Barren Realms 007
In Remembrance
Scott_Hawley said:badastro said:Method 9: Hot acid bath
Remove ferrous materials. Place boards in a bath of straight or diluted muriatic acid in a crock pot. Do not boil and keep it covered. The acid will attack all solder and leave gold and copper intact. The process should be over in less than an hour.
Pro: Method 9 is fast and efficient. It only dissolves the solder leaving behind components, a clean board, and dirty acid solution. Some people crock pot pins anyway...
Con: It can produce acid fumes. Hot acid is dangerous. The spent acid is very toxic. It is difficult of an average person to scale up.
I am interested in using this method to depopulate tons of boards, but what does ths person mean it will be difficult to "scale up?"
On a commerial scale with tons of boards as you have said you have it is not a viable option because of the amount of acid that is required. A way to heat the acid on a large scale. And disposal of the spent acid when this is done is costly. You would be better off finding a commercial buyer for your boards.