all of it for you. as an idea, when you go to change out your electrolyte, you'll know how contaminated it was, by how much silver you precipitate back out of it. if you started with let's say, a 5-liter cell that had 750grams dissolved, and you only precipitate out 500 grams, you know it was only 66% silver nitrate, and 33% copper and other contaminants.

to be honest, i'd rather give you some ideas on how to guess and check your own work, so you can set up your own procedures and make them yours. believe me, i am far from perfect, and have a lot to learn yet. but i have quite a few good ideas on how to check my progress along the way, and how to go through setting up my own procedures based upon how those checks turn out. i see it as one of those 'give a man a fish/teach a man to fish,' kinda things. Good luck and happy refining!

 

[SinisterGenuis]

I thank and appreciate all here and have always had the mentality that we should be as sponges and not as sieves when it comes to taking in all that is around us. My view is that all knowledge good or bad can always serve a purpose. That's why even a technique or practice I may never use I still have a thirst for knowing about it and it's proficiencies.

it also might be something you want to play with and learn throughout your processes where YOU want them to be. what I choose to do, you might not like.

I found Nater's copper coil idea for the cell one of those "Of Course" type moments. And the known test sample for concentrations that Yggdrasil suggests gave me a simple and personal idea to take the color hue sample I am willing to go up to but not beyond and make that my threshold.

​

 

[Yggdrasil]

I thank and appreciate all here and have always had the mentality that we should be as sponges and not as sieves when it comes to taking in all that is around us. My view is that all knowledge good or bad can always serve a purpose. That's why even a technique or practice I may never use I still have a thirst for knowing about it and it's proficiencies.


I found Nater's copper coil idea for the cell one of those "Of Course" type moments. And the known test sample for concentrations that Yggdrasil suggests gave me a simple and personal idea to take the color hue sample I am willing to go up to but not beyond and make that my threshold.

​

Not my idea.
But happy to pass it on.